Preface to Thirukkural by V.V.S.Aiyar
Preface to Thirukkural
Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar, also known as V.V.S. Aiyar was an Indian Revolutionary from Trichurapalli, Tamilnadu. He fought against British Colonial Rule in India. He was also a Tamil writer and is considered as the father of modern Tamil short story. He translated the Ramavatharam of Kambar and Thirukkural in English.
V.V.S.Aiyar translated the entire work of the Thirukkural text in English prose, which became the first complete English translation by a native scholar. Aiyar’s work is considered by various scholars as the most scholarly of all the English translations made until then, including those by native English Scholars. Aiyar translated the Thirukkural in 962.
The Need for his Translation
V.V.S.Aiyar starts his work with a preface, in which he gives the reason for his translation of Thirukkural . Aiyar felt bad that the book which is considered by the Tamil people as the Tamil Veda, the Universal Veda, the later Veda, the Divine Book was confined to only the Hindustan people for a very long time. The first translation of Thirukkural by the Jesuit missionary Constantius Beschi into Latin was very valuable though it was only in manuscript form. But still this translation has been a guide for Dr. Graul for his German and Latin translation of Thirukkural. The translation done by M. Ariel and M de Dumsat into French is found in the library of Paris. F.W. Ellis, W.H.Drew, E. J.Robinson, J. Lazarus and the late Rev. G. U. Pope are some of the English translators of the Thirukkural.
The translation done by Drew and Ramanuja Kavirayar was the best translation of Thirukkural in English but only 63 chapters were translated and it was out of print too. Dr. G. U. Pope has added valuable notes and has prepared a combined lexicon and concordance to his translation of Thirukkural. Except for the translations done by Robinson, Lazarus and Graul, Aiyar was not satisfied with the other translations and hence he chose to translate Thirukkural on his own.
While translating Thirukkural in English the author felt that English version of the Bible will be of great help. The proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon and the Sermons of Jesus mentioned in the Bible will be of great help to retain the vigour of the Kural in English. So for Drew and G. U. Pope it would have been easier to adopt the style of the Bible for the translation of Thirukkural. But still, Aiyar felt that Drew gave a feeble translation and Pope deformed the grand thought by giving them unnatural expression. Even the translations of the chapter headings by Pope are not up to the mark. Thus Aiyar felt that both Drew and Pope lacked the force and vigour of the original.
About Thiruvalluvar
Aiyar tells that just like other great men of the past, very little is known about the great saint Thiruvalluvar. The word Thiruvalluvar means “the devotee of the Valluva caste”. The Valluvas used to carry out the order of the king. According to traditions it is believed that he was born in Madura to a Brahman father and a pariah mother and married a Bhagavan. He had 6 siblings. He lived in Mylapore, Madras. He chose the profession of weaving as he thought it was the most innocent of all the professions.
Many stories were available regarding his married life. Vasuki, the wife of Thiruvalluvar became the image of ideal wife. Her artless simplicity and unquestioning obedience was looked upon by everybody. When a Sage asked Thiruvallur about marriage, thiruvallur asked the sage to stay with him and find the answer on his own and the sage confirmed that if one gets a wife like Vasuki one can get married otherwise its best to remain single all their life.
Life of Thiruvallur has changed a lot after the death of his wife. Once his wife deid he denounced all the worldly pleasures and chose the ascetic life.
Thirukkural
Thirukkural is divided into 3 parts, the first one talks of Righteousness and second one talks about the Politics and the third one is regarding the Love. According to the Hindus these 3 virtues along with Heavenly Bliss are the four main objectives of lifeiruvallu. Though Thiruvalluvar has not spoken about heavenly bliss , the first part of the Kural explains the way of self-realization, which is the highest happiness a man can attain.
Part I – Righteousness
The author speaks about the life of the householder and the life of the ascetic in this part. In the first -9 chapters the author points out the virtues needed for a good husband, good father, good neighbour and a good man and the next -3 chapters of the Ist part focused on the ascetic life. the first section of Part I, end with the chapter titled Fame and the 2nd part ends with Destiny, which is the resultant of all his thoughts and actions in previous births.
Aiyar makes a special mention of verse 76, 207, 247, 363, which are the best. The chiefest blessing according to the great sage are an honourable home and worthy off spring. The sages love for children is noteworthy. He says that the touch of children is the delight of the body and he also adds up that those who have not heard to the prattle of their kids alone will be attracted by guitar and the flute. Next he tells about the chief virtues of man. Love of mankind and the honouring of the guest are the chief virtues of man.
