According to Ellis, Valluvar says “not merely that there is no
similitude by which he can be described, but that there is no figure of
human speech by which his nature can be expressed.” In Kalaignar’s
interpretation, “the one to whom no likeness is not God but the human
being who is unequalled in the qualities of head and heart, who, if
taken as the model, will so guide us that all our woes are removed.”
Van Pukazh Konda Valluvan is a worthy addition to the treasure-trove of commentary on Tirukkural.
Kalaippezhaiyum Kavitaiccaviyum
The New Historicism gaining prominence during the last three decades has considerably reduced the gap between literature and history. By juxtaposing a literary text and a historical document of more or less the same period, this approach helps us learn a lot about the life of a particular society. Showing a combined interest in the textuality of history and the historicity of texts, it breaks down the barriers between a literary text and other kinds of social production. Greenblatt, the founding father of New Historicism, claimed that it enabled him to have a delightful dialogue with the dead. The poems in Kalaingar Karunanidhi’s Kalappezhaiyum Kavitaiccaviyum bring together literature and history at two levels. They attempt to derive the political, social and cultural history of the ancient Tamil land from the celebrated Sangam classics and the extant historical evidences; the history thus gleaned is turned into charming poetry. There is thus a simultaneous transformation of literature into history and history into literature. Going far beyond the New historicists, the poet-historian almost totally obliterates the distance between history and literature. Besides presenting the formidable Tamil heroes and their epoch-making achievements, the volume highlights the grandeur of Sangam lyrics by rendering them into a Tamil easy to comprehend and extremely pleasing.
As soon as Tamil was declared a classical language, he sounded a clarion call for an upsurge of interest in promoting the cause of Classical Tamil. Now that the dawn of Classical Tamil (Chemmozhi Vidiyal) has taken place, it behoves our young men and women to realize that the Sangam corpus is a repository of our unique culture and to convey their message and the vision of life embodied in them to the world.
But he was not going to leave the entire task to the academics and keep watching resignedly whatever they did. In fact, he himself had been at it for a long time and nothing – not even the most dreadful of political challenges – could prevent him from girding up his loins and getting into the field with redoubled vigour. He had been harbouring a grievance against the historians that began the story of Indian civilization from the shores of the Ganges. The time had now come when he would set the record straight. It is not as if no evidence can be traced for a reliable account of the political and social history of the ancient Tamils. Ancient Tamil writings in the form of Ettuttokai, Pattuppattu, Cilappatikaram and Manimekalai were still available though a lot more had been unfortunately consumed by fire, water and white ants because of the indifference of the Tamils themselves or of the conspiracies of the cunning enemies of Tamil. But then deeply immersing himself in what was extant, he realized that there was much that was worth salvaging.
In this collection of poems, more than once he stresses the importance and the dire need to trace the history of Tamilnadu by opening the treasure trove of time with the help of the verse key available in the form of Sangam writings. To those that contend that it is utterly useless to keep speaking of the past glory of a community, his stern reply is that a race will be able to learn valuable lessons from its past achievements and misdeeds and to fare forward with greater courage and confidence.
We can face the onrushing foes
Only if we are armed
With the sword-and-shield of our history (42).
Although historians like Ramachandra Dhikshitar have with enough evidence demonstrated that it was Tamil culture that had spread to the Kumari Continent, Indus Valley, Egypt and Sumeria, we have not made an attempt to gain anything out of the stupendous revelation, whereas strangers to that culture have been capitalizing on that. To those that ask what harm will overtake us if we live without evincing any interest in our history, Kalaignar’s answer is that if it is acceptable to a human being to live without the head or the neck or the tongue or the teeth, the Tamils are welcome to be indifferent to their age-old tradition.
When in his poems he went into raptures over the ancientness and excellence of the Dravidian race, there were people who asked, “Why should you heat up the tea of Aryan-Drvidian distinction when it has become cold?” He directs their attention to the writings of P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Sesha Iyengar and Surya Narayana Sastriar who, in their scholarly works, do not fight shy of comparing the two races. Mentioning that of the sixty-eight excavations which witnessed to the presence of Roman gold coins in ancient India, fifty-seven took place in the southern part of the nation, he adds that this piece of information may appear to be insignificant to those that would like to black out Dravidian history. It is for the future benefit of our young men and women that the past has to be dug out with care and concern. Only if we keep harping on the antiquity of the Dravidian race will our “young coconut saplings grow into mighty teaks” (135).
He also dilates on the harmful consequenes of starting the history of India from the Ganges and not from the Kaviri. Though an eminent historian like Vincent Smith has explicitly stated that the Indian history should begin from the deep south, our academic historians continue to completely ignore the ancient Tamil land in their works. In Kalaingar’s view, “It is like pouring water on the branches of a tree avoiding the roots and the stem” (158). As early as 1945, he voiced his concern that the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas of the Tamil land were conspicuous by their absence in the contemporary textbooks of history.
There is no history!
There, alas, is no history
On the shores of the Kaviri
Or of the speeding Pennai!
Woes to the Tamil land!
It all began, they say,
From the Ganges!
Who witnessed the reign
Of the Pandyas?
Who carved the history
Of the reputed Cheras?
Have they ever sung
The Cholas’ prosperity?
In which celebrated place
Did the Cheras reside?
Why did the heroic Pandyas
Fall upon evil days?
How did cowardly concepts
Come crowding into the busy land
Where the Cholas sauntered?
Such questions arose
Disturbing the depressed mind (256-57).
In The Treasure Trove of Time and the Verse Key, Kalaignar converts a series of episodes from the lives of ancient Tamil kings into poetic scenes. These have been carefully gleaned from ancient Tamil texts and authentic historical documents. There is evidence to show that during an incredibly early period, the Tamils went by ship to distant lands to conduct their trade. The history of Tontaiman Ilantiraiyan born to a Chola prince and Pilivalai reveals that more than four thousand years ago Pumpukar flourished and had contacts with the land of the Nagas. In the third century B.C., the Mauryas were defeated at Mokur by Ilancetcenni, a Chola king who was praised by the Tamil poets as “Ceruppali erinta Ilancetcenni.” Pandiyan Peruvaluti sent an ambassador to the famed Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar in 20 B.C. The Tamil kings had sturdy, sword-wielding Romans as their able guardsmen in their palaces and warcamps.
It has to be said here that vindicating Kalaingar’s stand, new evidence has emerged during the last decade. Recent research in the field of archaeology corroborates the evidence provided by literature with regard to the antiquity of the Sangam Age. New excavations in places such as Aticcanallur, Korkai, Mankuti, Karur, Perur, Vallam, Uraiyur and a host of other sites have enabled the archaelogists to revise their earlier views.
Besides these, Kotumanal, Mayilatumparai and Tantikkuti excavations have yielded a lot of valuable information about ancient Tamil culture. The historians now believe that the transition from the late IronAge to the Sangam period would have taken place around the sixth century B.C.
The charming recounting of Kalaignar’s version of ancient Tamil history includes rapid-fire questions about certain historical and literary issues leading to his original response to them. The brief but learned discussions of the following problems as addressed by him arrest our attention: Where was the first human being born? How did the Kumari continent come to be called Lemuria? Who was the Pandya king who sent a team of ambassadors to Augustus Caesar? By whom was Atitta Karikalan, the elder brother of Rajarajan, assassinated? What was the role of Rajarajan himself in the tragic historical occurrence? On which date was Rajarajan born? Was the Pallava capital Kanchi situated in Tamilnadu or Andhra Pradesh? Did Kannaki have a happy married life before Kovalan left her to live with Matavi? How did many of the ancient Tamil texts disappear? When was the Akam-Puram discourse overshadowed by the Ikam-param discussion?
Although the book consists of fifty-eight poems in free verse and appears to be episodic in nature, the underlying theme that unites these pieces is that Tamil culture is ancient and unique and has an unbroken tradition. Each poem being independent and self-contained may, of course, be read in isolation and enjoyed. But no reader interested in the grandeur of the age-old tradition can afford to miss any of the poems. The structure of every poem is in accordance with its subject matter. Some pieces consist of fairly long lines, a few of very short lines, and others mix long and short lines. The first poem entitled ‘Potu Ulakam’ begins with very short lines; ‘Ankanku Ataiyala Muttirai” opens with short lines and ends with long lines. In many poems, prose is interspersed with verse. Historical documents, quotations and references to contemporary events are all given in prose. The thirteenth poem, which is on Karavelan’s defeat, includes Appaduraiyar’s historical notes in prose. “Kanaka Vicayar Kal Cumanta Varalaru” has short lines in verse at the beginning but metamorphoses into a one-act play of three short scenes. In the course of some poems, one or more Sangam verses are quoted verbatim and their interpretations in simple modern Tamil verse follow for the benefit of the common reader. Many Sangam poems are lucidly rendered into verse in Kalaignar’s characteristic style. The poem that announces the dawn of Chemmozhi (Classical Tamil) catalogues in rhythmic verse the names of thirty-odd formidable women poets of the Sangam period.
In most of the poems, there is a deft handling of similes of Kalaignar’s own fused with traditional ones, bearing ample testimony to his thorough acquaintance with ancient Tamil texts. The poem entitled ‘Uvamai Alakukku Uriya Paricu Ennavam?” (What reward does the beauty of the simile deserve?”) pays a glowing tribute to the simile used by Ayyur Mulakilar to drive home the impossibility of getting back the fortress captured by Ukkirapperuvaluti. Inspired as it is by hundreds of such similes in ancient, medieval and modern Tamil writings, Kalaignar’s cretive power doesn’t lag behind. For this collection of poems itself, he has chosen a double metaphor as a suitable title: The Treasure Trove of Time and the Verse Key. In a situation where vandalism has played havoc with historical remnants and in the absence of adequate historical documents, he has to use Tamil poems as a key to open the box of time containing the valuable history of the Tamils.
