220380 the sacred kural

8/13/2019 220380 the Sacred Kural

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THE HERITAGE F INDIA SERIES

Plannedby J. N . F A R Q U H A R , M.A., D.Litt. (Oxon.),D.D. (Aberdeen).

Already published

The Heart of Buddhism. K. J. SAUNDERS, M.A., D.Lit t . (Cantab.)AHistory ofKanareseLiterature, 2nd d. E.P. R IC E ,B.A.The Samkhya System, 2nd d. A. BE RRHDAL E K E I T H ,D.C.L.,D.Litt.

(Oxon.)Aoka, 3rd d. JAMESM. MACPHAIL, M.A.,M.D.Indian Painting, 2nd d. Principal PERCY BROWN, Calcutta.Psalms of Marth Saints. NIC OL MACNICOL, M.A. D.Litt.AHistory of Hindi Literature. F. E. KEAY, M.A. D.Litt.The Karma-Mrams. A. BERRIED A LE K E I T H ,D.C.L.,D.Litt .(Oxon.)Hymnsof the Tamil aivite Saints. F. KINGSBURY,BA.., and G.E .

PHILLIPS, M.A.Hymns fromthe Rigveda. A. A. MACDONELL, M.A., Ph.D., Hon.

LL.D.GautamaBuddha. K.J. SAUNDERS, M.A., D.Litt. (Cantab.)The Coins of India. C. J. BROWN,M .A.PoemsbyIndian Women. MRS . MACNICOL.Bengali Religious Lyrics, Skt. ED WA RD THOMPSON, M.A., and

A. M. SPENCER, B.A.Classical Sanskrit Literature, 2nd d. A. BERRHDALE K E I T H ,D.C.L. ,

D.Litt. (Oxon.).The Music of India. H. A. POP LE Y, B.A.Telugu Literature. P. CHENCHIAH,M. L. , and R A J A M . BHUJANGA

RAO BAHADUR.Rabindranath Tagore, 2nd d. ED WA RD THOMPSON,M.A.Hymns of the lvrs. J. S. M. HOOPER, M.A. (Oxon.), Madras.

Subjects proposed and volumes under prparation

THE PHILOSOPHIES.A n Introduction to Hindu Philosophy. The lateJ.N . FARQUHAR

and Principal JOHN MCKENZIE ,Bombay.

Joint

Editors

The Right Rvrend V . S. A Z A R I A H , LL .D .(Cantab.), Bishop of Dornakal.

E. C. D E W I C K , M A . (Cantab.)J. N . C. GANGULY. M.A. (Birmingham),

Darsan-Sstr.


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ii

Readings from the Upanishads. M. H . HARRISON, Ph.D.,Bangalore.

TheSystem of the Pli Buddhist Books. Prof. V. L E S N Y ,Prague

FINE ART AND MUSIC.Indian Sculpture Dr. STELLA KRAMRISCH,Calcutta.The Minor Arts. Principal PERCY BROWN, Calcutta.

HISTORIES OF VERNACULAR LITERATURE.Bengali. C. S. PATERSON, M.A., Calcutta.Tamil . Prof. F. KI NG SB UR Y, B.A., Colombo.

Malaylam. T. K. JOSEPH, B.A., L. T. , Trivandrum.Urdu. T. GR AH AM E BA I LE Y, D.Li tt , London.

VARIOUS.The Aryan Languages of India. Prof. R. L . TURNER,London.Prkrit Literature. Principal A. C. WOOLNER, Lahore.The Indian Conception of the Beautiful. K. S. RAM AS W AM I

SASTRIAR, B.A., B.L., Madura.The Hindu FamilySystem. C. W. M I L L E R , Pasumalai.


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EDITORIAL PREFACE

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoeverthings are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatso

ever things are lovely, whatsoever things are ofgood report ; if there be any virtue, and if there beany praise, think on thse things.

No section of the population of India can afford toneglect her ancient hritage. The treasures of knowledge,wisdom, and beauty which are contained in her literature,philosophy, art, and regulated life are too precious to be

lost. Every citizen of India needs to use them, if he is tobe a cultured modem Indian. This is as true of the Christian, the Muslim, the Zoroastrian as of the Hindu. But,while the hritage of India has been largely explored byscholars, and the results of their toil are laid out for us inbooks, they cannot be said to be really available for theordinary man. The volumes are in most cases expensive,

and are often technical and difficult. Hence this sries ofcheap books has been planned by a group of Christian men,in order that every educated Indian, whether rich or poor,may be able to find his way into the treasures of India'spast. Many Europeans, both in India and elsewhere, w i l ldoubtless be glad to use the sries.

The utmost care is being taken by the General Editors

in selecting writers, and in passing manuscripts for thepress. To every book two tests are rigidly applied : every -thing must be scholarly, and everything must be sym-pathetic. The purpose is to bring the best out of the ancienttreasuries, so that it may be known, enjoyed, and used.


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TRADITIONAL FIGURE OF Front Pandit A". Vadivelu Chettiar'sTHE POET Edition. With permission of Author


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THE HERITAGE OF INDIA SERIES

THE SACRED KURALOR

The Tamil Veda of Tiruvalluvar

Selected and Translated withIntroduction and Notes

BY

H. A. POPLEY, B.A.SECRETARY, Y.M.C.A. OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON

ASSOCIATION PRESS5 RUSSELL STREET, CALCUTTA

LONDON : OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSNEW YORK, TORONTO, MELBOURNE

BOMBAY, CALCUTTA & MADRAS

1931


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The Rights of Translation are reserved

PRINTED IN INDIAAT THE WESLEYAN MISSION PRESS

MYSORE CITY


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DEDICATED TO

THE

GENEROUS PEOPLE OF THE TAMIL LANDSWHO WELCOMED ME, A STRANGER, INTO

THEIR MIDST AND OPENED TO ME THEIR

HEARTS AND THEIR TREASURES AND

TO MY OLD FRIEND 'K.T.'(KANAKARAYAN TIRUSELVAM PAUL)

WHO IN SO MANY WAYS REPRESENTED

T HE BEST I N T A M I L LI F E A N D CULTURE


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TRANSLATONS PREFACE

IT was at the suggestion of Dr. J. N. Farquhar and Mr.K. T. Paul that I frst undertook to prpare a volume forthe Hritage of India Sries on The Sacred Kural, the

ethical Bible of the Tamil people. Ever since I began tostudy this little book, twenty-eight years ago, it has beenwith the New Testament my daily companion in all mytravels, and I hve learnt to love it, and to rejoice in itshomely, high-minded teaching. Dr. Farquhar's suggestion,therefore, found an instant response and, although I fullyrealized my own deficiencies for the task, I regarded it as

a great and noble purpose to help to make more widelyknown the inimitable couplets of this humble Tamil sage.Many translations of thse couplets hve been made in

English, of which that of the great Tamil scholar, Dr. G. U.Pope, is the best known. Dr. Pope has pu t them intorhymed verses, a form which has involved in many casessome slight addition to or altration of the meaning of the

original. Many of his renderings, however, are extremelyhappy and arresting, and I am indebted to them for manyideas and suggestions.

V. V. S. Aiyar, a Tamil scholar, the most rcent trans-latorwhose tragic death a few years ago at the ashramheestablished at Ambsamudram came as a great shock to theTamil peoplehas probably produced the best English

rendering hither to. In the Int roduction to his book hesays, ' After a great deal of thought I hve corne to theconclusion that the Authorised English version ofthe Bibleis the proper model to be f ollowed. The resemblance ofthethought and diction of Tiruvalluvar to the great master-


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X THE SACRED KURAL

pices of the Bible struck me forcibly, and I thought thatif any portion of the vigour of theKural could be presented

in English, it could only be by adopting the phraseology andthe ternis of expression of the English version of theHebrew and Greek Veda.' V. V. S. Aiyar has certainlysucceeded in giving us a very fine translation and I hvebeen indebted t him again and again.

Mrs. Tirunvukkarasu, a cultured Tamil lady of Jafna,

in her little devotional book entitled A Gem for EachDay, has given some exceedingly happy renderings ofmany of the couplets, to which also I am indebted. W i ththe exception of Mrs. Tirunvukkarasu, none of the othertranslators has endeavoured to reproduce the terseness andbrevity of the original.

The translations in this book hve all been made from

the original, with the help of the best commentaries avail-able, and I hve tr ied to reproduce, as far as possible,something of the terseness and brevity of the original. Uponthe advice of the Rev. E. C. Dewick, who has succeededDr. J. N. Farquhar as Literary Secretary of the Y.M.C.A.,I hve also tr ied to give a metrical f orm to the couplets, butI hve not made use of rhyme, as it seems to me to detractfrom the digni ty of the translation. Wherever possible,without doing injustice to the meaning, I hve usedboth vowel and consonant allitration, which is the Tamilsubstitute for rhyme.

It is almost impossible in any translation to do justiceto the beauty and force of the original ; only a master of

English and of Ta mil , such as Tiruval luva r was in Ta mil ,could do that. The first desideratum has been to get theactual meaning of the couplet as exactly as possible, andthen to express it in the fewest and choicest words. I realizethat I hve failed miserably again and again and can only


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TRANSLATONS PREFACE xi

hope that those who read this translation may be able togain at least a glimpse of the inimitable style of the Tamilauthor.

Fairly full notes bave been added so that the reader maybe able to understand the literary and local allusions andto enter as completely as possible into the spirit of thepoet. In the notes I hve also quoted the renderings ofother translators, where this seemed dsirable.

