THIRUVALLUVAR

 

who is Thiruvalluvar ?

 Is he a poet ? a saint ? a philosopher ? . Well the answer is Thiruvalluvar is a composition of all of this .

Thiruvalluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet who composed poetry called "THIRUKURAL" in all aspects of life which helped man to lead a morally justifiable life.

The beauty of Thirukural is that he has buried very powerful ethical rules of life in mere two sentences stringed by beautiful Tamil words.

There is no factual details of Thiruvalluvar`s origin but from purely the linguistic analysis of his writings it  is thought that he lived somewhere between 2nd century BC and the 8th century AD.However there is no
archaeological evidence when he is lived.

There has been some field research done by The Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre in Tamil Nadu , India. They have corroborated that Thiruvalluvar was born in Tirunayanarkurichi in the erstwhile Valluva Nadu . But another theory says that he was born in Mylapore in Chennai and then moved to Madurai to submit his work "Thirukural" to the Pandiya King who at that time was promoting Tamil literature.

However in general it is thought that Thiruvalluvar lived about 2000 years ago. His acclaimed work is Thirukural. It is one of the most revered ancient works in Tamil literature. "Thirukural" is a combined word joining of two words Thiru ( Honourable) and Kural ( Form of poetry writing).

Thirukural is translated into several languages. In 1730 Constanzo Beschi translated in into latin. Which made this known in European intellectual circles.

Thirukural is divided into three sections. Section one explains "Aram" containing good ethical behavior with conscience and honor.section two discusses Porul, the right manner of conducting worldly affairs; and section three dwells on Inbam, love between men and women.The first section has 38 chapters, the second 70 chapters and the third 25 chapters. Each chapter consists of 10 couplets or kurals, for a total of 1330 couplets. Although two sections, Aram and Inbam, are devoted to the private life of an individual more than half the couplets in Thirukural are grouped under Porul which discusses ethics in public life. Thus Thiruvalluvar gives more importance to righteous living in public life.

Apart from Thirukural it is said Thiruvalluvar has written "Gnana vaithiyan" and Pantcharathnam in field of natural medicine. But there is also a school of thought that these were written by another person with the same name.

Some examples of Thurukural

In the division of Aram

Those who follow the light of nobility , live

in fame that survives the world

In the division of Porul

The journey of life is secure in the family with a mission

of hospitality, and wary of blemishes

In the division of Love

Is there in life a brighter joy than the comfort of

arms of the loved one , beaming like a lotus

In the division of futile wealth

What legacy they can leave behind, who are

despised by society as unhelpful misers

It is Thiruvalluvars Guru Pooja (Thanks giving Prayer) day today . In future I will come with some of his beautiful two line poems.

Thank you very much for your support

Sakthi Sakthithasan

27.02.2013