The hypocrites who glorify women in public but do them incalculable harm behind the scenes are described by him as the ones that accomplish their ends “hiding themselves like the teeth at the back of the mouth” (22). Having been instigated by jealousy, some wanted to ruin the joy of the couple, Attanatti and Atimanti. Their motiveless malignity is exquisitely brought out in a simile:
How can the bitter-hearted bear the sight
Of the eating of a jackfruit
By people in the neighbouring houses? (107)
The ships that were found in large numbers in the sea of Tamilnadu are likened to “the serial set of bulbs burning bright” (119). If there had been absolutely no evidence to trace the history of the Tamils, we would have been rendered useless as “the matches drenched in water and no lamps of history would have been lit” (127). The Cholas were unable to rule the land following Tiruvalluvar’s instructions because the aliens had entered the land “hiding themselves like black cats in the dark” (161). Even though Rajaraja Cholan’s enemies were spreading scandals about his involvement in the assassination of his brother Atitta Karikalan, he was not disturbed but remained firm doing his good deeds for his Tamil land. And the poet asks, “Will an iron pillar wear off when touched by the wings of flies?” (213). During the otherwise glorious rule of the Cholas, Tamil had to decline yielding place to Sanskrit. This infamous development was like “the pouring of buttermilk into milk” (231).
In order to describe the destruction of Kavatapuram by a katalkoll (tsunami), Kalaignar brings in numerous mixed metaphors.
Their delight did not last long; as though
Challenging it, the wild dance of
Nature started six months later
In Kapatapuram; in the grip
Of a demon, Nature unleashed
A savage attack on the waves of
The big sea with a gigantic
Iron hand and the whole area
Became a forest of dense darkness.
Making a loud deep thunder-like noise,
Lashing like flashes of lightning,
Entering the sea as an earthquake,
Nature played havoc with the two
Rivers which became one, changed
Course, shifted from one place to
Another and finally disappeared;
Who can assess the impact of
Nature’s fury? After the demon
Of the deluge destroying all
Ended its wild dance, peace showed
Its head; yes, it showed the damage
Done in that long wide open space!
There was no trace of human life.
While reading the independent poems in the order in which they have been strung together, anyone will be assailed by a variety of emotions. It is with an overwhelming sense of pride that the history of the Tamils is narrated by Kalaignar whose enthusiasm is exceedingly infectious. We rejoice at the breath-taking account of the series of victories by the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas but this delight is tinged with sadness whenever we remember – and that is bound to happen too frequently – that these three Tamil clans, who, in Parimelazhakar’s view, had existed from time immemorial, often fought among themselves though they belonged to the same race and were related to one another through marriage also. We are deeply shocked when Kalaignar ends the account on a tragic note expressing his profound regret over the historical fact that the three great monarchic families that flourished for several centuries ultimately destroyed themselves by internecine wars. It is a thousand pities that though they were known for their heroism, wisdom, courage, determination, physical strength, dignity and boundless generosity, they lacked racial unity and it was the tragic flaw that brought about their ruin.
There is an outburst of righteous indignation whenever he has to report the foolish or wicked deeds of any of the Tamil kings. The later Cholas, especially Rajarajan and Rajendiran, had numerous achievements to their credit but it was during their heyday that Tamil was being replaced by Sanskrit. Kalaignar is unequivocal in his condemnation of this aspect of their reign. We can hear a melancholy piece of music when he mentions the strange coronation that takes place on a battlefield where Rajendiran crowns himself king immediately after his elder brother is killed by the Chalukyas.
‘Should thirty thousand men lay down
Their lives for one man to get crowned?’
A Jain saint singing thus passed by
The battlefield and this sight was one
That would bring ponds and lakes of tears
Even into the eyes of the merciless!’
A Chola king’s ill-treatment of two Chalukya ambassadors comes under severe censure and Kalaignar calls it a blot on the Chola history.
Although the work as a whole has a serious underyling theme, humour is not lacking. He is a master punster who is very adept at playing with words in his speeches and writings. He makes at least a couple of puns in every poem but, unfortunately, they can’t be effectively conveyed in English. To be sure, there are other instances of humour which are translatable. In the poem on Rajarajan, there is a passing mention of the five, six wives of the Chola king gathering together for one of the rare meetings, with their husband. But much to our amusement, we realize that he has actually eleven wives when their long names are listed by the poet! In the poem on Picirantaiyar, we come across a hilarious scene depicting the display of love of an old couple in the preence of their grandchildren.
Kalaignar has consulted numerous primary and secondary sources as the substance of the poems in this collection would demand strenuous research. Tolkappiyam, Tirukkural and the Sangam corpus are, of course, works in which he has had a life-long interest. They have nourished him and his life-time ambition has been to get them world-wide recognition in all possible ways. Of Sangam anthologies, four-Purananuru, Akananuru, Netunalvatai and Patirruppattu-are understandably given supreme importance here and they must have been constantly consulted by him. Paranar, Nakkirar, Kallatanar, Itaikkunrurkkilar, Picirantaiyar, Kalattalaiyar, Vennikkuyattiyar, Nakkannaiyar, Mamulanar, Atimantiyar, Cattantaiyar, Alatturkizhar, Itaikkatanar, Erukkatturttayan kannanar, Ayyur Mutavanar, Mulankilar, Kutapulaviyanar, Mankutimarutanar, Karik kilar, Nettimaiyar, Netumpalliyattanar and Pantiyan Netunceliyan are the poets whose poems are here highlighted through commentaries and renderings into simple modern Tamil. Some scenes from the epics, Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai and Kuntalakeci have been re-presented as poetic dramas. Kalaignar doesn’t shy away from Bhakti writings such as Tevaram, Tiruvacakam and even Periyapuranam, which are alluded to wherever there is a need. When the victories of Tamil kings are recorded with documentary evidence, he brings in Ottakkuttar and Ceyankontar, the last one having been his favorite since boyhood. The poems of Bharati and Bharatidasan and the essays and speeches of his mentor Arignar Anna in which he had immersed himself even as an adolescent provide him not only with words, phrases and images but with ideas also.
Besides great literary works, plenty of historical writings have served as his indispensable secondary sources. The notes of the Chinese pilgrim Yuan Tsang, Rahula Sangrityayan’s collection of historical short stories, Jawaharlal Nehru’s Glimpses of World History, Ramachandra Dhikshidar’s The Origin and Spread of the Tamils, Appaduraiyar’s Tennattupporkal, P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar’ History of the Tamils, Mayilai Cini Venkatacami’s Makentiran’s Varalaru, Ayyam Perumal Konar’s Pantiyar Varalaru, Mankala Murukesan’s Pallavar Varalaru and Zograf’s A Survey of Languages of India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Nepal have all been thoroughly explored. The writings of Paritimarkalaignar, Peraciriyar Cuntaranar, Sadasivappandarattar, Avvai Duraisami, Nilakanda Sastriyar, and Ma. Iracamanikkanar and historical documents such as the copper plates of Cinnamanur were not spared.
If, in addition to exquisite poetry, he has been able to impart a fund of knowledge relating to Tamil history, it is because he has delved into many works on the subject.
Tolkappiyappuunga
Tolkappaiyam is a unique grammatical treatise which, in its three parts deals with the letter, the word and the subject matter of poetry, each of which is examined in nine smaller subsections called iyal. In about 1600 stanzas (nurpa), it describes the Tamil alphabet, sounds, rhetoric, prosody and poetics.
Tolkappiyar’s poetics will, by and large, fall under the category of classicism. It stands by tradition in as much as it recommends the characteristic features of the poetic writings that had existed before and during his time. He lists thirty-four aspects of a poem which are significantly called “limbs” of a ceyyul (what is made). All the regulations, definitions and distinctions mentioned by Tolkappiyar make it clear that in his conception of the poetic process, conscious labour plays a major role. The inner voice and the mysterious power of creation stressed by the Romantics have practically no place in this theory. This is very different from what the ancient Greeks and Romans thought about poetry but close to the ideas of twentieth century western poets and critics.
The uniqueness of Tolkappiyam as an ancient grammatical treatise and the achievement of Tolkappiyar as a linguist have been acknowledged by some leading western authorities on the subject. Tokappiyar’s description of the Tamil phonemes at a time when there was no recourse to any of the scientific instruments which phoneticians could acquire only many centuries later and his comprehensive study of the whole of language, from the most ordinary level to the most poetic have earned him high praise and he has been deservingly hailed as the linguists’ ultimate Guru.
A doughty champion of the cause of Tamil, Ilakkuvanar says,
Among the extant works of ancient Tamil, Tolkappiyam alone is of aid to us in studying the ancient Tamil life in its varied manifestations. But it is being learned only by the students of Tamil for purposes of examination. Although it is a work of grammar, it is not like the grammatical texts in other languages. It embodies in itself current advances in linguistics and literary research being pursued with scholarly interest today in the West, as also studies in biology, psychology and in the art of living …. Let us, therefore, study the grammars of letters, words, literature and life through Tolkappiyar and establish the greatness of the Tamil land.
Kalaignar took upon himself the onerous task of taking both Tolkappiyam and Tirukkural to the Tamil public. His commentary on the complete text of Tirukkural called Kuraloviyam was in his own words, “an attempt to cover the Himalayas with a shawl.” Regarding his experience of writing what he chose to call Tolkappiyappunga, he states,
And now, I desired to enter into the flower-garden of Tolkappiyam, go around in it with diligence and care and make a selection of a hundred blossoms and make them the object of my enjoyment. This I did with extreme hesitation as does a damsel entering a flower garden and plucking as many flowers as her tresses would hold even though she desired to pluck all the flowers in the garden and deck her head with them.