It has not been possible within the limits of the Hritageof India Sries to give a complte translation of the work,nor is it necessary to do so for the non-Tamilian to gain agood idea of the teaching of this book. Those who wishfor a complte translation may obtain that of V. V. S. Aiy ar.

I hve to express my especial indebtedness to the Rev.E. C. Dewick, to my old friend, the late Mr. K. T. Paul, to

the Rt. Rev. V. S. Azariah, Bishop of Dornakal and toPandit G. S. Duraiswamy Pillay for their valuable help inthe prparation of this book ; and to Mr . Mart in S. Lal l forhis help in typing out the whole manuscript a number oftimes. I must also pay my tr ibute of respect and gratitudeto my old Ta mil tutor, Srmn Pandit Sivaprasda HridayamPillay Avl., who first led my feet into the untrodden paths

of Tamil literature in the li t tl e town of Erode, where underhis guidance for fourteen years, I studied many of themasterpieces of Tamil literature.

In humble dvotion I place this work before the sacredfeet of my Lord and Master, Jsus Christ, ' the light whichenlightens every man.'

Calcutta, H . A.POPL EY.July, 1931.Note.I hve not used any diacritical marks for the name of the

book itself. It should really be written ' Kural,' the ' r ' being strongand the ' l' pronounced by an upward twist of the tongue and slightlyguttural. This should be remembered throughout.


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CONTENTS

TRIBUTE TO THE POET BY DR. G. U. POPE xix

I N T R O D U C T I O N

T H E AGE, T H E PO ET A N D T H E BOOK

D A T E O F T H E ' K U R A L ' . . .S O U T H I N D I A I N T H E D A Y S O F T I R U V A L L U V A R

T H E P O ET , T I R U V A L L U V A R

T H E C H A R A C T E R O F T H E P O E T . ..

T H E B O OK

T I R U V A L L U V A R A N D W O M A N H O O D

T H E S T Y L E A N D F O R M O F T H E B O O K

T H E ' R U R A L ' I N T A M I L L I F E A N D LE T T E RS

T R A N S L A T I O N S O F S E L E C T E D C O U P L E T S

V I R T U E

37

37

38

39

40

40

41

42

43

43

44

4445

45

45

46

46

19151921293132

PR FACE

1. In Praise of God2. The Rain-cloud's Excellence3. T he Greatness of Ascetics

4. The Might of Virtue

D O M E S T I C V I R T U E

5. Home-life6. Th e Wo rt h of Home's Helpmeet ...7. The Gift of Children8. Love ...9. Caring for the Guest

10. Kk id ly Speech ...11. Gratitude

12. Fairness13. Self-control14. Ri gh t Conduct .. .16. Forbearance17. Freedom from Envy19. Freedom from Back-biting


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XIV THE SACRED KURAL

DOMESTIC VI R T UR E (Continue)

20. Refraining from Vain Speech

21. Dread of Evil Deeds22. Beneficence23. Charity

ASCETIC VlRTUE

25. Kindliness26. Abstinence from Flesh-eating27. Tapas or Austerities

28. Inconsistency29. Freedom from Fraud30. Truthfulness31. Refraining from Anger ...32. AhithsRefraining from Hurt ..34. Impermanence ...35. Renunciation36. Understanding the Truth ...

37. Freedom from Dsire38. Old Karma

PROPERTYKlNGSHIP

39. Kingly Excellence40. Learning41. Neglect of Learning

42. Listening43. Wisdom...44. Correction of Faults45. Winning the Help of the Great46. Keeping Away from Bad Company47. Acting with Forethought ...48. Knowledge of Power49. Knowing the Opportunity.. .

50. Knowing the Place51. Slection and Confidence ...52. Slection and Employment53. Steady Purpose ...55. Righteous Rule ...58. Graciousness

47

4747

47

48

48

48

4949

49

50

50

51

51

51

51

52

52

53

53

5353

54

54

54

55

55

55

5555

56

56

56

56


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CONTENTS xvKI NGS HI P (Continue)

60. Energy ...

61 . Unsluggishness ...62. Manliness63. Hope in Trouble. ..

THE BODY POLITIC

64. The Minister65. Power in Speech ...66. Purity of Action ...

67. Power in Action ...68. Conduct of Affairs70. Conduct before Kings76. The Acquisition of Wealth79. Friendship81. Intimate Friendship82. Bad Friendship ...84. Folly

85. Stupidity86. Enmity ...90. Disregard of the Great91. Obdience to Women93. Abstinence from Alcohol ...

MlSCELLANEOUS

96. Nobility of Birth ...

97. Honour or Izzat...98. Greatness99. Excellence of Character ...

100. Courtesy102. The Sens of Shame103. Advancing one's Family ...104. Farming107. The Fear of Begging

108. VilenessLOVE

FURTIVE LOVE

110. Reading the Heart by Signs112. Praising her Beauty

56

575757

58

58

58

5859

59

59

59

59

59

59

60

60

60

60

60

61

6161

62

62

62

63

63

63

63

64

64


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xvi THE SACRED KURAL

FURTIVE LOVE (Continue)

113. Love's Excellence

114. Giving up SecrecyMARRIED LOVE

116. The Pangs of Sparation ...129. Impatience for Reunion ...131. Bouderie133. The Charm of Coyness

EXPLANATORY NOTESPART

I. VlRTUEI I . PROPERTY

I I I . L O V E

APPENDICES

BlBLIOGRAPHYTranslations of the Kural and English Books on the

KuralTamil Editions of the Kural ...Tamil Commentaries on the KuralTamil Books on the Kural and its AuthorBooks on the History of the Period and Date of theKural

SYSTEM OF TRANSLITRATION AND PRONUNCIATIONOF TAMIL LETTERS

VowelsConsonants ...Sanskrit Words

INDEX . . .

. 64

. 64

. 65

. 65

. 65

. 65

. 69

. 88

. 105

. 111

. 112, 113. 114

114

. 116

. 116118

119


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPAGE

FrontispieceTRADITIONAL FIGURE OF THE POET

CITY OF MADURA AND MNKSH TEMPLE

T H E SHORE TE MP LE AT MAHBALLIPURAM

DHARMA'S RA TH A AT MAHBALLIPUR AM ...

MYLAPORE TODAY

THE GOLDEN LILY TANK, MADURA TEMPLE

TE MP LE S OF TIRUVA:LLUVAR AN D V SU KI AT MYL APO RE ...

A RURAL TAMIL HOUSEHOLDER AND FAMILY

AN IMAGE OF THE GODDESS LAKSHM IN THE

MADURA TEMPLE

4

14

14

16

18

37

40

43


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Ancient India, by Dr. S. KRISHNASWMY A I Y A N -GR ...

Hindu View of Life, by S I R S. R D H A K R I SH N A N ...History of the Tamil s, by P. T. SRNIVS

IYENGR

Tatnil Comtnentary, by PARIMLALAGAR ...The Kural, by R E V . J. S. M . HOOPERThe Maximsof Tiruvalluvar, by V. V. S. AIYARThe Oxford History of India, by VINCENT A.

S M I T H . 1919 ...

TheSacredKurral, by DR. G.U. POPEThe Tamil Antiquary. A journal published by

the Tamil Archseological Society, Trichinopoly

from 1909-11 ...The Tandis Eighteen Hundred Years A go, by V.KANAKASABHBATHI PILLAY

Ahannru

Bhagavad Gta

Manimkhalai ...Narrinai

Purannru

Silappadigram...Tiruvalluvamlai

A.l.

H.V.L.

H.T.

Pari.J.S.M.H.

V.V.S.

V.S.

S.K.

TA.

K.S.P.

Ahan.

B.G.

Mani.

Nar.

Pur.

SU.Tiru. Mlai.


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DR. G. U. POPE'S TRIBUTE 1

Sage Valluvar, priest of the lowly clan,No tongue repeats, no speech reveals thy name ;Yet, ail things changing, dieth not thy fam,

For thou art bard of universal man ;

And still thy ' book ' above the waters wan,Virtue , true wealth, and jo y, and being's aim ,In sweetest mystic couplets doth proclaim,

Where winds sea-wafted palmy forests fan.

Haply undreamed of ' visions ' glad thine eyes

In realms beyond thy fabled ' seven-fold birth ',And clouds of darkness from thy spirit roll ;

While lands far-off hve heard with strange surpriseFaint echoes of thy song. Through ail the earth

Men hail thee brother, seer of spotless sol.

1 S.K. p. 2.


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INTRODUCTION


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INTRODUCTION

THE AGE, THE POET AND THE BOOK

DATE OF THE KURALT H E dates to be assigned to the earlier Tamil literature are

still far from settled ; but a great deal of valuable researchwork has been done during the past quarter of a centuryby Dr. S. Krishnaswmy Aiyangr, Srmn M. SrnivsaAiyangr, Srmn P. T. Srnivs Iyengr, Srmn M,Rghava Aiyangr, Srmn K. A. Nlakantha Sstri andother scholars, and a large number of epigraphical recordshve been studied and collated; with the resuit that muchlight has been thrown upon the early history of the Tamilpeople. It is becoming possible to date wi th some degreeof accuracy the most important literary productions of theTamil country during the first ten centuries of the Christianera. Tamil literature is one of the few vernacular litera-tures of India which, in the early centuries of this era,attained to a development and a standard that bear com-parison with the literature of Sanskrit. Even before thetenth century A.C. the Tamil people had produced great

literary masterpieces, and from the tenth to the sixteenthcentury there was no diminution of output or lowering ofthe high level attained. This Introduction, however, isnot concerned with the later developments of Tamilliterature, but only wi th its early history ; for it was duringthe early centuries of the Christian era that the Kural wasproduced. Tamil is the only living vernacular of Indiawhich has a large body of classical literature, written in a

language which is still intelligible to educated people andwhich is no further removed from the modem literaryform than medival English is from modem English.