One who is devoid of love is like a dry tree in wilderness. He speaks of the virtues that has to be followed and one has to avoid in life. uprightness, forgiveness, obligation, good will, charity are the virtues and fornication, envy, coveting, slander, vain speaking, injuring the neighbour are the vices that one has to avoid in life.
Once he fulfills his duty towards the society, he needs to focus on the life that is beyond the death. For this he has to follow a stricter discipline than before. He has to follow mercy, avoid flesh meat, mortify his body, concentrate his thoughts and aim to attain spiritual power and vision. He should strictly adhere to the truth, conquer his anger and temptation. He has to realize that the phenomenal life is no better that a dream and a shadow. Once he attain the ascetic, he realizes that Heaven is near to him than the Earth. Killing of the Desire is the last chapter of the Life of Ascetic.
The chapter on destiny explains about “ul”. It tells how all the unspent force of a man’s action have an effect on him. According to the Hindu belief both the good and bad action have an unseen effect in all his actions. To explain this concept, V.V.S.Aiyar uses a phraseology from physical science. He calls the visible effects as kinetic energy and those unseen effects as the potential energy. The result of the kinetic energy is known then and there but the result of the potential energy is stored up somewhere in the universe and it materialize itself in the new life of the soul which is termed as “Karma”. Thus chapter 38, talks about this Destiny.
Thus in part I, the author pursues the humans to follow the path of righteousness and ends up the first part by saying that if a man does evil, he will just carry a load of evil which makes his next birth unhappy and cursed. Whereas the good deed one does will load him with treasure , which will be a great blessing for him.
PART II: WEALTH:
In the second part, Thiruvalluvar talks about politics. In this he mainly focuses on wealth. He says that wealth cannot be enjoyed under security. These verses doesn’t just applicable to the prince or the minister but it can also be applied to all those who are in the thought of acquiring wealth. The author speaks about wealth in 700 verses. The verses can be applied to both Prince and a peasant.
Thiruvalluvar speaks of each and every function of a statesman. He also speaks about the proper and efficient conduct of the state. A good statesman should preserve the order in the state and has to avoid anarchy and misgovernment. The Prince should not be above the law and he should also be impartial and just. Liberty of speech should be given to his citizens and he should accept the criticism as well. A good kind should not spend time in luxury and he should be always alert and just give proper justice to his statesman. He should protect his subject from internal and external enemies
A prince should be careful in choosing his friends. He should choose his friend from the good and the great and should avoid the company of low and vulgar. He should never allow vice to enter his mind. He should select his officers with due care and supervise everything with the help of a secret agent. He himself should have a check on his power and should have a consideration for all. Being courageous is the most important quality for a Prince.
As for the Ministers he should be clever, cautious, pure-minded, devoted to Prince and skilful in reading the hearts of men. As a courtier, he should know when, where and how to talk and when he should not. While representing the master in the foreign courts he should be polite and should be well versed in all arts of the council.
The people, resources, allies, the army and fortress are the other main body of the politics. In 22 chapters, the author speaks of the positive and negative aspects of these members. Chapter 74 (Territory) speaks of the people and chapter 91 to 94 speaks about the qualities of the friends and allies, chapter 95 talks about the physician. Valluvar’s verses on Honour and Worth are remarkable.
PART III: LOVE
This talks about the love of a single couple from the time they meet each other for the first time till they reunite after a temporary separation from one another. It analyzes all the moods of the lover’s heart. V.V.S.Aiyar tells that in this third part Thiruvalluvar has excelled Tennyson and even Shakespeare.
Thiruvalluvar speaks of love at the first sight. Just on the basis of faith the couple does the Gandharva marriage and they reach to each others arms even before informing their parents. But the people of the Tamil land has perfected in this course. They undergo a martyrdom both physically and morally in order to induce their parent to give consent for their love on their own. Once they get the consent they go to the girls village in a palmyra horse undergoing another kind of martyrdom. They live a happy married life. But the husband leaves his wife alone, to go to the war with the promise of returning back with glory and wealth. The wife refuses to part him, but the husband persuades her to allow and later on he could not return as said.