In The Flower – Garden of Tolkappiyam, one hundred verses (nurpas) chosen from all the three parts of the unique grammatical treatise are re-presented in the idiom of contemporary Tamil employing a variety of techniques to explicate them in such a way that they may be understood by the layman.
Kalaignar chooses appropriate settings for the introduction of the verses, the rationale being the degree of difficulty involved in the interpretation and simplification of the verse concerned. The first “Blossom” pictures Tolkappiyar earnestly engaged in beginning the monumental work.
Tolkappiyar, our fatherly author of Tamil grammar, wrote down the title ‘The Letters of the Alphabet’ and remained engrossed in deep thoughts. The great treasure of the grammar of Tamil language and literature started taking shape in his dreams.
Even as his eyelids remained closed, the white of the eyeballs was sending out streaks of lustre through the corners of the eye just as rice peeps out of the grain that remained soaked in rain waters for long.
Before ploughing the stylus through the palm leaves, there was his mind ploughing deep within.
Are not letters essential for one to make a book, just as one needs the chisel for carving out a statue and the brush for painting?
A discerning reader will know that this is a subtle parody of the Ithihasas and Puranas in Sanskrit and Tamil in which some kind of divine origin or association would be claimed.
Besides providing the right kind of backdrop and motivating the learner, most openings are arresting as they assume the form of an anecdote or even a short story.
In a classical dusky scenario enacted in the west, the golden Apollo was being slowly swallowed by darkness of night. Consequently, the crescent moon resembled the part of a broken coconut in Lord Gancsha’s temple. In that hamlet’s temple – tank even the croaking of toads sounded distant and low.
Two men – both middle – aged with torn, black hat, gaping khaki shirt and folded dirty dhoti – were lurking in the bushes near the hutments. Both of them were holding shining knives. The hamlet was predominant with hutments, the sole bungalow standing apart being the only exception. The two shady characters were prowling near that bungalow. In that hamlet, predominantly inhabited by poor masses, thieves were probably eyeing that lone bungalow. Both of them keep gesticulating to each other. At last one of them gathered courage to peer inside the house through the balcony. Nothing seemed obvious in the house dimly illuminated by a lantern. Though the eyes failed him, his ears came to his rescue.
The distinct mumbling sound a, i, u, e, o emanated from a young female. The man on the balcony said, “Seems a pregnant woman is in travail.”
Both of them listened intently even as the grumbling stretched on. It was followed by an elderly woman’s voice, “One mattirai, one mattirai” The startled thieves remarked, “Seems the midwife is asking the woman to have a tablet.”
This is how the introduction to Tolkappiyar’s verse on mattirai attracts the reader’s attention. The writer exploits the pun on the Tamil word ‘mattirai’ which represents a unit of time in the pronunication of sounds and also means ‘tablet’.
Often the urge to propagate the Dravidian ideals and the passionate desire to emphasize the unity of the Tamil race, and to glorify the Tamil language, literature and culture may be quite evident in the brief introductions.
It was a glorious hall, adorned with the portraits of illustrious Tamil kings, renowned poets and filled with audience eager to taste the manna of Tamil discourse. Valavan, a Tamil Scholar and an intellectual with a broad forehead, penetrating eyes, slightly grey sprouting beard and blessed with ideas like an everflowing river, was lecturing on the title ‘Race’ (‘inam’).
The origin of various races in the world, the way they prospered, and the interaction and conflict between them were delineated with precision and historical evidences along with the researchers’ unambiguous views. Valavan’s discourse proved to be a feast as well as a medicine for the audience. “Now let me explain the rise and fall of our Tamil race,” announced Valavan after stealing a glance at the audience who were unconsciously drooping their heads like a bunch of lotus flowers in stooping posture due to the weight of their own petals.
Valavan spoke, “The Tamilians are one race, but Tamil itself constitutes three races. The speakers of the language form one race. How then is their language divided into three races?
Yes, gentlemen, what this humble man of yours states is an irrefutable truth! In our Tamil language the consonants can be divided into three races (categories).
This is the bait thrown to the reader who is taught the verse on the three classes of consonants in Tamil. And the advice to the Tamils comes at the end of the lesson:
Do think about this. When vallinam, mellinam, and itaiyinam blend together and make a lustrous entity called Tamil, is it correct on the part of the Tamilians to be divided into so many groups? The gathering dispersed and the youth took leave of each other after discussing among themselves this nagging question: When the word Tamil is formed by the blending of letters from three different classes, should the Tamil race stand divided?” There was only a deep sigh.
In Tamil, there was a widely practised tradition of addressing every stanza in a didactic poem to a lady (makatuu munnilai) whose beauty is described in a short or a long phrase which will induce the reader to memorize and remember the stanza; Kalaignar keeps up this tradition by employing a similar strategy. A scene of passionate love- making may precede the explanation of a stanza whose import may be made clear by the way the scene is presented.
She was an exquisite beauty, full moon of the month of Cittirai. Her curvaceous form could break even the celibacy vows of Lord Siva. She was a blossom by age but her body was not past a bud. She stood before a cascade and her eyes lusted upon the well – built figure of a handsome male bathing nude. Unaware of her presence, he bathed nude in the cascade which changed her flustering to a flare-up of passion.
Without bothering about her neat dress, she pounced upon the bathing man to his dismay.
“My dear, why are you quivering?” The cheeky girl enquired and made her mark upon his lips.
This account is used to illustrate the rule about the functioning of utampatumei (intrusive consonant), according to which
Where the preceding word’s final
And the succeeding word’s beginning
Are both vowels,
The intervention of an intrusive consonant (y or v)
Is not forbidden.
And the lady asks her teacher-lover: “Aren’t we a fine example of this phenomenon? When grammar endorses coalescing of uyir (vowels), why cannot it be extended to our bodies?”
Kalaignar himself defends this strategy in the section on cariyai (empty morph):
Explaining grammar is not my sole objective in this work. It is an attempt at aiding learners of Tolkappiyam to retain in mind the significant aspects of grammatical norms and principles.
Though apologetic about it, he draws in a few illustrations from the world of politics also.
In the second world war, the nations owing allegiance to America were pitted against Hitler - led Germany and its friendly countries. That the Axis countries and the Allied countries each were dependent upon the dominant partners which possessed enormous power at their disposal is an irrefutable fact. History could neither forget nor deny it.
The situation is related to the bygone era of the second world war.
In the modern age, though not at the level of nations, the political parties in a country invariably form alliances with like – minded parties to capture power or to elect the President.
Though the major parties possess the resources to face the electorate on their own, since there is nothing wrong in adding strength to their alliance, they take precautions to forge alliances with various small organizations. Therefore, political fronts consisting of various parties emerge.
Minor parties sans individuality find themselves compelled to join such fronts.
This is the prelude to the elucidation of the verse on the three letters kurriyalikaram, kurriyalukaram and aytam.
The three secondary phonemes (shortened i, shortened u and k).
Discerned to be dependent and sans distinctiveness,
Have for their places of articulation
The organs of their respective primary phonemes,
And yet speaking relatively,
They are marked by natures of their own.
A master story-teller, who has observed life closely, Kalaignar is able to choose his settings from various walks of life and to present them realistically. With a few strokes of his pen, he can present a scene before our mind’s eye. It may be a mutt or a printing press or a festival or a college classroom but three or four sentences will do to transport the reader to that world where he has to suspend his disbelief and allow himself to be led by the author.
It was a mutt looking like a palace, adorned with a front hall that resembled Hari engrossed in deep sleep over the mythical snake athiseshan. A young ascetic was sitting on the veranda of that mutt looking forward to the arrival of somebody.
The cart – driver holding on the Mayilai bullocks and saying “We have arrived at Karunaiyananta Press”, Kaliyaperumal leaning comfortably in the cart, alighted with a bag in his hands.
In the prebifurcated North Arcot District, all the bisexuals from various parts of the country converged for the annual kuvokam festival commemorating the sacrifice of Aravan. In the festival marked by gaiety, eunuchs dressed in colourful make ups and dresses, performed the traditional Kummi dance in various groups, much to the amusement of gasping youngsters and oldies alike.
The Tamil professor made an announcement in the classroom of the college: “Students, I announce a competition to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Tamil scholar Thiru. Vi. Ka. The best among you who scripts a scene characterizing a man and a woman in a beautiful manner, in sweet, charming Tamil by conforming to the established rules of old Tamil tradition and history would bag a prize of literature books worth rupees five thousand. Well then! You can as well start now and read your work to me before the end of the class.
Though the Flower – Garden of Tolkappiyam is apparently meant for the common reader, Kalaignar includes scholarly and well – researched commentaries whenever they are warranted by the verses.
What the word ‘Antanar’ as used by Tolkappiyar means is subjected to a scholarly analysis.
‘Antanar’ does not refer to the Aryans; nor ‘marai’ points to their Vedas. Among the Tamilians, the intellectuals are referred to as Antanar while their great works are held as works of scripture. Therefore, kindly don’t give credit to somebody else for the work of our scholars. It is wrong, a sin even, to forget our unique achievements ourselves, and to stand by others who gloss over such achievement.
It is evident that Kalaignar is well – acquainted with the learned writings on Tolkappiyam including those of Vellaivarananar, a doyen among Tolkappiyam specialists.
Wherever due, Vellaivaranar does not fail to deny the existence of caste system in those days. He shows in his scholarly and objective study Literary History of Tolkappiyat Tamil that the social castes were a much later development in Tamilnadu.