The Tamil people belong to the Dravidian race which inthe pre-Christian centuries was found throughout thewhole of South India, from the Vindhya mountains on the


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4 THE SACRED KURAL

north ; and perhaps at an earlier period s t il l covered thewhole of India. The Brahui language, spoken on the

borders of Baluchistan, belongs to the Dravidian family ;and the rcent discoveries at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daroin Sind suggest that three milleniums before Christ thepeople of Sind were homogeneous in culture with theDravidians of the Southern Peninsula.

The Tamil people, as they finally became separated fromthe Andhras and the Kanadas, were the last to be aryanized ;and so it is not strange to find among them an earlier

literature, which reaches back to the first and secondcenturies before Christ, and shows very little trace ofAryan influence. Writing was probably introduced intoSouth India in the fifth or sixth century before Christ, sothat no body of literature could hve existed before thattime.

There is an ancient tradition that three Tamil 'Acadmies 'were established at Madura, the capital city of the Pndyas ;

and early writers give the most fanciful chronology forthse Acadmies, which were apparently bodies of criticalscholars who adjudicated upon all new literary productions.It is not possible to say whether there is any historicaltruth in this tradition of a Madura Tamil sangham, asthse Acadmies were called ; but there is no doubt that thedates given by former scholars are quite untenable.

We hve abundant vidence from the Mahbhrata,

Rrnyana, and other early Sanskrit works, as well as fromGreek and Lati n writers , that in the pre-Christian mi lleniumthe Tamils were a cultured, vigorous people, doing an exten-sive trade wi th the West, as wel l as wi th other parts of India,and afording a welcome hospitality to Aryan immigrantsfrom the north. Aromatics and spices, jewels and cottoncloth were regular articles of trade exported from SouthernIndia to Egypt, Greece and Rome. The Arabs and Greeks

seem to hve been the intermediaries in this trade. Thethree Tamil kingdoms of the Cholas, Seras and Pndyaswere well-known to many Aryan and European authors ofthe mi llenium before Christ. The edicts of Asoka refer tothse kingdoms as ' neighbours,' thus implying that theywere not part of his empire (see Edict II) ; and Asoka says


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INTRODUCTION 5

that the Dharma, i.e. the Buddhist religion, has beenestablished among the peoples of thse kingdoms (Edict

X I I I ) . The Greeks, who were the greatest intermediariesin the trade of India with Europe, borrowed many Tamilnames, which hve found their way into most of theEuropean languages. Among thse are the Greek wordsoryza from the Tamil arisi, rice; krpion from karuv,cinnamon; ziggiberos from injivr, ginger; peperi frompippli, pepper ; beryllos from vaidurya, bryl and so on.1

In 20 B.C. the Pndyan king is said to hve sent a com

mercial mission to the Emperor Augustus2

, and it is statedthat the trade between South India and Rome reached theenormous value of one million pounds a year in the earlyyears of the Christian era. Says Vincent Smi th : 'TheTamil States of the far South became wealthy and pros-perous in v ir tue of their valuable foreign trade, andattained a high degree of material civilisation at an earlyperiod.'3

The earliest extant work in Tamil is the Tolkppiyam,a grammar of the Tamil language and literature, writtenby Trinadhmgni, usually called Tolkppiyanr fromhis book. He was a Brahman settler among the Tamilsand a disciple of Agattiyanr, another Brahman who hadwr it ten a grammar before him. The grammar of Aga tt iyanr, which was called Agattiyam, is not now extant, butthe author of the Tolkppiyam quotes frequently from it,

and so we can f orm some idea of it.The Tolkppiyamshows a language highly developed, butvery diffrent from Sanskrit, and possessing a considrablebody of literature in the form of poetry. The Tolkppiyamitself is in a poetical form, and not only gives an accountof the grammar of letters and words and sentences, butalso of the subject-matter of Tamil literature, which wasvery diffrent from that of Sanskrit. The latter part of

this monumental work, called Poruladigram, gives acomplte picture of the life of the Tamil people at the timeof the author. They were divided according to the rgions

1 V.S. p. 194. 2 ibid. p. 143.

3ibid. p. 144. cf. alsoCambridge History of India,vol. I, p. 594.


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6 THE SACRED KURAL

they inhabited, into hunting tribes, dsert dwellers, herds-men, fisher-folk and cultivators. Each of thse classes had

its own peculiar poetry and social customs, and thse areail graphically described. The poetry of the early Tamilshad very little to do with religion and was almost entirelyconcerned with matters of war and love, which were calledrespectively puram and aham, and so the early ballads ofthe Tamils which are extant to-day deal mostly withthse aspects of li fe . They give many glimpses alsoof the every-day occupations and habits of the men and

women of the Tamil land. We shall hve something to sayof thse a little further on.The importance of the Tolkppiyam for the Kural lies

in the fact that it is the first Tamil literary work for whicha date can be found, and the date of the Kural dpends tosome extent upon the date fixed for the Tolkppiyam. Ithas been the custom hitherto to date the Tolkppiyam inthe th ird or second century before Christ. Rcent scholars

however hve brought it later to the first century beforeChrist ; and this has been the generally accepted date forsome time . Srmn P. T. Srnivs Iyengr in his rcentbrilliant work, The History of the Tamils; gives strongreasons for fixing the first century of our prsent era asthe date of the Tolkppiyam.1 All that can be said hreis that it was probably produced between 100 B.C. and A.C.100. This fixes the anterior l imit for the date of theKu ral ,

as it is vident for many reasons that the Kural must hvecorne after the Tolkppiyam.It is not so easy however to get a posterior limit for the

date of the Kural. Dr. Pope dated it between A.C. 800-1000,but in his time there had been very little research intoliterary and epigraphical data and such a late date is nowquite untenable. V. V. S. Aiyar dated it between A.c. 100and A.c. 300.2

The Kural itself contains no historical or chronologicalhint that wou ld help us to date it , and the traditional life ofthe author has no historical foundation to help us. So weare forced to dpend entirely upon quotations in other

1 H.T.p.216.

2V.V.S.p.ix.


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INTRODUCTION 7

works and upon its gnerai style and subject matter. Theearly Tamils never realised the trouble they would be

giving to their successors when they left out every indication which could help to date a work . It never occurredto them that the date of a book would be regarded as ofsuch great importance by subsquent gnrations.

The earliest quotation from the Kural seems to becontained in the Purannru, a collection of ballads bymany diffrent poets of various dates, ranging from the firstcentury before Christ to the fourth or fifth century after

Christ . Most scholars hve regarded thePurannru collection as having been made about the third or fourth centuryA.c, but Mr. P. T. Srnivs Iyengr in his disturbing booknow puts the date much later. The quotation occurs inPuram 34 and reads as follows :

Pur.34 : 6, 7.

which may be translated :The Dharmasays:' Thereisnoescapeforthosewhokilla kindnessdone ' i.e. by means of ingratitude.

This is certainly a rminiscence, and probably a directquotation, of Kural 1 1 : 10. The colophon to this balladsays that it was composed by lathrkilr in honour ofKillivalavan, (the Chola king) ' who died at Kulamurram.'Unfortunately we cannot date any of thse with certainty,

even if the colophons themselves may be accepted ashistorical.The next ballad also (No. 35) seems to contain a line

reminiscent of two couplets in the second chapter of theKural' The Rain-Clouds Excellence.' The line reads :

Though the clouds deceive and the flood fails.(videKural2: 3, 4.1)

The ballads of the Purannuru cannot be later than thesixth century A.C. and are probably a good deal earlier, sothat if thse are genuine quotations, the sixth century A.C.

1vide p. 38.


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8 THE SACRED KURAL

must be regarded as the posterior limit for the production of the Kural.

The Silappadigaram is the earliest Tamil epic poemextant. Dr . S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar places this work inthe second century after Christ ;1 but Mr. P. T. SrinivasIyengar, for various reasons, which space forbids us toexamine here, places it at the end of the fifth century.2

This work contains what seem to be two clear quotationsfrom the Kura l .They are as follows:

Sil.23.It is sure that the quality of worshipping God belongs to her who

worships her husband, though she worships no other god. (videRural,6:5.)

.Sil. 21: 3,4.See the ruinous condition which comes upon that man in the

evening, who in the morning plans another's ruin , (vide Kural,32:9.)

These two follow the Kural couplets so closely in formand language that they can hardly be explained, except asquotations from that work.

The Manimekhalai is a sequel to the Silappadigaramand has a quotation from the Kural about which thefe canbe no doubt whatever. It reads:

Matti.22 : 59-61.Study well the pithy saying of the poet who uttered nothing

false, and said: ' Who, in waking, bows before her spouse, but beforeno other god, may ask for rain and rain it wi ll . ' (vide Rural 6: 5.)

The name given to the poet in these lines,' the poet who

uttered nothing false/ has stuck to him ever since, and mayhave also been used in common parlance before that date.Sriman S. Somasundra Bharati, in a little pamphlet on

Tiruvalluvar, published in 1928, has brought together a1 A.l. pp. 373-84. 2 H.T. pp. 602, 603.


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INTRODUCTION 9

large number of apparent quotations from the Kural invarious works of the so-called Sangham era.