The pangs and pains of the love-sick wife is portrayed beautifully in 11 chapters. The husband returns and the wife at first gets angry on him for returning late but very soon she is happy to find her love back. The sulks(oodal) in the married life is beautifully given in 3 chapters. Here Thiruvalluvar mentions that “boulderie is the salt of love”. Under the title ‘Chastity’ the author gives the actions and feelings of the chaste wife in the absence of her lord.
UNIQUENESS OF THIRUKKURAL
Valluvar speaks of all the emotions in its depth whether it is regarding moral duties, state policy and the hearts of lovers. Even the prophet have not emphasized the greatness of values as Thiruvalluvar did. Vallur is par in comparison with others. Thus this pariah weaver of Mylapore is far greater than Bhishma, Vishnu Sharma, Machiavelli, Confucius, kalidas and even Shakespeare. On reading Thirukkural one will know that virtue, manliness and honour triumphs over everything.
The author gives a clear distinction between private morality and state necessity. Chapter sixteen glorifies forgiveness in private life but when comes to state, forgiveness has only limited virtue. He must punish the guilty. The enemy should be punished then and there and king should not allow his enemy to grow and attain power. Neither the king should not think of acquiring the kingdoms by wrong means.
RELIGIOUS CLAIMS
Christians claim that Thiruvalluvar wrote the book after hearing to the teaching of the Mount. They argue that Christianity and the teachings in the Bible are the main influences for writing Thirukkural. They believe in the scarcely credible theory, that Thiruvalluvar received the teachings of Apostle of St. Thomas at Mylapore.
V.V.S.Aiyar points out that parallels can be found to the maxims of Thirukkural among great writers in almost every great nation, but still it doesn’t mean that Thiruvalluvar has heard to any of the saints preaching. The Christians may think that the idea of forgiveness was given by Jesus alone but Aiyar asserts that ideas were the common property of great minds, even four centuries before Jesus was born. So Aiyar tells that Thiruvallur is indebted to no one in particular.
Even the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Shaivas claim that Thiruvalluvar belonged to their own religion, but he doesn’t stick on to any one religion and thirukkural doesn’t support any one sects or religion but it sticks only to Truth, Wisdom and Joy.
STYLE OF THE VERSE
V.V.S.AIYAR gives a few information about the verse style for the non-native Tamilians. The word Kural means a short rhymed couplet in which the first line is composed of four feet and the second of three feet. The metrical foot within this short verse is used cleverly by the author. Within this seven feet of the words the poet has given the profoundest thought of the world.
The sparkling wit, humour, the pointed statements, fancy, irony, naïve question, simile and the sublimity of thought found within this seven feet were astonishing. One of the ardent admirer of Thirukkural describes it as “a little mustard seed, but whose bore holds all the water of the seven oceans”
PARIMELALAKAR’S COMMENTORY:
Even though 9 commentators had already interpreted Thirukkural, the interpretation given by Parimelalakar stands out. His comments alone bring out the beauty and the thought that in imbibed in the original. For the modern reader this commentary is a great blessing. His commentary is brief and to the point. Aiyar gives the example of the comments given by Parimelalakar for verse 687, which talks about the ambassador. An ambassador should weight the political situation of both the kings, his own status, formalities to be observed in visiting and speaking to the Prince and also the proper time to convey the message. An ambassador should also be prepared of words he is going to use, the possible replies and his own supporters also. Valluvar also gives full freedom for the ambassador to negotiate.
Aiyar gives one more example for Parimelalakar’s commentary. For the explanation of verse 338, Parimelalakar’s interpretation was best and apt than that is given by the other commentators. For the word ‘kudumbai’ Parimelalakar gives the explanation as egg shell which suits best the context than nest, which was given by other interpretators. Parimelalakar explains that the love between soul and the body is like the love between the egg shell and the bird. The bird’s life is confined within the egg shell for a considerable period of time but once the bird breaks the shell and comes out it never returns back to the shell. In the same way the soul too never returns back once it leaves the body. The body is compared to the egg shell here and the bird is compared to the soul of the body.
Whereas the other commentators compared it to the nest but the bird returns back to the nest. So the comparison of the nest to the body doesn’t bring out the real essence of the Kural. And hence the Parimelalakar’s commentary of the Thirukkural is preserved with utmost care by the Tamil people.
Finally V.V.S.Aiyar conclude his preface by giving the reason for his translation. The main reason for this translation is to spread the knowledge of the Thirukkural and also to help the retranslators who aim to translated the Kural in different vernaculars so that even the poorest of the poor will get a chance to read Thirukkual.
------HAPPY LEARNING---------
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