He observes,
Tolkappiyam Marapiyal verses 71-85 that deal with four castes are the interpolations of a later period. Tolkappiyar classifies people in terms of the landscape divisions, and not on the basis of their colour (varnam) anywhere in his treatment of the living modes of people in the earlier sections. The marapiyal section deals with only the conventions that were in vogue in his day relating to male – female distinctions and young ones (vide verses 1-70 and 86-90). Verses 71-85 on castes represent a break in this order being added later.
KURALOVIYAM
Kaliagnar’s valiant attempt at popularizing Tolkappiyam began a decade ago and with this single work The Flower-garden of Tolkappiaym, he has achieved a lot. In the case of Tirukkural, a gift of the Tamil saint Valluvar to the whole world, Kalaignar’s labour of love started when he was in his twenties and continues to this day. If every Tamilian swears by Tirukkural today, and if it is cherished as the Bible, the Koran and the Vedas of the Tamils, it is largely due to the efforts taken by Kalaignar through all possible avenues.
A comprehensive and penetrating study of ethics, polity and love, dating back at least to the second century A.D., Tirukkural consists of 1330 couplets divided into 133 sections of 10 distiches each. The first thirty eight are on Aram (virtue, moral and cosmic order), the next seventy on Porul (wealth, social life and political skill) and the last twenty five on Kamam (pleasure). The first four chapters, beginning with one in praise of God, serve as a kind of prologue to the entire work while the rest of the chapters in Part I, expatiating on righteousness, define the virtues associated with family life and asceticism. In the second part which purports to be on the body politic, there are sections on (1) kingship (2) limbs of state such as the minister, the country, the fortress, the army and the king’s associates and finally (3) the subjects. The third part in its two broad sections, dealing with secret courtship and wedded love, presents a number of dramatic scenes, each of which is brief but striking and contains a refined analysis of varying moods of lovers in a rare fusion of psychology and aesthetics.
The sub-divisions in the first two parts are not to be treated as water-tight compartments. Many of the virtues listed in the first part are common to the householder and the ascetic and most of the verses in the second part are equally applicable to the king and the common man.
Valluvar is interested in general and universal rules of conduct and arrives at conclusions that are not particular to his time but valid for all time. His method is to define every virtue precisely, explain its merits elaborately and to advocate it forcefully. “He attempts to persuade men to pursue the path of righteousness by appealing to them earnestly, by commanding them solemnly, by wheedling them into agreeing, by pleading with them effectively, by promising them with immediate rewards, by frightening them into submission or by threatening them with dire consequences.” Relying as much on logical reasoning as on emotional appeal, he presents his ideas as time-tested and approved by generations of wise men. The readers hear the voice of an affectionate mother, of a well-meaning father, of a wise statesman, of an eloquent orator or a commanding lawmaker. The prescriptions in Tirukkural are in the form of moving appeals or veiled threats. The reader learns that virtue will finally be triumphant whereas vice is repulsive.
Tirukkural is at once a moral treatise and a work of art of the highest order. It employs throughout a single metre, the Kuralvenpa which is perfectly suited to gnomic poetry. The first line of every couplet consists of four feet and the second of three; only feet of two or three metric units (acai) are used. This tight structure does not exercise a break on Valluvar’s imagination or prevent him from using profusely common as well as rare literary devices. In short couplets, the author has managed to compress many of the profound thoughts that have ever been uttered by poets or philosophers.
When it comes to cosmopolitanism and internationalism Tiruvalluvar scores heavily over all the Western thinkers. Given his world-view, he would have nothing to do with any single caste, creed, race, religion, society or nation. All men and women are his kin and every place on this earth is his.
With regard to the composition of Kuraloviyam, Kalaignar himself states that the work was begun in 1956 and that he wrote 300 chapters of commentaries on 354 couplets over a period of thirty years. It is an unusually long period for Kalaignar who, as a writer, holds several records to his credit. But the task must have proved to be exacting since the secondary sources on Tirukkural are legion.
Every kural that Kalaignar examines is given a profound elucidation for the benefit of the lay reader. But the bitter controversies over Valluvar’s world-view, his religion, and his views on a number of subjects are closely studied and not skirted. What is Valluvar’s concept of God? Does he really believe in God? If he believes in one, is it a Hindu, or a Jain or a Buddhist or a Christian God? Though the first chapter of Tirukkural is called invocation and consists of ten couplets in praise of God, they lend themselves to differing interpretations by vested interests. There is also the claim that the first four chapters called “Payiram” were not written by Valluvar at all. Now Kalaignar finds a way out while commenting on the fiftieth couplet included in the chapter on family life. It says that he who pursues his domestic course on earth in the manner it should be done will be placed among the gods in heaven. Kalaignar points out that one that lives one’s family life true to its calling will be treated like a god supposed to live in heaven. And in support of his argument, he adds that all the attributes of god as listed in the first chapter – “the primeval god”, “the one that is the very image of intellect”, “the one that is beyond likes and dislikes”, “the one that has no equal”, “the one that is the ocean of virtue”, “the one of eightfold virtue” – are only the qualities desired of an ideal human being. According to Kalaignar, Valluvar demands that every human being aspire for such a position.
Does Valluvar believe in a cycle of births? All the three major religions of India – Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism – contend that every human being is fated to pass through an endless series of births. Some of the Tamil Siddhas were of the view that just as the flowers that have withered and fallen cannot get back to the tree, just as the butter churned out cannot be absorbed back into the buttermilk and just as the cow’s milk cannot get back to the udder, no life that has left a body will be able to rejoin it. Valluvar refers to the proverbial seven births in one of his couplets: “The learning that a man acquires in one birth will stand him in good stead through all the seven.”
Kalaignar argues that this couplet speaks thus to glorify the value of education and that it does not mean that Valluvar has accepted the belief in seven births for a human being. He draws our attention to what Valluvar says in another couplet in the thirty-sixth chapter called “Knowledge of Reality”. If the reality is pondered over deep and discerned well, one need not nurse any thought about another birth.” (Kural 357)
“Valluvar’s ultimate intention in these couplets is that one should realize the value of education and possess the grit to probe reality. They do not categorically state his belief in more than one birth.”
Another couplet that has been misinterpreted down the ages is in the chapter called “Stressing the value of righteous conduct.”
Do not speak of the way of righteous conduct pointing to the one that is seated in a palanquin and the one that bears it. (Kural 37)
Kalaignar says that we won’t be doing justice to Valluvar’s profound vision of life if we take it to mean that the one who does good deeds in this birth will have the privilege of being borne in a palanquin in the next birth whereas the one who is wicked in this birth will have to labour hard as a palanquin bearer in the next birth. The couplet actually means that the one that follows the path of virtue will find life smooth and face all problems with equanimity like the rider in a palanquin whereas the one that follows the path of vice will find life hard and miserable like the bearer of a palanquin.
In a chapter called “Worth of Wife” there is a couplet which, as it is traditionally interpreted by Perimelazhakar and others, is anathema to all modern readers in general and to feminists in particular. It has been taken to mean that if the woman who worships no god but her husband bids, “let it rain,” it will rain forthwith. This is similar to what Milton says about Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost: “He for God alone; she for God in him.” But Valluvar who is all praise for women treating them as men’s equals could not have given her such an inferior position as the kural seems to imply. Some of our contemporary rationalists including Bharatidasan are of the view that “the woman who worships no god but her husband is like the rain that pours down when it is desired for.” Kalaignar supports this interpretation adding that such a woman is, to her husband, like the rain, one of the greatest benefactors of mankind.
To drive home the truths enunciated in the couplets, Kalaignar chooses his illustrative examples from ancient Tamil legends, from the biographies of world leaders and historical personages as well as from day-to-day occurrences. The selfless life of Prabhavati, the wife of Jayaprakash Narayan, is presented as an example of the ideal wife portrayed by Valluvar.
She who guards her honour and tends her man and keeps their name unsullied is the one that deserves the title of wife (Kural 56).
A brief account of the courageous Marutu brothers’ heroic fight against the British serves to clarify the meaning of the couplet,
Even if they face several problems in life men of undisconcerted discernment will do no dishnourable deed (Kural 654).
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is brought in to illustrate the case of the fate of the pleasure – seeking rulers who forget their duties.
“Whenever you feel a wild ecstatic happiness, be reminded of those ruined by forgetfulness”. (Kural 539).
From some Sangam poems we learn that one chieftain called Atiyaman Netuman Anci was prepared to give a life-giving fruit to the poetess Avvaiyar without himself eating it. That episode is appropriately cited as an example of the ideal family man described in a couplet.
It is indecorous to take one’s meal keeping the visiting guests waiting outside even if it were the elixir of life (Kural 82).
Vinoba Bhave’s saintly heroism is celebrated in the commentary on a couplet on penance.
The might gained by penance can see one triumph even over death (Kural 269).
The story of the northern kings Kanakan and Vijayan who had to pay a heavy price for having no control over their tongue is recounted to explain a couplet on the art of speaking.
Since prosperity and ruin issue from speech you should guard your tongue against thoughtless deeds (Kural 642).
The model life of sacrifice led by the wife of Karl Marx is described in the commentary on a couplet about the ideal wife a man can dream of.
She who stands in true worth befitting domestic calling and spending within her husband’s income is the ideal conjugal partner (Kural 51).
The legendary relationship between Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and Rajaji serves to illustrate a couplet on friendship.
Friendship of the wise partake of the nature of the waxing crescent; fools’ friendship resembles the waning moon (Kural 782).
The exemplary behaviour of Socrates on the last day of his life becomes the theme of a discourse on the couplet which is supposed to define courtesy and affability.
Those who are desirous of benignity will drink poison unperturbed even if they see it poured with open eyes (Kural 580).