It is clear from the above that the date of the Kural isstill open to considerable question, and cannot be settleduntil the dates of other literature of the period A.c. 1-500have been fixed. All that we can say with certainty is thatit must lie somewhere between the second and the sixthcenturies A.C. The style and subject matter make it clearbeyond doubt that it must have preceded the age ofsectarian reviva l which began in the seventh century. The

majority of Tamil scholars still regard it as a secondcentury work; but it is likely that the arguments of Mr.P. T. Srinivas Iyengar w i l l lead some of them to put itlater. It is very doubtful if it should be put as lateas the six th century, as he believes, on grounds which dependlargely upon subjective analysis. In spite of the verygreat weight to be attached to Mr. Srinivas Iyengar'sopinions, in view of his wide researches into South Indian

history, I am inclined to place the Kural not later thanthe fourth century A.C, judging by its style and thefrequency of quotation in works which belong to the sixthcentury. Probably however, this is a matter which w i l lnever be satisfactorily settled; and fortunately the value ofthe work does not depend upon whether it was composedin the second or the sixth century. It w i l l always be oneof the literary treasures of the Tamil people.

SOUTH INDIA IN THE DAYS OF TIRUVALLUVAR

The uncertainty of date w i l l not markedly affect ourconception of the conditions of the Tamil country in thedays of our author, because the literature describing thatperiod, whatever it may be, belongs to the same time asTiruvaJJuvar. We may th ink of the period as reaching from

the second to the fifth century A.c. There is an extensiveliterature describing the life of the people and the state ofthe country during these centuries. It is all writt en inpoetical form in the somewhat archaic style of those days,and requires commentaries if the modern reader is tounderstand it properly.


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It is evident that the civilization of the south was in itsessentials a Dravidian civilization, into which Aryan

elements were then only slowly penetrating. The varnaf-ratna system of caste had not been adopted by the Tamils,but the people were classified in accordance with theregions they inhabited and the occupations they followed.Says Mr . P. T. Srinivas Iyengar:

Notwithstanding the existence in their midst of Brahmanas and theattempts of Agattiyanar and Tolkappiyanar to import Aryan cultureinto the Tamil country, the bulk of the people continued to live as ifAryan culture did not exist. They lived and loved just in the sameways as their forebears did in the olden times. Their occupations,customs, and beliefs, superstitious or otherwise, did not at all alter.. . . The simple rural life of the pre-Christian centuries continuedintact and, notwithstanding its contact with Sanskrit culture, the Tamilmuse still sought inspiration from the humble scenes around, which itdeserted a few centuries later when the artificial poetry of Sanskritsubjugated the Tamil mind and for all time destroyed the beautifulrealistic poetry of the early Tamils.1

One or two quotations from the poetry of the period willshow the Tamil peopled love of nature, their freedom fromthe conventions of Sanskrit literature and their exuberantinterest in the everyday things of life:

The dwellers of the h i l lcountry were loth to part from it ,becausefrom bough to bough are hanging the honey-combs, large fruits areripening in bunches, bright rivulets are running down the hill lookinglike garlands, on the hill-sides are being raised various kinds of grainsand pulses all the year round and the mountainous country is veryfertile.2Nar.93 : 1-5.

The broadleavesof the l i lygrowingnear the rivulet caught by thelong vine of the cane, which grows near the banks of the tank and hassmall thorns like the surface of a rasp, are moved by the fitful gusts ofthe north wind, and look like the bellows which are blown in thesmithy and grow tense and lax alternately.3Akan. 96: 3-7.

The following quotation illustrates their early love forand interest in the sea, and incidentally shows that theTamil land had found a place for the harlot:

As when the wind grows strong and the storm beats, the ship isupset and the terrified crew fall down and many men seize one plank,so my friend, in the street where the small, beautiful yal4 is humming

1H.T.p.253. 2 ibid. p. 268.3 ibid. p. 255. 4 An ancient lute.


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like the fair bee, the bejewelled harlots, who once had possession ofyour heart and are shedding hot tears because you have deserted them,catch hold of you and are pull ing you in different directions. I haveseen with my eyes this your distress; but how can I help you ? 1Nur.30.

During these centuries the Tamil land was divided intothree important kingdoms, the Chola, Sera and Pan


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Therefore, O Celiyan, great in war, despise this not;Increase the reservoirs for water made.Who bind the water and supply to fieldsTheir measured flow, these bindThe earth to them. The fame of others passes swift away! 1

Pur.18.

Cattle-raiding was one of the favourite pastimes of thebraves of those days and is picturesquely recorded in manyof these ballads.

Youthful warrior, who bearest the wondrous three-pronged dart,go forth, seize and bring home the herds of cattle with the bulls, theirleaders! See the foes bending their bows, as though they would cutdown whole forests and set them on fire, and inspecting their arrowsas they fit them to the string. Put their ranks to flight.2

Purapporul Venba Malai.

The three great chiefs were frequently at war with oneanother or wi th their neighbours for some ou tlying terr itory,and martial heroism was highly esteemed, as the followingballad bears witness:

Our heart ceases at this dame's great courage :Well may she merit her ancient age.In a former war, her father it wasWho, killed by an elephant, died in the field.It was" in the other day's battle, her husbandFell overpowered by numerous hosts;And now to-day at the beat of drum,Delighted and yet how sad was she, this woman with an only son.She lovingly oiled and combed his hair,

Gave him his spear and bade him seek the battlefield.8

Pur. 279.

At the same time there were great towns and ports bothon the east and the west coast that did a flourishing tradewi th outside countries. Musiri (now Cranganore) had forcenturies a large trade with the west by way of Aden andthe Arabian peninsula. Puhar or Kaver ipumpatt inam wasa great Choja port at the mouth of the Kaveri and Kanaka-sabhabathi Pillay in his book,The Tamils Eighteen Hu?idredYears Ago>gives a v ivid description of this port town, culledfrom the literature of that time:

1 T.A. vol. I, No. 6, p. 48. 2 ibid. p. 5. 3 ibid. p. 34.


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INTRODUCTION 13

The town was divided into two parts, one of which was calledMaruvur-Pakkam and adjoined the sea coast, and the other, whichwas situated to the west of it, was called Pa tt in ap pak kam . Betw een

these two portions of the city was a large area of open ground, plantedw i t h trees at reg ula r intervals, whe re the great ma rk et was held. T h eprincipal streets at Pattinappakkam were the Royal Street, the CarStreet and the Bazaar Street. T h e mercha nts, Bra hm ins , farmers,doctors and astrologers resided in separate streets. Su rr ou nd in g thepalace were the houses of the charioteers, horse and elephant ridersan d soldiers wh o form ed the bo dy gu ard of the k i n g . Bards, minstrelsand panegyrists, actors, musicians and buffoons, chank-cutters andthose skilled in making flower garlands and strings of pearls, timekeepers whose duty it was to cry out the number of each nalikai, or

division of time, as it passes, and other servants of the palace, alsoresided w it h in the lim its of Pa tt in ap pa kk am . Nea r the beach inMaruvur-Pakkam were raised platforms and godowns and warehouseswith windows shaped like the eyes of the deer, where the goodslanded fr om ships wer e stored. Her e the goods were stamp ed wi t hthe tiger-stamp (the emblem of the Chola kings) after payment ofcustoms du ty , and passed on to the merchants' warehouses. Close bywere the settlements of the Yavana 1 merchants, where many attractivearticles we re always exposed for sale. Her e we re also the quart ers offoreign traders who had come from beyond the seas, and who spoke

variou s tongues . Vendor s of fr ag ra nt pastes and powders, of flowersand incense, tailors who worked on silk, wool or cotton, traders insandal, aghil, coral, pearls, gold and precious stones, grain merchants,washermen, dealers in fish and salt, butchers, blacksmiths, braziers,carpenters, coppersmiths, painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, cobblers andtoy-makers, had their habitat ion in Maruvur-Pakkam. 2

It is clear that the civilization of the cultured Tamils ofthe towns and cities was wide and tolerant and not likethat of the Chinese and Japanese, restrictive and exclusivein its outlook. There was probably a Roman colony inMadura, as the large discoveries of Roman coins suggest.8

One of the wandering bards of that day expresses thistolerance and adaptability in the following ode:

To us all towns are one, all men are kin,Life 's good comes not fro m other's gif t , nor i l l ;Man's pains and pain's reliefs are from within.Death's no new t h i n g ; nor do our bosoms th ri l l

When joyous life seems like a luxurious draught.When grieved, we patient suffer; for we deemThis much-praised life of ours a fragile raftBorne down the waters of some mountain stream,

1 Greek or Roman. 2 K.S.P. p. 25. 3 H.T. p. 311.


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That o'er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain.Tho' storms, with lightning's flash, from darkened skiesDescend, the raft goes on as fates ordain.Thus have we seen in visions of the wise.We marvel not at greatness of the great;Still less despise we men of low estate.1

Pur.192.

The poems in the early anthologies bear witness to theextent of this culture, which had permeated all sections ofthe population. Of one hundred and ninety-two poets,said to belong to the period of the third Sangham, whose

positions and occupations can be traced, fifty-seven wereVel lalars or agriculturists, thi rty -s ix were women, twenty-nine were Brahmans, seventeen were Nagar or hillmen,thirteen were Yeyinar or foresters, seven were Kammalar orherdsmen, seven were Vanigar or merchants, seven wereMallar or agricultural labourers, thirteen were Pandyankings, seven were Sera kings, and one each a shepherd(A yar), a potter and a fisherman. The fact that these vari

ous poets were considered worthy of a place in one or otherof these anthologies suggests that in all these classes theremust have been a fa ir ly wide extent of education and culture.

