Thirukkural-The Glorification of Righteousness-V.V.S.Aiyar

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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 into 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.

        “The Glorification of Righteousness” was the 4th chapter of the first part of Thirukkural which focuses on Virtues(Arathupal). In the first verse itself Thiruvallur brings out the importance, significance and profit of being righteous. He tells that Righteous brings forth all wealth and it also gives a peaceful life. In the next maxim, Thiruvallvar adds up that leading a righteous life will help the humans to attain greatest glory whereas avoiding the path of righteous will lead to worse troubles in life. Thiruvallur wants the humans to do virtuous action in all possible ways and he insists this idea in verse 33. He says that we should do virtuous act by all might and by every means.  Verse 34 speaks of how being pure in heart is the one and only commandment of righteousness, all other values are just a show up. Being pure in heart here means not thinking bad of or for others even in thoughts. This one action encompasses all the values of righteousness. In maxim 35, Thiruvallvar tells about the few other ways to achieve righteousness. By avoiding envy, anger, harsh words and greed one can attain righteousness easily.

        In maxim 36, Thiruvalluvar tells more about the values of righteousness. One has to do righteousness then and there. The real value of righteous actions is lost when it is not done at the proper time. The righteous deeds done at the correct time will help man at his later years and it will be his constant companion till the day of his death. The sage also tells about how to find out the fruits of righteousness. He mentions that there is no need of a book to explain the value of righteousness. It can be understood easily by knowing the difference between the palanquin bearer and the one who rides in it. In maxim 38, Thiruvalluvar points out that if a person doesn’t even waste one day in his life without doing righteous actions, then those righteous actions will block his passage to other births. In the next verse the saint imparts that real happiness will come only from righteous actions and all other happiness that is got by other means are short lived and it leads to suffering towards the end. In the final maxim of this chapter “Glorification of Righteousness”, the author highlights that one should stick to the good virtues and righteousness and should avoid the vice and evil ways all through his life.

Thus the author glorifies and points out the importance of righteousness and V. V. S. Aiyar, the great revolutionaries translation helped a lot to pass on this idea globally. 

 

--------HAPPY LEARNING-----

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