By these re-visits and re-presentations, Kalaignar is able to impart his knowledge of the gems of the world’s best classics to the common Tamil reader and to share the aesthetic delight he experienced with the learned.
Van Pukazh Konda Valluvan is a worthy addition to the treasure-trove of commentary on Tirukkural.
Kalaippezhaiyum Kavitaiccaviyum
The New Historicism gaining prominence during the last three decades has considerably reduced the gap between literature and history. By juxtaposing a literary text and a historical document of more or less the same period, this approach helps us learn a lot about the life of a particular society. Showing a combined interest in the textuality of history and the historicity of texts, it breaks down the barriers between a literary text and other kinds of social production. Greenblatt, the founding father of New Historicism, claimed that it enabled him to have a delightful dialogue with the dead. The poems in Kalaingar Karunanidhi’s Kalappezhaiyum Kavitaiccaviyum bring together literature and history at two levels. They attempt to derive the political, social and cultural history of the ancient Tamil land from the celebrated Sangam classics and the extant historical evidences; the history thus gleaned is turned into charming poetry. There is thus a simultaneous transformation of literature into history and history into literature. Going far beyond the New historicists, the poet-historian almost totally obliterates the distance between history and literature. Besides presenting the formidable Tamil heroes and their epoch-making achievements, the volume highlights the grandeur of Sangam lyrics by rendering them into a Tamil easy to comprehend and extremely pleasing.
As soon as Tamil was declared a classical language, he sounded a clarion call for an upsurge of interest in promoting the cause of Classical Tamil. Now that the dawn of Classical Tamil (Chemmozhi Vidiyal) has taken place, it behoves our young men and women to realize that the Sangam corpus is a repository of our unique culture and to convey their message and the vision of life embodied in them to the world.
But he was not going to leave the entire task to the academics and keep watching resignedly whatever they did. In fact, he himself had been at it for a long time and nothing – not even the most dreadful of political challenges – could prevent him from girding up his loins and getting into the field with redoubled vigour. He had been harbouring a grievance against the historians that began the story of Indian civilization from the shores of the Ganges. The time had now come when he would set the record straight. It is not as if no evidence can be traced for a reliable account of the political and social history of the ancient Tamils. Ancient Tamil writings in the form of Ettuttokai, Pattuppattu, Cilappatikaram and Manimekalai were still available though a lot more had been unfortunately consumed by fire, water and white ants because of the indifference of the Tamils themselves or of the conspiracies of the cunning enemies of Tamil. But then deeply immersing himself in what was extant, he realized that there was much that was worth salvaging.
In this collection of poems, more than once he stresses the importance and the dire need to trace the history of Tamilnadu by opening the treasure trove of time with the help of the verse key available in the form of Sangam writings. To those that contend that it is utterly useless to keep speaking of the past glory of a community, his stern reply is that a race will be able to learn valuable lessons from its past achievements and misdeeds and to fare forward with greater courage and confidence.
We can face the onrushing foes
Only if we are armed
With the sword-and-shield of our history (42).
Although historians like Ramachandra Dhikshitar have with enough evidence demonstrated that it was Tamil culture that had spread to the Kumari Continent, Indus Valley, Egypt and Sumeria, we have not made an attempt to gain anything out of the stupendous revelation, whereas strangers to that culture have been capitalizing on that. To those that ask what harm will overtake us if we live without evincing any interest in our history, Kalaignar’s answer is that if it is acceptable to a human being to live without the head or the neck or the tongue or the teeth, the Tamils are welcome to be indifferent to their age-old tradition.
When in his poems he went into raptures over the ancientness and excellence of the Dravidian race, there were people who asked, “Why should you heat up the tea of Aryan-Drvidian distinction when it has become cold?” He directs their attention to the writings of P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Sesha Iyengar and Surya Narayana Sastriar who, in their scholarly works, do not fight shy of comparing the two races. Mentioning that of the sixty-eight excavations which witnessed to the presence of Roman gold coins in ancient India, fifty-seven took place in the southern part of the nation, he adds that this piece of information may appear to be insignificant to those that would like to black out Dravidian history. It is for the future benefit of our young men and women that the past has to be dug out with care and concern. Only if we keep harping on the antiquity of the Dravidian race will our “young coconut saplings grow into mighty teaks” (135).
He also dilates on the harmful consequenes of starting the history of India from the Ganges and not from the Kaviri. Though an eminent historian like Vincent Smith has explicitly stated that the Indian history should begin from the deep south, our academic historians continue to completely ignore the ancient Tamil land in their works. In Kalaingar’s view, “It is like pouring water on the branches of a tree avoiding the roots and the stem” (158). As early as 1945, he voiced his concern that the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas of the Tamil land were conspicuous by their absence in the contemporary textbooks of history.
There is no history!
There, alas, is no history
On the shores of the Kaviri
Or of the speeding Pennai!
Woes to the Tamil land!
It all began, they say,
From the Ganges!
Who witnessed the reign
Of the Pandyas?
Who carved the history
Of the reputed Cheras?
Have they ever sung
The Cholas’ prosperity?
In which celebrated place
Did the Cheras reside?
Why did the heroic Pandyas
Fall upon evil days?
How did cowardly concepts
Come crowding into the busy land
Where the Cholas sauntered?
Such questions arose
Disturbing the depressed mind (256-57).
In The Treasure Trove of Time and the Verse Key, Kalaignar converts a series of episodes from the lives of ancient Tamil kings into poetic scenes. These have been carefully gleaned from ancient Tamil texts and authentic historical documents. There is evidence to show that during an incredibly early period, the Tamils went by ship to distant lands to conduct their trade. The history of Tontaiman Ilantiraiyan born to a Chola prince and Pilivalai reveals that more than four thousand years ago Pumpukar flourished and had contacts with the land of the Nagas. In the third century B.C., the Mauryas were defeated at Mokur by Ilancetcenni, a Chola king who was praised by the Tamil poets as “Ceruppali erinta Ilancetcenni.” Pandiyan Peruvaluti sent an ambassador to the famed Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar in 20 B.C. The Tamil kings had sturdy, sword-wielding Romans as their able guardsmen in their palaces and warcamps.
It has to be said here that vindicating Kalaingar’s stand, new evidence has emerged during the last decade. Recent research in the field of archaeology corroborates the evidence provided by literature with regard to the antiquity of the Sangam Age. New excavations in places such as Aticcanallur, Korkai, Mankuti, Karur, Perur, Vallam, Uraiyur and a host of other sites have enabled the archaelogists to revise their earlier views.
Besides these, Kotumanal, Mayilatumparai and Tantikkuti excavations have yielded a lot of valuable information about ancient Tamil culture. The historians now believe that the transition from the late IronAge to the Sangam period would have taken place around the sixth century B.C.
The charming recounting of Kalaignar’s version of ancient Tamil history includes rapid-fire questions about certain historical and literary issues leading to his original response to them. The brief but learned discussions of the following problems as addressed by him arrest our attention: Where was the first human being born? How did the Kumari continent come to be called Lemuria? Who was the Pandya king who sent a team of ambassadors to Augustus Caesar? By whom was Atitta Karikalan, the elder brother of Rajarajan, assassinated? What was the role of Rajarajan himself in the tragic historical occurrence? On which date was Rajarajan born? Was the Pallava capital Kanchi situated in Tamilnadu or Andhra Pradesh? Did Kannaki have a happy married life before Kovalan left her to live with Matavi? How did many of the ancient Tamil texts disappear? When was the Akam-Puram discourse overshadowed by the Ikam-param discussion?
Although the book consists of fifty-eight poems in free verse and appears to be episodic in nature, the underlying theme that unites these pieces is that Tamil culture is ancient and unique and has an unbroken tradition. Each poem being independent and self-contained may, of course, be read in isolation and enjoyed. But no reader interested in the grandeur of the age-old tradition can afford to miss any of the poems. The structure of every poem is in accordance with its subject matter. Some pieces consist of fairly long lines, a few of very short lines, and others mix long and short lines. The first poem entitled ‘Potu Ulakam’ begins with very short lines; ‘Ankanku Ataiyala Muttirai” opens with short lines and ends with long lines. In many poems, prose is interspersed with verse. Historical documents, quotations and references to contemporary events are all given in prose. The thirteenth poem, which is on Karavelan’s defeat, includes Appaduraiyar’s historical notes in prose. “Kanaka Vicayar Kal Cumanta Varalaru” has short lines in verse at the beginning but metamorphoses into a one-act play of three short scenes. In the course of some poems, one or more Sangam verses are quoted verbatim and their interpretations in simple modern Tamil verse follow for the benefit of the common reader. Many Sangam poems are lucidly rendered into verse in Kalaignar’s characteristic style. The poem that announces the dawn of Chemmozhi (Classical Tamil) catalogues in rhythmic verse the names of thirty-odd formidable women poets of the Sangam period.
In most of the poems, there is a deft handling of similes of Kalaignar’s own fused with traditional ones, bearing ample testimony to his thorough acquaintance with ancient Tamil texts. The poem entitled ‘Uvamai Alakukku Uriya Paricu Ennavam?” (What reward does the beauty of the simile deserve?”) pays a glowing tribute to the simile used by Ayyur Mulakilar to drive home the impossibility of getting back the fortress captured by Ukkirapperuvaluti. Inspired as it is by hundreds of such similes in ancient, medieval and modern Tamil writings, Kalaignar’s cretive power doesn’t lag behind. For this collection of poems itself, he has chosen a double metaphor as a suitable title: The Treasure Trove of Time and the Verse Key. In a situation where vandalism has played havoc with historical remnants and in the absence of adequate historical documents, he has to use Tamil poems as a key to open the box of time containing the valuable history of the Tamils.