It is also clear that there was a genuine tolerance inreligious matters. The indigenous Tamil religions werelargely concerned with ritual dancing and singing toinstrumental accompaniment, but Ar yan religious influenceswere gradually making their way in the south. Buddhist

viharas and Jain temples were to be found, together withtemples to Aryan and Dravidian gods and goddesses.There is reason to believe that at this period there was aChristian community at Mayilapur, which was then a smallseaside town just a few miles to the north of Mahaballi-puram (one of the flourishing ports of the Chola and Pallavakingdoms, and to-day a suburb of Madras, where theCathedral of St. Thomas stands, beneath which the saint is

said to have been buried). Kahch i (Conjeevaram) wasevidently an important centre of Aryan culture. This wasthe capital of the Pallava kingdom from about the secondcentury until it was captured in the middle of the fourth

2 T.A.voh I, No. 6, p. 45.


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INTRODUCTION 15

century A.C. by Karikala Cholan, one of the greatest ofthe early Chola sovereigns. Well-known Aryan scholars

were living there, and it is said to have been the birthplace of Chanakya (Kautilya), the chief minister ofChandragupta and the author of the Arthasastra. FromKanchi, Aryan ideas and customs were gradually makingtheir influence felt through the Tamil country. It is statedby Sir John Marshall that the rich decorative ideas ofDravidian architecture had already begun to influencethe architecture of North India. The frescoes which have

been discovered at Sittanavasal hill in the PudukottahState show a striking similarity to the Buddhist frescoes ofAjanta, revealing the same boldness of form and a similarfeeling for beauty and colour.

THE POET TIRUVALLUVAR

It was into such an age, rich in culture, vivid in its lifeand adventurous in its commerce, and into a people with a

great literary heritage and a tradition of generous tolerancefor all that was useful and noble, that the author of theKural was born. He lived before epigraphical recordsbegin, and beyond what can be gathered from fancifullegends we know almost nothing about him or his family.No genuine historical record has yet been found concerninghis orig in or his life . Dr. Pope thus greets him in hismemorial verses:

Sage Valluvar, priest of the lowly clan,No tongue repeats, no speech reveals thy name ;Yet all things changing, dieth not thy fame,

For thou art bard of universal man.

Tradition tells us that he was a weaver of the little townof Mayilapur1' the Village of the Peacock 'and this mayperhaps record the truth. For this reason he is often called' the Weaver of Mayilapur.' He was said to have belongedto a low caste, the caste of Val luvars , who were then, and arestill, the priests of the outcaste groups, and so he has beenknown from time immemorial, as Tiruvalluvar or Sage

1To-day it is spelt' Mylapore.'


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Valjuvar . Trad it ion makes him out to have been one of afamily of seven, born of an illegitimate union between a

Brahman and an outcaste woman, among the others beingthe poets Kapilar and Avvaiyar; but there is absolutely noevidence for the truth of this tradition, nor does it appearuntil very late; so we can discard it without regret, as wellas many more fanciful tales of his life. One of the stanzasin praise of his book says that he was born in Maduraand came to live m Mayi lapur. Another of the laudatorystanzas says that Elelasingan (Lion of the Surf), an owner

of surf-boats, which were used up to the beginning of thiscentury for communication between ships and shore atMadras, was his patron and brought him up. Hi s frequentreferences to the ' sea-girt world' and the fearful ocean 'suggest that he lived by the sea; and so it is possible thatthe tradition which connects him with Mayilapur is foundedon fact. To-day in Mayilapur there is a shrine to the poetand his wife, set in the midst of a beautiful garden. It

lies in the heart of the Brahman quarter and within soundof the waves that were so often in his thoughts. Everyyear in the month of April a festival is celebrated in hishonour and he is worshipped as a divine guru.

In the early centuries of the Christian era, Mayilapur mayhave been a busy cosmopolitan port with merchants andweavers, fisher-folk and agriculturists. There may alsohave been there a small community of Christians, if the

tradition which connects St. Thomas with the neighbourhood is historical. There was certainly a shrine of St.Thomas there in the tenth century, as King Alfred is saidto have sent an embassy to the shrine of St. Thomas inSouth India. It is known from Tamil records that Maha-ballipuram, which lies twenty miles to the south, was aflourishing Pallava and Chola port in the early centuriesA . C , and its wonderful carved temples of the seventh to the

ninth centuries bear witness to its importance.It is clear that our poet would have plenty of opportunity of talking with people from overseas, and of gettingto know something of different cultures and religions.There were Jains and Buddhists, Vedic Hindus and AgamicHindus, as well as Dravidians, living and worshipping in


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MYLAPORE TODAY Photo by Messrs Klein & Peyerl


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INTRODUCTION 17

peace and harmony. Sectarian bitterness had not thenarisen and the various sects lived happily together in

a peaceful tolerance and mutual respect. I t was not t i l l theseventh century that the age of sectarian rivalry began inthe Tamil country. Kanchi (Conjeevaram) was only a fewmiles away from Mayilapur.

Sriman S. Somasundra Bharati of Madura has recentlypublished a pamphlet on Tiruvalluvar , in which he maintainsthat the poet was a Tamil chieftain who held a positioncorresponding to that of Lord Chamberlain in the court of

the Panclyan king at Madura. He brings forward evidenceto show that the name ' Valluvar' was used in those daysas a ti tl e for a high official at the court. While SrimanBharati has given good reasons for refusing to believe theold stories, it is hardly possible wi thout further confirmationto accept his hypothesis, and to throw overboard thetradition that connects Tiruvalluvar with the humblerclasses.

Tiruvalluvar is said to have married a Vellala womannamed Vasuki , who died before him. About their marriedlife all kinds of fanciful stories are related, which howeverbelong to a later time. Most of them illustrate her completeabsorption in, and subordination to, her husband, and at herdeath the following stanza is put into his mouth:

Sweet as my da il y food : O f u l l of love : O wifeObedient ever to my word, chafing my feet,The last to sleep, the first to rise, O gentle one:

By night henceforth, what slumber to mine eyes ?1

If we could by any stretch of imagination believe thatthis verse was actually composed by the poet, then judgingeven according to the standards of that day and in the lightof his own estimate of the place of women, we should beforced to think of Tiruvaljuvar as a selfish and arrogantindividual, rather than as the shrewd, kindly and humblesoul that shines out of the pages of his book.

Tradition says that Tiruvajluvar submitted his manuscript to the haughty pandits of the Madura Academy andthat they refused to accept it, scorning the work of an

1 S.K.p. xii.

3


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unlearned man of the lower orders. Ti ruval luvar , however,placed it upon the raft which floated in the Golden Lily

Tank of the temple and upon which the Board of theAcademy sat. Immediately the raft shrank to such asmall size that it could only provide room for this palmyraleaf manuscript, and the learned pandits were all precipitated ignominiously into the wateran incident thatmust have rejoiced the hearts of other poets whosemanuscripts had been rejected! Realizing through thismiracle the divine worth of the book, each of them

sang a stanza in honour of the work and its author.These stanzas are called ' The Garland of Tiruvalluvarand are usually included in editions of the

book as an appendix. This legend probably enshrines thefact that the poet, being unknown and of somewhat lowlyorigin, had difficulty in persuading the literary critics of theancient Tamil world that his book contained anythingworth while; and that in some striking fashion, perhaps

through the king, the value of the work was made known.Traditions of this nature are usually valuable, not so muchfor the story they te ll , as for the idea they convey. Sr imanP. T. Srinivas Iyengar suggests that Madura refused torecognize him because he came from the unknown Pallavacountry, which was more Ar yan than Tamil , and which hadnot produced one single Tamil poet of meri t up to that time.

The fol lowing are a few of the laudatory stanzas from the

Tiruvalluvamalai; one of these is ascribed to the Pandyanking of that dateUgra-Peruvaludhiand runs thus:

Tiru. Malai,4.The god Brahma, hiding his own true form, was born into the

world as Valluvar, who took the three categories of the Vedas Virtue ,Wealth and Blissand expressed them in the form of the Kura l ;therefore let my head worship this book, let my mouth praise it, letmy mind ponder on it and let my ears listen to i t .

To Sattanar, another poet of the day, is ascribed thefollowing stanza:


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THE GOLDEN LILY TANK, MADURA TEMPLE


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I N T R O D U C T I O N 19

Tiru. Malai, 43.It is difficult to say which of the two is superior, Sanskrit or Tami l ;

For Sanskrit has the Vedasand Tamil has theKttralof Tiruvalluvar.

Itfaikkaglar, another of the poets, puts the opinion of theTamil world into a nutshell in the following stanza:

The Rural is a semi-perforated mustard seed, into which the poethas poured the contents of the seven seas.

Kapilar, a Brahman poet, and pre-eminent in that day forhumanity and wisdom, is credited wi th the fo llowing stanza:

Tiru. Malai, 5.O king, who rules over the land where tame birds fal l asleep to the

music of the rice-pounders ! The wonder of the thought contained inone of Valluvar's little verses is similar to the drop of water on the tipof the tiniest flower, which reflects the whole length of the tallestpalmyra tree.

These stanzas testify to the very high value placed uponthe book by the Tamil people in former days.

THE CHARACTER OF THE POETThe only light we possess on the character of the poet

is that which comes from the book itself; and so it is to thatwe must turn in order to understand him . The Kuralshows him to be a man of the people, with simple tastes,of sturdy honesty, self-reliant, god-fearing and gifted with

a sense of pawky humour. He loved the simple home-life of the worker, whether weaver or tiller of the soil, andwas at home wi th l i t t le children. The greatest virtues tohis mind were simple kindliness, truthfulness, sincerity andharmlessnessto alllife. He was not in any sense an ascetic,but a shrewd man of the world, and knew that many so-


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called ascetics were imposters and rogues. He was a keenobserver of nature and of the habits of birds and animals,

and used simple illustrations wi th te ll ing effect. To himthere was only one God, the Supporter and Helper of allwho trust Him, the all-perfect One, Who alone gives joy andrest. Idol-worship finds no place in his book, and thereis no mention of any of the sects. He has taken the bestof Hinduism as he knew it, of Buddhism, and perhaps alsoof Christian ideas, and woven them together into a strandof beautiful pearls. Open-minded and open-hearted, he is

ready to welcome all truth wherever found, and no mockinglaugh or abusive taunt against any religion issues from hispages. A l l the great religions of IndiaSaivism, Buddhism,Jainism and Christianityhave claimed him as their own.The likelihood is that he belonged to no particular sect, butworked out, from his own experience, in the quiet of Mayila-pur, as he wove his many coloured fabrics, a synthesis of thebest he could find in al l of them. His scorn is reserved

only for laziness and hypocrisyan interesting combination.A dry-as-dust philosopher, who had not entered deeplyinto the everyday experiences of life, could not havepainted these simple and beautiful pictures; an essentiallyhuman soul, with vivid human interests and in daily touchwith the ordinary things of life, lies behind these imperishable stanzas. We w i l l just cull a few illustrations of thedry humour and vivid picture-making which we find in so

many of his stanzas.1The flute is sweet, the lute is sweet' say thoseWho've never heard the pretty prattle of their lit tle ones. (7 : 6.)

Lakshml herself the envious cannot bear;She'll show him to her sister sinister and go. (17 : 7.)

Call him not' man' who makes display of useless words;Call him bu t ' chaff of humankind.' (20: 6.)

The show of power of one, who has no power within,Is like a cow in tiger-skin which quietly grazes on. (27: 3.)

Be like the heron when 'tis time for lying low ;But like its strike when time for action comes. (49 : 10.)

The deeds of men of shameless heartLike puppets are on strings, just apeing life. (102 :10.)


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INTRODUCTION 21

When eye to eye doth speak with answering look,What need is there for any spoken words ? (110: 10.)

Those who wish for more will find them in the translations given in this li t t le book. A nameless author and anameless book; but his kindly, generous soul speaks to usfrom every stanza.

THE BOOK

T H E I D E A L S A N D T E A C H I N G O F T H E ' K U R A L '

The Kural aims to give a description of the duties andcharacter of the householder, the hermit and the state officers in the Tamil country. Tradition declares that theauthor composed it in response to a request for a TamilVeda, to take the same place among the Tamil people as theSanskrit Vedas do among the Aryans. It is not, however,a religious treatise but an ethical work, dealing with theconduct and character of various orders of society as theyexisted in his day.. The book consists of 133 chapters often couplets each, in theKural Venba~metre, from which itgets its name. Thus there are altogether 1330 couplets.These couplets are models of terseness and vividness, eachone expressing in the briefest and most concise form thetruth it seeks to convey. The Rev. P. Percival, a missionaryof Jaffna, said of i t : * Noth ing in the whole compass of humanlanguage can equal the force and terseness of the coupletsin which the author of the Kural conveys the lessons ofwisdom.'1 Dr. Pope applies to the book the words used byArchbishop Trench of St. Augustine: ' He abounds in shortand memorable, and, if I might so call them, epigrammaticsayings, concentrating with a forceful brevity the wholetruth which he desires to impart into some single phrase,forging it into a polished shaft, at once pointed to pierce,and barbed that it shall not lightly drop from the mind andmemory/ 2

Many of the couplets are pen-and-ink sketches in words,calling up before the mind a vivid picture, such as * the ass,clad in tiger's skin, cropping the grass,' or 'the crane

1 videTamil Wisdom,p. 29. 2 S.Kp. xv.


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suddenly striking to seize its prey/ or 'a withered treeblossoming in a sandy waste,' or ' the leaden skies and the

barren earth/ and so on.The work is divided into three main parts, dealingrespectively with Virtue, Wealth and Lovethe first threePadarthas or objects of life, called in Sanskrit, Dharma,

Artha, and Kama, or in the Tamil language, Aram, Porul,Inbam. The four th Padartha is Moksha (Salvation) andmany reasons are given for the poet not including a fourthpart on this subject. Much that he says under the heading

of Virtue has indirect reference to the ideal of release orultimate salvation. Tiruvalluvar is mainly concerned wi thpractical things and with matters that belong to everydaylife in this world, and so it is natural that he should haveavoided treating of Salvation or Moksha. He is no sectarian,and it is difficult to avoid sectarianism when one enters thistheological realm. So he probably decided to leave it alone,believing that if people would but follow his teaching in

the first three books they would attain to Moksha.In the treatment of Dharma and Artha, i.e. Virtue andWealth, the poet follows the general lines of Aryan ethics,and he had evidently studied many of the Sanskrit workseither in the original or through a translation. He clearlyborrows from both the Manava Dharma Sastra of Manuand from the Artha Nostra of Kautilya, and showsacquaintance with other Sanskrit works such as the

Panchatantra, Hitopadesa, Ramayana, Mahabharata andthe Nltisara. His obligation to Kautilya is particularlyevident, as is pointed out further on. In the notes alsofrequent references w i l l be found to Sanskrit works inwhich the thoughts of our author occur. But in all this ' hedisplays an originality of treatment and a sequence of ideasentirely his own/1

The first chapter is a beautiful exposition of bhakti

or devotion to God. Dr. Pope rightly says that theword bhakti denotes something which is really acombination of the Greek terms pistis and agape, faith andlove.2 It expresses the living, trustful, adoring attitude

1 H.T.p. 588. 2 S.K.p. vi.


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INTRODUCTION 23

of the soul to God. Our poet's exposition has nothing init of sectarianism; and Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and

Moslems can and do use most of these beautiful stanzaswithout any reservation whatever.Then follow three introductory chapters, dealing with

what may be called three essential factors of life in India;the rain-cloud's excellence, the greatness of spiritual leaderswho have renounced all worldly pleasure, and the power ofVi rtue or Dharma. It is a significant th ing that Ti ruva llavurshould have singled out these three factors in life as

supremely impo rtan t; and this alone stamps h im as arealist, concerned w i th life as it must be lived. Anyonewho has lived in India knows the part that rain plays inevery sphere of life . Says Tiruval luvar, ' Without rain,neither festival nor worship, neither charity nor virtue ispossible' (2 : 8). 'Every Indian budget,' said a famousFinance Member of India, ' is a gamble in rain .' W i th thefailure of rains in India, life goes to pieces, families are

separated, virtue decays, even existence becomes impossible.Even to-day, with improved irrigation and better communications, a failure of rain means an entire dislocationof the machinery of life and government in this land ofvi llages; and in those days, when communications werebad and food could not be obtained for love or money, itmeant starvation and death for hundreds of thousands.

Again in his emphasis upon the saint who has renounced

all, the sannyasi, the ideal religious teacher, he is soundinga note that rings out of India's heart. Even the king doesnot occupy the position of importance that the truesannyasi or sadhu does. The sadhu brings to men in allwalks of life the divine counsel and the divine power, and sois worthy of greater honour than the kin g. It is said thatafter the death of his wife Tiruvalluvar himself became asadhu. It is not the priest but the prophet who is the supreme

religious teacher in India. The Brahman sages came downfrom the north through the trackless forests of CentralIndia and became the gurus and counsellors of many of thekings of the Tamil country. They were not priests, officiating at ceremonies, but men whose power rested onrenunciation and moral idealism. The fou rth chapter, on


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the greatness of virtue, is what we should have expected.This is another illustration of the idea that lies behind all

Hindu ethics and politics, that there is an ethical norm orstandard, independent of all circumstances, eternal andinviolate, by which the deeds of gods and men, kings andcitizens must be tested.

Following upon these introductory chapters is a sectionof twenty chapters devoted to vir tue in domestic life , whichgives a description of the ideal householder in his variousrelationships. Dr. Pope thus summarizes these chapters:

The ideal householder leads on earth a consecrated life, not unmindfu l of any duty to the liv ing or to the departed. . . . His children arehis choicest treasures. Affection is the very life of his soul, of all thevirtues the first and greatest. The sum and source of all is Love. Hishouse is open to every guest, whom he welcomes with smiling faceand pleasant word, and with whom he shares his meal. Courteous inspeech, grateful for every kindness, just in all his dealings, master ofhimself in perfect self-control, strict in the performance of every duty,pure, patient and forbearing, with a heart free from envy, modest indesire, speaking no evil, refraining from useless words, dreading thetouch of evil, diligent and liberal,he is one whom all unite to praise.1

The emphasis that Tiruvalluvar places on love, forgiveness, gentleness and forbearance is especially noteworthy.It is possible that this may be due to the teaching of theBuddha, which was well-known in South India at that t ime ;and the people of the south were peculiarly responsive tothis gentle note. The same thin g is true to-day in the south,

where there is far less of the mil itant spirit than in the fiercernorth. It has often been asserted that Tiruval luvar musthave known something of Christ's teaching, and the possibility of contact with Christian disciples cannot be overlooked. At the same time it must be said that there isno evidence to support the suggestion that he borrowedfrom Christian sources. It is not impossible that theinfluence of Buddhism, together with his own meditations

upon the problems of life, under the inspiration of God'sloving Spirit, led him to the thoughts and ideals whichhe has worked out in these chapters.