The hypocrites who glorify women in public but do them incalculable harm behind the scenes are described by him as the ones that accomplish their ends “hiding themselves like the teeth at the back of the mouth” (22). Having been instigated by jealousy, some wanted to ruin the joy of the couple, Attanatti and Atimanti. Their motiveless malignity is exquisitely brought out in a simile:
How can the bitter-hearted bear the sight
Of the eating of a jackfruit
By people in the neighbouring houses? (107)
The ships that were found in large numbers in the sea of Tamilnadu are likened to “the serial set of bulbs burning bright” (119). If there had been absolutely no evidence to trace the history of the Tamils, we would have been rendered useless as “the matches drenched in water and no lamps of history would have been lit” (127). The Cholas were unable to rule the land following Tiruvalluvar’s instructions because the aliens had entered the land “hiding themselves like black cats in the dark” (161). Even though Rajaraja Cholan’s enemies were spreading scandals about his involvement in the assassination of his brother Atitta Karikalan, he was not disturbed but remained firm doing his good deeds for his Tamil land. And the poet asks, “Will an iron pillar wear off when touched by the wings of flies?” (213). During the otherwise glorious rule of the Cholas, Tamil had to decline yielding place to Sanskrit. This infamous development was like “the pouring of buttermilk into milk” (231).
In order to describe the destruction of Kavatapuram by a katalkoll (tsunami), Kalaignar brings in numerous mixed metaphors.
Their delight did not last long; as though
Challenging it, the wild dance of
Nature started six months later
In Kapatapuram; in the grip
Of a demon, Nature unleashed
A savage attack on the waves of
The big sea with a gigantic
Iron hand and the whole area
Became a forest of dense darkness.
Making a loud deep thunder-like noise,
Lashing like flashes of lightning,
Entering the sea as an earthquake,
Nature played havoc with the two
Rivers which became one, changed
Course, shifted from one place to
Another and finally disappeared;
Who can assess the impact of
Nature’s fury? After the demon
Of the deluge destroying all
Ended its wild dance, peace showed
Its head; yes, it showed the damage
Done in that long wide open space!
There was no trace of human life.
While reading the independent poems in the order in which they have been strung together, anyone will be assailed by a variety of emotions. It is with an overwhelming sense of pride that the history of the Tamils is narrated by Kalaignar whose enthusiasm is exceedingly infectious. We rejoice at the breath-taking account of the series of victories by the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas but this delight is tinged with sadness whenever we remember – and that is bound to happen too frequently – that these three Tamil clans, who, in Parimelazhakar’s view, had existed from time immemorial, often fought among themselves though they belonged to the same race and were related to one another through marriage also. We are deeply shocked when Kalaignar ends the account on a tragic note expressing his profound regret over the historical fact that the three great monarchic families that flourished for several centuries ultimately destroyed themselves by internecine wars. It is a thousand pities that though they were known for their heroism, wisdom, courage, determination, physical strength, dignity and boundless generosity, they lacked racial unity and it was the tragic flaw that brought about their ruin.
There is an outburst of righteous indignation whenever he has to report the foolish or wicked deeds of any of the Tamil kings. The later Cholas, especially Rajarajan and Rajendiran, had numerous achievements to their credit but it was during their heyday that Tamil was being replaced by Sanskrit. Kalaignar is unequivocal in his condemnation of this aspect of their reign. We can hear a melancholy piece of music when he mentions the strange coronation that takes place on a battlefield where Rajendiran crowns himself king immediately after his elder brother is killed by the Chalukyas.
‘Should thirty thousand men lay down
Their lives for one man to get crowned?’
A Jain saint singing thus passed by
The battlefield and this sight was one
That would bring ponds and lakes of tears
Even into the eyes of the merciless!’
A Chola king’s ill-treatment of two Chalukya ambassadors comes under severe censure and Kalaignar calls it a blot on the Chola history.
Although the work as a whole has a serious underyling theme, humour is not lacking. He is a master punster who is very adept at playing with words in his speeches and writings. He makes at least a couple of puns in every poem but, unfortunately, they can’t be effectively conveyed in English. To be sure, there are other instances of humour which are translatable. In the poem on Rajarajan, there is a passing mention of the five, six wives of the Chola king gathering together for one of the rare meetings, with their husband. But much to our amusement, we realize that he has actually eleven wives when their long names are listed by the poet! In the poem on Picirantaiyar, we come across a hilarious scene depicting the display of love of an old couple in the preence of their grandchildren.
Kalaignar has consulted numerous primary and secondary sources as the substance of the poems in this collection would demand strenuous research. Tolkappiyam, Tirukkural and the Sangam corpus are, of course, works in which he has had a life-long interest. They have nourished him and his life-time ambition has been to get them world-wide recognition in all possible ways. Of Sangam anthologies, four-Purananuru, Akananuru, Netunalvatai and Patirruppattu-are understandably given supreme importance here and they must have been constantly consulted by him. Paranar, Nakkirar, Kallatanar, Itaikkunrurkkilar, Picirantaiyar, Kalattalaiyar, Vennikkuyattiyar, Nakkannaiyar, Mamulanar, Atimantiyar, Cattantaiyar, Alatturkizhar, Itaikkatanar, Erukkatturttayan kannanar, Ayyur Mutavanar, Mulankilar, Kutapulaviyanar, Mankutimarutanar, Karik kilar, Nettimaiyar, Netumpalliyattanar and Pantiyan Netunceliyan are the poets whose poems are here highlighted through commentaries and renderings into simple modern Tamil. Some scenes from the epics, Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai and Kuntalakeci have been re-presented as poetic dramas. Kalaignar doesn’t shy away from Bhakti writings such as Tevaram, Tiruvacakam and even Periyapuranam, which are alluded to wherever there is a need. When the victories of Tamil kings are recorded with documentary evidence, he brings in Ottakkuttar and Ceyankontar, the last one having been his favorite since boyhood. The poems of Bharati and Bharatidasan and the essays and speeches of his mentor Arignar Anna in which he had immersed himself even as an adolescent provide him not only with words, phrases and images but with ideas also.
Besides great literary works, plenty of historical writings have served as his indispensable secondary sources. The notes of the Chinese pilgrim Yuan Tsang, Rahula Sangrityayan’s collection of historical short stories, Jawaharlal Nehru’s Glimpses of World History, Ramachandra Dhikshidar’s The Origin and Spread of the Tamils, Appaduraiyar’s Tennattupporkal, P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar’ History of the Tamils, Mayilai Cini Venkatacami’s Makentiran’s Varalaru, Ayyam Perumal Konar’s Pantiyar Varalaru, Mankala Murukesan’s Pallavar Varalaru and Zograf’s A Survey of Languages of India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Nepal have all been thoroughly explored. The writings of Paritimarkalaignar, Peraciriyar Cuntaranar, Sadasivappandarattar, Avvai Duraisami, Nilakanda Sastriyar, and Ma. Iracamanikkanar and historical documents such as the copper plates of Cinnamanur were not spared.
If, in addition to exquisite poetry, he has been able to impart a fund of knowledge relating to Tamil history, it is because he has delved into many works on the subject.
Tolkappiyappuunga
Tolkappaiyam is a unique grammatical treatise which, in its three parts deals with the letter, the word and the subject matter of poetry, each of which is examined in nine smaller subsections called iyal. In about 1600 stanzas (nurpa), it describes the Tamil alphabet, sounds, rhetoric, prosody and poetics.
Tolkappiyar’s poetics will, by and large, fall under the category of classicism. It stands by tradition in as much as it recommends the characteristic features of the poetic writings that had existed before and during his time. He lists thirty-four aspects of a poem which are significantly called “limbs” of a ceyyul (what is made). All the regulations, definitions and distinctions mentioned by Tolkappiyar make it clear that in his conception of the poetic process, conscious labour plays a major role. The inner voice and the mysterious power of creation stressed by the Romantics have practically no place in this theory. This is very different from what the ancient Greeks and Romans thought about poetry but close to the ideas of twentieth century western poets and critics.
The uniqueness of Tolkappiyam as an ancient grammatical treatise and the achievement of Tolkappiyar as a linguist have been acknowledged by some leading western authorities on the subject. Tokappiyar’s description of the Tamil phonemes at a time when there was no recourse to any of the scientific instruments which phoneticians could acquire only many centuries later and his comprehensive study of the whole of language, from the most ordinary level to the most poetic have earned him high praise and he has been deservingly hailed as the linguists’ ultimate Guru.
A doughty champion of the cause of Tamil, Ilakkuvanar says,
Among the extant works of ancient Tamil, Tolkappiyam alone is of aid to us in studying the ancient Tamil life in its varied manifestations. But it is being learned only by the students of Tamil for purposes of examination. Although it is a work of grammar, it is not like the grammatical texts in other languages. It embodies in itself current advances in linguistics and literary research being pursued with scholarly interest today in the West, as also studies in biology, psychology and in the art of living …. Let us, therefore, study the grammars of letters, words, literature and life through Tolkappiyar and establish the greatness of the Tamil land.
Kalaignar took upon himself the onerous task of taking both Tolkappiyam and Tirukkural to the Tamil public. His commentary on the complete text of Tirukkural called Kuraloviyam was in his own words, “an attempt to cover the Himalayas with a shawl.” Regarding his experience of writing what he chose to call Tolkappiyappunga, he states,
And now, I desired to enter into the flower-garden of Tolkappiyam, go around in it with diligence and care and make a selection of a hundred blossoms and make them the object of my enjoyment. This I did with extreme hesitation as does a damsel entering a flower garden and plucking as many flowers as her tresses would hold even though she desired to pluck all the flowers in the garden and deck her head with them.