These chapters are followed by thirteen chapters on the

1 S.K.p. x


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Life of the Ascetic or Sannyasi. Indian ethics has alwaysfound a place for the sannyasi. It is rather interesting to

see that Tiruvalluvar includes the quality of graciousnessamong the characteristics of the sannyasi. One does notalways associate the two, though it is generally true thatthe man who is most devoted to God partakes of Hischaracter of grace. The poet has a scathing denunciationof insincerity in sannyas, giving us in this connection someof his most v iv id word-sketches. The virtue of ahimsa, sodistinctive of Hindu ethics, is also a characteristic of the

sannyasi, with its concomitant virtue, equability of temperor absence of anger, as Tiruvalluvar calls it . Abstinencefrom animal food is a characteristic of the ascetic, but notnecessarily of the householder. Men who are called to thisspecial vocation have to undergo a special discipline andare not allowed to share in all the conveniences of thehouseholder. It is appropriate that this section shouldconclude with four chapters, dealing respectively with the

impermanence o f . earthly things, the meaning of truesannyas, the realization of the truth and the eradication ofdesire. The chapter on the realization of the t ru th showshow deep and wide was our sage's love of truth, and is wellworth special study.

Then comes a chapter which stands alone, midway between the sections on Vir tu e and Wealth. There is a lurkingshadow in every Indian heart and home, the shadow of

relentless fate, or Karma. The Tamil wo rd used byTiruvalluvar for Karma or Fate means ' the ancient Thing/the force which has its roots in the past. This is not ablind force working haphazard, but a force which dependsabsolutely upon the deeds done by the soul in this or in aformer birth. Every deed, (using the word in the widestpossible sense to include desires, thoughts and words, aswell as acts) carries with it an energy which must work

itself out in this l ife or in another, and which determines theconditions of the soul's existence. No Indian philosophycan get away from this idea of Karma, and here in thischapter it stands out stark and bare, as Tiruvalluvar says,' forestalling every action.' It has to be remembered thatthis is a peculiarly Aryan idea and is not found in ancient


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Tamil literature. One remarkable thing, however, has to benoted in his philosophy. In a subsequent chapter entit led

manliness' he refers again to Fate under the same name,' the ancient thing,' and declares in unhesitating tones:Who undismayed, unwearying, plod onWil l see the back of ancient Fate itself. (62 : 10.)

So even' ancient Fate' can be conquered, or rather workedout, by intense perseverance and energy.

Part II deals mainly with the State, and its functions

and factors. In this section, as has been said before, there isample proof that Tiruvalluvar was acquainted with Hindubooks on politics, such as the Artha Sastra of Chanakya.TheKural is so remarkably free from Sanskrit words thatit is hardly likely he knew Sanskrit. He must thereforehave somehow obtained a very thorough knowledge of thecontents of these works. The seven elements of the kin gdomthe king, the ministry, the country, defence, wealth,

the army, and alliancesall come in the same order as inthese Aryan treatises. The agreement of three investigators ; the use of four kinds of tests to test the loya ltyof servants; these and many other things agree so closelywith the ideas of Sanskrit polity that it is impossible toexplain them except on the hypothesis of clear and definiteknowledge. Some have gone so far as to say that theKuralis a Tamil version of theArtha Sastra. This , however, is not

borne out by the book itself. Two important differencesmust be noted between theKur ats teaching on politics andthat of al l other poli tical treatises of that time. First, thereis no suggestion in theKural that in politics it is admissibleto leave the path of true virtue for the sake of good ends.Even the Artha Sastra justifies crooked politics for thesake of the kingdom; but theKural never strays into theseMachiavellian wanderings (see 55: 6; 66: 10; 102: 6).

Further, the Kural gives no hint of the theory that theking is in any sense divine or that he wields divine power.The king must act according to the principles of dharma,just as the humblest citizen. The king who swerves fromvirtue, even to the slight extent of being hard of access andcareless in judgment, w i l l be deprived of his sovereignty


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INTRODUCTION 27

(55: 8). One chapter deals especially wi th tyranny anddepicts the doom of the king who oppresses his subjects

(56). The only verse in which the king is called ' a g o d 'makes it very clear that this is a name given to the justand benevolent prince because of his qualities, and notbecause of his office. 'The king who rules just ly andguards his realm shall be thought of as a god to men(39: 8). These two things are very significant, and showhow far ahead of his contemporaries was this simpleweaver-mystic of Mayilapur.

The following is a summary of the chapters 38 to 73,dealing with the qualities and conduct of the prince and hisministers, as given by V. V. S. Aiyar in his edition of the

Rural :

The prince should not be above the law and should be impartialand just (55). He should give full liberty of speech to his subjectsand to his ministers to criticize him and his rule when he goes wrong(38,: 9 ; 44 : 7 ; 44 : 8). The king should not loll in luxury, but shouldbe alert and watchful and accessible to all who demand justice; shoulddevelop the resources of his kingdom and protect his subjects frominternal and external warfare (39, 54, 60, 61, 62). He should belearned in all the arts of peace and war. He should choose his friendsfrom among the good and great, and avoid the company of the lowand vulgar (45, 46). He should examine his own mind constantlyand never allow any vice to enter and obtain a foothold in it (44).He should select his officers with due care (51, 52), and superviseeverything personally (51: 10 ; 55: 3), as well as by means ofsecret agents (59). He should look after his kindred and treatthem worthily. Being almost all-powerful in the State, he shouldcultivate the quality that should be an automatic check on theextravagant use of his power, namely that of considerateness towardsal l (58). But above all, he should be firm and daring, and should neverbe weak or irresolute in his purposes.

As to the minister, he should be a man of affairs, clever, pure-minded, devoted to the prince, and skilful in reading the hearts ofmen. He should be a courtier in the best sense of the term, knowingwhen to speak and what to speak, and when to hold his tongue. Whenrepresenting his master in foreign courts he should be respectful to theprince to whose court he is appointed, and polite and social with thehigh functionaries of that court; but at the same time and above all,he should have an ever-watchful eye to the interests and honour of hisprince. Lastly, he should be well-versed in al l the arts of the forum(64-73).1

1 V. V.S, pp. xxiii, xxiv.


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In this section on Politics there are many stanzas which,while they refer in the first place to the king or his ministers,

have also a general application to all men; as for instancethe chapters on learning, listening, energy, manliness andso on.

At the end of the section on Politics there are thirteenchapters which form an appendix to this part of the book.These deal with general themes such as nobility, honour,greatness, courtesy, agriculture, begging and vileness. Inthese chapters is summed up the author's ideal of conduct.

His idea of the perfectly foolish man is interesting andreveals in a flash his own aversions and the antithesis ofhis own ideals:

Shamelessness, listlessness, lovelessness, heedlessnessThese are the four traits of foolish men. (84: 3.)

Compare with this his ideal of the kingly character:Courage, charity, wit and gritthese four

Unfailing, the kingly nature make. (39 : 2.)

The chapter on Farming in this appendix again showshow closely in touch wi th reality our poet lives. Agr icul tu reis the chief industry of India, about nine-tenths of thepopulation having direct connections w i th i t ; and just as inthe introductory section Tiruvalluvar devotes one chapterto the ' Rain-cloud's Excellence. so in this concludingsection he gives one chapter to the importance of farming.

As a village weaver he would know well how muchdepended upon the farmer and his work.The third part of the Kural is in direct line with the

indigenous poetry of the Tamil people. It deals w i th whatis called in Tamil aham or love between the two sexes.Mr. Drew, one of the earlier translators of the Kural, saidof this third pa rt : ' I t could not be translated into anyEuropean language without exposing the translator to

infamy.'

1

Dr. Pope dissented entirely from this opinionand has included a complete translation of it in his book.He says of it, ' I am persuaded that it is perfectly pure inits tendency and in the intention of its wise and high-

1 S.K.p.xii.


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INTRODUCTION 29

souled composer.' 1 The Rev. J. S. M. Hooper agrees withDr. Pope and says of it: He was altogether free from

prudery, so much is perfectly clear; but it is probablyequally true to say that there is nothing in the third partof the Kural to destroy the impression of high moralityand essential delicacy produced by the earlier parts.'2

V. V. S. Aiyar, the most recent translator of the Kural,has included a complete and careful translation of Part I I Iin his book.

This third part is divided into sections in accordance

wi th the regular Tamil tradition. The first section concernsKalavu or furtive love, that is the spontaneous union ofman and maid without the regular ceremonies of marriage.This was one of the ordinary customs of ancient Tamilsocial practice, and was recognized as being the prelude toa binding union. It was the custom for the lovers to meetoutside the village and when their love was discovered bythe others, to proclaim their union and have it formally

recognized by the village elders. Here we see the poetryof spontaneous love portrayed with a delightful delicacy offeeling and a wealth of simile very characteristic of theTamil people. The latter section pictures the course ofKarpu or married love, and portrays the joy of husbandand wife, the pangs of separation and the bliss of reunion.As Mr. Hooper says, 'the whole of this Third Bookis strongly reminiscent of the Song of Songs.'3 Like

the Song ot Solomon this also has been interpreted allegori-cally by many commentators; but there is nothing toindicate that the poet had any such allegorical idea in mindand it would i l l accord wi th the viv id realism that he showselsewhere. Some of the couplets in this Th i rd Part arevery charming and the reader w i l l find a selection of themin this work .