In The Flower – Garden of Tolkappiyam, one hundred verses (nurpas) chosen from all the three parts of the unique grammatical treatise are re-presented in the idiom of contemporary Tamil employing a variety of techniques to explicate them in such a way that they may be understood by the layman.
Kalaignar chooses appropriate settings for the introduction of the verses, the rationale being the degree of difficulty involved in the interpretation and simplification of the verse concerned. The first “Blossom” pictures Tolkappiyar earnestly engaged in beginning the monumental work.
Tolkappiyar, our fatherly author of Tamil grammar, wrote down the title ‘The Letters of the Alphabet’ and remained engrossed in deep thoughts. The great treasure of the grammar of Tamil language and literature started taking shape in his dreams.
Even as his eyelids remained closed, the white of the eyeballs was sending out streaks of lustre through the corners of the eye just as rice peeps out of the grain that remained soaked in rain waters for long.
Before ploughing the stylus through the palm leaves, there was his mind ploughing deep within.
Are not letters essential for one to make a book, just as one needs the chisel for carving out a statue and the brush for painting?
A discerning reader will know that this is a subtle parody of the Ithihasas and Puranas in Sanskrit and Tamil in which some kind of divine origin or association would be claimed.
Besides providing the right kind of backdrop and motivating the learner, most openings are arresting as they assume the form of an anecdote or even a short story.
In a classical dusky scenario enacted in the west, the golden Apollo was being slowly swallowed by darkness of night. Consequently, the crescent moon resembled the part of a broken coconut in Lord Gancsha’s temple. In that hamlet’s temple – tank even the croaking of toads sounded distant and low.
Two men – both middle – aged with torn, black hat, gaping khaki shirt and folded dirty dhoti – were lurking in the bushes near the hutments. Both of them were holding shining knives. The hamlet was predominant with hutments, the sole bungalow standing apart being the only exception. The two shady characters were prowling near that bungalow. In that hamlet, predominantly inhabited by poor masses, thieves were probably eyeing that lone bungalow. Both of them keep gesticulating to each other. At last one of them gathered courage to peer inside the house through the balcony. Nothing seemed obvious in the house dimly illuminated by a lantern. Though the eyes failed him, his ears came to his rescue.
The distinct mumbling sound a, i, u, e, o emanated from a young female. The man on the balcony said, “Seems a pregnant woman is in travail.”
Both of them listened intently even as the grumbling stretched on. It was followed by an elderly woman’s voice, “One mattirai, one mattirai” The startled thieves remarked, “Seems the midwife is asking the woman to have a tablet.”
This is how the introduction to Tolkappiyar’s verse on mattirai attracts the reader’s attention. The writer exploits the pun on the Tamil word ‘mattirai’ which represents a unit of time in the pronunication of sounds and also means ‘tablet’.
Often the urge to propagate the Dravidian ideals and the passionate desire to emphasize the unity of the Tamil race, and to glorify the Tamil language, literature and culture may be quite evident in the brief introductions.
It was a glorious hall, adorned with the portraits of illustrious Tamil kings, renowned poets and filled with audience eager to taste the manna of Tamil discourse. Valavan, a Tamil Scholar and an intellectual with a broad forehead, penetrating eyes, slightly grey sprouting beard and blessed with ideas like an everflowing river, was lecturing on the title ‘Race’ (‘inam’).
The origin of various races in the world, the way they prospered, and the interaction and conflict between them were delineated with precision and historical evidences along with the researchers’ unambiguous views. Valavan’s discourse proved to be a feast as well as a medicine for the audience. “Now let me explain the rise and fall of our Tamil race,” announced Valavan after stealing a glance at the audience who were unconsciously drooping their heads like a bunch of lotus flowers in stooping posture due to the weight of their own petals.
Valavan spoke, “The Tamilians are one race, but Tamil itself constitutes three races. The speakers of the language form one race. How then is their language divided into three races?
Yes, gentlemen, what this humble man of yours states is an irrefutable truth! In our Tamil language the consonants can be divided into three races (categories).
This is the bait thrown to the reader who is taught the verse on the three classes of consonants in Tamil. And the advice to the Tamils comes at the end of the lesson:
Do think about this. When vallinam, mellinam, and itaiyinam blend together and make a lustrous entity called Tamil, is it correct on the part of the Tamilians to be divided into so many groups? The gathering dispersed and the youth took leave of each other after discussing among themselves this nagging question: When the word Tamil is formed by the blending of letters from three different classes, should the Tamil race stand divided?” There was only a deep sigh.
In Tamil, there was a widely practised tradition of addressing every stanza in a didactic poem to a lady (makatuu munnilai) whose beauty is described in a short or a long phrase which will induce the reader to memorize and remember the stanza; Kalaignar keeps up this tradition by employing a similar strategy. A scene of passionate love- making may precede the explanation of a stanza whose import may be made clear by the way the scene is presented.
She was an exquisite beauty, full moon of the month of Cittirai. Her curvaceous form could break even the celibacy vows of Lord Siva. She was a blossom by age but her body was not past a bud. She stood before a cascade and her eyes lusted upon the well – built figure of a handsome male bathing nude. Unaware of her presence, he bathed nude in the cascade which changed her flustering to a flare-up of passion.
Without bothering about her neat dress, she pounced upon the bathing man to his dismay.
“My dear, why are you quivering?” The cheeky girl enquired and made her mark upon his lips.
This account is used to illustrate the rule about the functioning of utampatumei (intrusive consonant), according to which
Where the preceding word’s final
And the succeeding word’s beginning
Are both vowels,
The intervention of an intrusive consonant (y or v)
Is not forbidden.
And the lady asks her teacher-lover: “Aren’t we a fine example of this phenomenon? When grammar endorses coalescing of uyir (vowels), why cannot it be extended to our bodies?”
Kalaignar himself defends this strategy in the section on cariyai (empty morph):
Explaining grammar is not my sole objective in this work. It is an attempt at aiding learners of Tolkappiyam to retain in mind the significant aspects of grammatical norms and principles.
Though apologetic about it, he draws in a few illustrations from the world of politics also.
In the second world war, the nations owing allegiance to America were pitted against Hitler - led Germany and its friendly countries. That the Axis countries and the Allied countries each were dependent upon the dominant partners which possessed enormous power at their disposal is an irrefutable fact. History could neither forget nor deny it.
The situation is related to the bygone era of the second world war.
In the modern age, though not at the level of nations, the political parties in a country invariably form alliances with like – minded parties to capture power or to elect the President.
Though the major parties possess the resources to face the electorate on their own, since there is nothing wrong in adding strength to their alliance, they take precautions to forge alliances with various small organizations. Therefore, political fronts consisting of various parties emerge.
Minor parties sans individuality find themselves compelled to join such fronts.
This is the prelude to the elucidation of the verse on the three letters kurriyalikaram, kurriyalukaram and aytam.
The three secondary phonemes (shortened i, shortened u and k).
Discerned to be dependent and sans distinctiveness,
Have for their places of articulation
The organs of their respective primary phonemes,
And yet speaking relatively,
They are marked by natures of their own.
A master story-teller, who has observed life closely, Kalaignar is able to choose his settings from various walks of life and to present them realistically. With a few strokes of his pen, he can present a scene before our mind’s eye. It may be a mutt or a printing press or a festival or a college classroom but three or four sentences will do to transport the reader to that world where he has to suspend his disbelief and allow himself to be led by the author.
It was a mutt looking like a palace, adorned with a front hall that resembled Hari engrossed in deep sleep over the mythical snake athiseshan. A young ascetic was sitting on the veranda of that mutt looking forward to the arrival of somebody.
The cart – driver holding on the Mayilai bullocks and saying “We have arrived at Karunaiyananta Press”, Kaliyaperumal leaning comfortably in the cart, alighted with a bag in his hands.
In the prebifurcated North Arcot District, all the bisexuals from various parts of the country converged for the annual kuvokam festival commemorating the sacrifice of Aravan. In the festival marked by gaiety, eunuchs dressed in colourful make ups and dresses, performed the traditional Kummi dance in various groups, much to the amusement of gasping youngsters and oldies alike.
The Tamil professor made an announcement in the classroom of the college: “Students, I announce a competition to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Tamil scholar Thiru. Vi. Ka. The best among you who scripts a scene characterizing a man and a woman in a beautiful manner, in sweet, charming Tamil by conforming to the established rules of old Tamil tradition and history would bag a prize of literature books worth rupees five thousand. Well then! You can as well start now and read your work to me before the end of the class.
Though the Flower – Garden of Tolkappiyam is apparently meant for the common reader, Kalaignar includes scholarly and well – researched commentaries whenever they are warranted by the verses.
What the word ‘Antanar’ as used by Tolkappiyar means is subjected to a scholarly analysis.
‘Antanar’ does not refer to the Aryans; nor ‘marai’ points to their Vedas. Among the Tamilians, the intellectuals are referred to as Antanar while their great works are held as works of scripture. Therefore, kindly don’t give credit to somebody else for the work of our scholars. It is wrong, a sin even, to forget our unique achievements ourselves, and to stand by others who gloss over such achievement.
It is evident that Kalaignar is well – acquainted with the learned writings on Tolkappiyam including those of Vellaivarananar, a doyen among Tolkappiyam specialists.
Wherever due, Vellaivaranar does not fail to deny the existence of caste system in those days. He shows in his scholarly and objective study Literary History of Tolkappiyat Tamil that the social castes were a much later development in Tamilnadu.
He observes,
Tolkappiyam Marapiyal verses 71-85 that deal with four castes are the interpolations of a later period. Tolkappiyar classifies people in terms of the landscape divisions, and not on the basis of their colour (varnam) anywhere in his treatment of the living modes of people in the earlier sections. The marapiyal section deals with only the conventions that were in vogue in his day relating to male – female distinctions and young ones (vide verses 1-70 and 86-90). Verses 71-85 on castes represent a break in this order being added later.
KURALOVIYAM
Kaliagnar’s valiant attempt at popularizing Tolkappiyam began a decade ago and with this single work The Flower-garden of Tolkappiaym, he has achieved a lot. In the case of Tirukkural, a gift of the Tamil saint Valluvar to the whole world, Kalaignar’s labour of love started when he was in his twenties and continues to this day. If every Tamilian swears by Tirukkural today, and if it is cherished as the Bible, the Koran and the Vedas of the Tamils, it is largely due to the efforts taken by Kalaignar through all possible avenues.
A comprehensive and penetrating study of ethics, polity and love, dating back at least to the second century A.D., Tirukkural consists of 1330 couplets divided into 133 sections of 10 distiches each. The first thirty eight are on Aram (virtue, moral and cosmic order), the next seventy on Porul (wealth, social life and political skill) and the last twenty five on Kamam (pleasure). The first four chapters, beginning with one in praise of God, serve as a kind of prologue to the entire work while the rest of the chapters in Part I, expatiating on righteousness, define the virtues associated with family life and asceticism. In the second part which purports to be on the body politic, there are sections on (1) kingship (2) limbs of state such as the minister, the country, the fortress, the army and the king’s associates and finally (3) the subjects. The third part in its two broad sections, dealing with secret courtship and wedded love, presents a number of dramatic scenes, each of which is brief but striking and contains a refined analysis of varying moods of lovers in a rare fusion of psychology and aesthetics.
The sub-divisions in the first two parts are not to be treated as water-tight compartments. Many of the virtues listed in the first part are common to the householder and the ascetic and most of the verses in the second part are equally applicable to the king and the common man.
Valluvar is interested in general and universal rules of conduct and arrives at conclusions that are not particular to his time but valid for all time. His method is to define every virtue precisely, explain its merits elaborately and to advocate it forcefully. “He attempts to persuade men to pursue the path of righteousness by appealing to them earnestly, by commanding them solemnly, by wheedling them into agreeing, by pleading with them effectively, by promising them with immediate rewards, by frightening them into submission or by threatening them with dire consequences.” Relying as much on logical reasoning as on emotional appeal, he presents his ideas as time-tested and approved by generations of wise men. The readers hear the voice of an affectionate mother, of a well-meaning father, of a wise statesman, of an eloquent orator or a commanding lawmaker. The prescriptions in Tirukkural are in the form of moving appeals or veiled threats. The reader learns that virtue will finally be triumphant whereas vice is repulsive.
Tirukkural is at once a moral treatise and a work of art of the highest order. It employs throughout a single metre, the Kuralvenpa which is perfectly suited to gnomic poetry. The first line of every couplet consists of four feet and the second of three; only feet of two or three metric units (acai) are used. This tight structure does not exercise a break on Valluvar’s imagination or prevent him from using profusely common as well as rare literary devices. In short couplets, the author has managed to compress many of the profound thoughts that have ever been uttered by poets or philosophers.
When it comes to cosmopolitanism and internationalism Tiruvalluvar scores heavily over all the Western thinkers. Given his world-view, he would have nothing to do with any single caste, creed, race, religion, society or nation. All men and women are his kin and every place on this earth is his.
With regard to the composition of Kuraloviyam, Kalaignar himself states that the work was begun in 1956 and that he wrote 300 chapters of commentaries on 354 couplets over a period of thirty years. It is an unusually long period for Kalaignar who, as a writer, holds several records to his credit. But the task must have proved to be exacting since the secondary sources on Tirukkural are legion.
Every kural that Kalaignar examines is given a profound elucidation for the benefit of the lay reader. But the bitter controversies over Valluvar’s world-view, his religion, and his views on a number of subjects are closely studied and not skirted. What is Valluvar’s concept of God? Does he really believe in God? If he believes in one, is it a Hindu, or a Jain or a Buddhist or a Christian God? Though the first chapter of Tirukkural is called invocation and consists of ten couplets in praise of God, they lend themselves to differing interpretations by vested interests. There is also the claim that the first four chapters called “Payiram” were not written by Valluvar at all. Now Kalaignar finds a way out while commenting on the fiftieth couplet included in the chapter on family life. It says that he who pursues his domestic course on earth in the manner it should be done will be placed among the gods in heaven. Kalaignar points out that one that lives one’s family life true to its calling will be treated like a god supposed to live in heaven. And in support of his argument, he adds that all the attributes of god as listed in the first chapter – “the primeval god”, “the one that is the very image of intellect”, “the one that is beyond likes and dislikes”, “the one that has no equal”, “the one that is the ocean of virtue”, “the one of eightfold virtue” – are only the qualities desired of an ideal human being. According to Kalaignar, Valluvar demands that every human being aspire for such a position.
Does Valluvar believe in a cycle of births? All the three major religions of India – Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism – contend that every human being is fated to pass through an endless series of births. Some of the Tamil Siddhas were of the view that just as the flowers that have withered and fallen cannot get back to the tree, just as the butter churned out cannot be absorbed back into the buttermilk and just as the cow’s milk cannot get back to the udder, no life that has left a body will be able to rejoin it. Valluvar refers to the proverbial seven births in one of his couplets: “The learning that a man acquires in one birth will stand him in good stead through all the seven.”
Kalaignar argues that this couplet speaks thus to glorify the value of education and that it does not mean that Valluvar has accepted the belief in seven births for a human being. He draws our attention to what Valluvar says in another couplet in the thirty-sixth chapter called “Knowledge of Reality”. If the reality is pondered over deep and discerned well, one need not nurse any thought about another birth.” (Kural 357)
“Valluvar’s ultimate intention in these couplets is that one should realize the value of education and possess the grit to probe reality. They do not categorically state his belief in more than one birth.”
Another couplet that has been misinterpreted down the ages is in the chapter called “Stressing the value of righteous conduct.”
Do not speak of the way of righteous conduct pointing to the one that is seated in a palanquin and the one that bears it. (Kural 37)
Kalaignar says that we won’t be doing justice to Valluvar’s profound vision of life if we take it to mean that the one who does good deeds in this birth will have the privilege of being borne in a palanquin in the next birth whereas the one who is wicked in this birth will have to labour hard as a palanquin bearer in the next birth. The couplet actually means that the one that follows the path of virtue will find life smooth and face all problems with equanimity like the rider in a palanquin whereas the one that follows the path of vice will find life hard and miserable like the bearer of a palanquin.
In a chapter called “Worth of Wife” there is a couplet which, as it is traditionally interpreted by Perimelazhakar and others, is anathema to all modern readers in general and to feminists in particular. It has been taken to mean that if the woman who worships no god but her husband bids, “let it rain,” it will rain forthwith. This is similar to what Milton says about Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost: “He for God alone; she for God in him.” But Valluvar who is all praise for women treating them as men’s equals could not have given her such an inferior position as the kural seems to imply. Some of our contemporary rationalists including Bharatidasan are of the view that “the woman who worships no god but her husband is like the rain that pours down when it is desired for.” Kalaignar supports this interpretation adding that such a woman is, to her husband, like the rain, one of the greatest benefactors of mankind.
To drive home the truths enunciated in the couplets, Kalaignar chooses his illustrative examples from ancient Tamil legends, from the biographies of world leaders and historical personages as well as from day-to-day occurrences. The selfless life of Prabhavati, the wife of Jayaprakash Narayan, is presented as an example of the ideal wife portrayed by Valluvar.
She who guards her honour and tends her man and keeps their name unsullied is the one that deserves the title of wife (Kural 56).
A brief account of the courageous Marutu brothers’ heroic fight against the British serves to clarify the meaning of the couplet,
Even if they face several problems in life men of undisconcerted discernment will do no dishnourable deed (Kural 654).
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is brought in to illustrate the case of the fate of the pleasure – seeking rulers who forget their duties.
“Whenever you feel a wild ecstatic happiness, be reminded of those ruined by forgetfulness”. (Kural 539).
From some Sangam poems we learn that one chieftain called Atiyaman Netuman Anci was prepared to give a life-giving fruit to the poetess Avvaiyar without himself eating it. That episode is appropriately cited as an example of the ideal family man described in a couplet.
It is indecorous to take one’s meal keeping the visiting guests waiting outside even if it were the elixir of life (Kural 82).
Vinoba Bhave’s saintly heroism is celebrated in the commentary on a couplet on penance.
The might gained by penance can see one triumph even over death (Kural 269).
The story of the northern kings Kanakan and Vijayan who had to pay a heavy price for having no control over their tongue is recounted to explain a couplet on the art of speaking.
Since prosperity and ruin issue from speech you should guard your tongue against thoughtless deeds (Kural 642).
The model life of sacrifice led by the wife of Karl Marx is described in the commentary on a couplet about the ideal wife a man can dream of.
She who stands in true worth befitting domestic calling and spending within her husband’s income is the ideal conjugal partner (Kural 51).
The legendary relationship between Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and Rajaji serves to illustrate a couplet on friendship.
Friendship of the wise partake of the nature of the waxing crescent; fools’ friendship resembles the waning moon (Kural 782).
The exemplary behaviour of Socrates on the last day of his life becomes the theme of a discourse on the couplet which is supposed to define courtesy and affability.
Those who are desirous of benignity will drink poison unperturbed even if they see it poured with open eyes (Kural 580).
By these re-visits and re-presentations, Kalaignar is able to impart his knowledge of the gems of the world’s best classics to the common Tamil reader and to share the aesthetic delight he experienced with the learned.
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