TIRUVALLUVAR AND WOMANHOODIt is rather an interesting problem to attempt tounderstand the poet's idea of womanhood. A study inTamil on this subject by Mr. T.. P. Minakshisundram has

1 S.K.p. xii. 2 J.S.M.H.pp. 11, 12. 3 ibid. p. 11.


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appeared.1 The author points out that we must judgeTi ruva lluvar by his time and not by ours. In those days

of war and insecurity it was the custom to guard carefullythe womenfolk from the fury of raiders. There is nothinghowever to indicate that women were regarded and treatedas mere chattels. As we have seen, there were manypoetesses among them, which implies that they as well asthe boys were educated. It is probable that the influenceof Aryan ideas, which were spreading through the Tamilland, was helping to give woman a subordinate position,

but judging from the Kural itself it cannot be said thatTi ruvalluvar had a low opinion of women. In Chapter 7on the Gift of Children, ' he makes use of the commonplural in seven out of the ten stanzas and only uses theword ' son' in stanzas 7, 9 and 10. In Chapter 6 on thewife, whom he calls 'the Helpmeet of the Home/ heexalts her position in every possible way. She evidentlyhad charge of the family purse and was the mistress of this

side of household life (6 : 1). He goes on to declare thatthere is nothing in the world nobler than a chaste woman(6: 4) and a man's good fortune lies in the worth of hiswife (6:10). It is true that this chapter contains the coupletwhich enjoins upon the wife the duty of worshipping herhusband as a god. It is most likely that the poet obtainedthis idea from his study of the Sanskrit sastras and particularly of Manu's work . Ti ruva lluvar regards the family

life as high as the life of the sannyasi, and as bringing allthe blessings that can be obtained by means of the asceticli fe . Any philosopher who does this cannot th ink meanlyof women. In his chapter on learning he uses wordswhich apply to both sexes and so indicates the necessity ofeducation for both men and women. It is true that hedespises what he calls ' petticoat rule' in the kingdom, butthis refers to the king who, without weighing matters

carefully for himself, accepts blindly the opinion of hiswomenfolk. Further there is nothing in the Kural tosuggest that the poet ever thought of polygamy. Theideal set forth throughout is that of monogamy.

1vide p. 114, No. 7.


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INTRODUCTION 31

Monogamy always means the elevation of womanhood.Tiruvalluvar has scathing condemnation for those who

frequent prostitutes, as well as for the prostitutesthemselves. While we cannot expect this humble poet ofthe Tamil land of fourteen centuries ago to express modernideas about women, it is clear that he gave them a veryhigh position in life and believed that their function insociety was a noble one, for which they should be fitted bysuitable education. One of the most noble qualities of mengraciousnessis symbolized in his poems by a beautiful

maiden. So while we must not expect to find in the Ruralmodern ideas of the place of womanhood, we do findwomanhood given a hig h position.

THE STYLE AND FORM OF THE BOOK

TheKural consists of 1330 terse and brief couplets in themetric form known as the Kural Venba, one of the most

distinctive and difficult of Tamil metres, which may be animitation of the Sanskrit Sutra form. It is the earliestextant work in this metre, and the poet reveals a completemastery of his form. The first line of the couplet consistsof four feet, and the second of three, the last foot being apeculiar k ind of incomplete foot. Indian metres are al lgoverned by length and there is no accent. These feet mayconsists of two long syllables; or of one long syllable

followed by two short ones; or of three long syllables; orof one long syllable followed by two short ones and thenanother long one; or of two short syllables followed by along one; or of four short syllables; or of two short andtwo long syllables; or of three short and one long syllable.The rules governing the linking of these syllables are verystr ict. A long syllable at the end of a spondee ( ) mustbe followed by two short syllables at the beginning of the

next foot, and a long syllable at the end of an anapaest(00 -) must be followed by a long syllable at the beginning of the next foot. In addit ion there must be a certainamount of initial vowel alliteration, as well as secondsyllable rhyming between the first and fourth or first andfifth feet, as for example Ahara and Bahavan, Malar and


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32 THE SACRED KURAL

Nilam, Kamam and Namarn. We reproduce in Englishletters two of these couplets so as to give readers un

acquainted with Tamil some idea of the verse form of theoriginal:Anbilar ellam tamakkuriyar anbudaiyarYenbum uriyar pirarkku (8 : 2.)

Nandri marappathu nandrandru nandrallaThandre marappathu nandru (11: 8.)

The Ktiral is a didactic poem, and it is well-known

that in such poems it is not always easy to preserve thepoetic quality. Tiruva lluvar , however, does so, partly bythe use of poetic devices of rhythm and alliteration andpartly by means of artistic similes and happy illustrations. Again and again the genuine love of nature,which distinguished the Tamil poetic genius before it wasoverlaid by the conventions of Aryan verse, is revealed inthe couplets of the Kura l . The lotus pool, the heron in

the paddy field, the green grass, the well in the river-sand,the useless brackish soilthese and many other illustrationsshow how the poet loved simple natural things.

One of the peculiarities of the style of the author ofthe Kural is an exaggerated emphasis upon a particularvirtue or vice, which is the subject of his comment at thatparticular moment. It is something like the Kathenotheism'of the Rig Veda, which selects one special god upon whom

to concentrate devotion at a particular time, withoutim plyin g anything derogatory about the others. So alsoTiruvalluvar selects one particular virtue or vice forspecial emphasis, making it for the time being the chief ofvirtues or vices (see 16: 1; 30 : 5 ; 32 : 7; 34 : 1; 58: 9 ;84:4) .

THE ' KURAL' IN TAMIL LIFE AND LETTERS

From the earliest times up to the present day the Kuralhas been one of the most-quoted literary works of theTamil land. The terse, v iv id couplets lend themselves soaptly to memorization and quotation, and there is a charmabout them that makes us want to repeat them again andagain. We have already shown that it is quoted in the


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INTRODUCTION 33

literature produced in the years immediately succeeding thecomposition of the work, and from that time on we find it

continually quoted in all great literature. The literature ofsubsequent periods bears ample testimony to the influenceexercised by this wonderful little work during all thecenturies.1 During the past fifty years there has been afurther considerable growth of interest in the Kural on thepart of all classes. It is studied in schools and colleges andforms the ethical basis of many a young man's life. In thevillages many of the couplets are well-known and a

quotation from the Kural never fails to win a response.Christians, Buddhists, Muhammadans and Hindusall thedifferent religious sects make use of the work withoutreluctance or qualification and find in it teaching thatenriches life and helps men and women to fight their moralbattles.

V. V. S. Aiyar says that the children of zemindars in theTamil country, up to thirty years ago, were taught theKural with a view to their instruction in the art of goodgovernment.2

Thus for centuries the Kural has been the ethical Bibleof the Tami l people.' Gifted with dry humour and vividartistry of language, the author has put into unforgettablecouplets the essential principles and duties of life in alllands, and has woven into a beautiful picture the variousideals to which India has given expression in her differentreligions. It is a book that should be studied by all whowish to know what India can contribute to the ethicalthought of the ages. In its combination of idealism andpracticality, in its insistence upon the inviolability ofdharma by ascetic, king or householder, and in itsemphasis upon a life of strenuous service and undauntedperseverance, it is as applicable to the world to-day as itwas to the India of 1500 years ago. M. Ariel, a greatFrench scholar in Tamil, says of this book:

That which above all is wonderful in theKuralis the fact that theauthor addresses himself, without regard to castes, peoples or beliefs,to the whole community of mankind: the fact that he formulates

1 vide Critical Studies in Kural, pp. 82-89. 2 V. V.S.p. xliii.4


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sovereign morality and absolute reason: that he proclaims in theiressence, in their eternal abstractedness, virtue and truth; he presents,as it were, in one group the highest laws of domestic and social life; heis equally perfect in thought, in language and in poetry, in the austeremetaphysical contemplation of the great mysteries of the Divine nature,as in the easy and graceful analysis of the tenderest emotions ofthe heart.1

This little book, in company with a few others, belongsnot merely to a single people, but to the wor ld ; and as longas men love virtue for its own sake and esteem goodness asmore precious than rubies, i t w i l l continue to be treasured

as one of the literary and ethical masterpieces of the world.As we study this wonderful little book surely we can

re-echo the thought of an ancient bard of the Tamil land,Kavuniyanar:

The Kural's sweet to mouth and ear and mind ;'Tis balm for twofold deeds that birth rebind.'Twas sung by Valluvar, the poet wise and true,That we might know the righteous path of old anew.

Tiru. Malai, 51.

1 S.K. p. i,


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TRANSLATIONS OFSELECTED COUPLETS


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TEMPLE OF TIRUVALLUVAR AT MYLAPORE

T E M P L E T O V A S U K I A T M Y L A P O R E


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VIRTUEPREFACE

1. IN PRAISE OF GOD

1. As letters al l are based on ' A ',The world is based on Godthe First.

2. What use is lore, if the learned w i l l not bowBefore the feet of H im the All-wise One ?

3. They'll live for ever in the land above,Who cling to Him that bides in lotus-hearts.

Trouble shall never come to thoseWho cling to the desireless One.

The twain dark deeds shall ne'er be theirs,W h o give the L o r d Hi s ri gh tf ul praise.6. Forever shall they live , wh o fi rm ly stand

In the true path of Him who's Victor o'er thesenses five.

Except by clinging to that Peerless One,'Tis hard mind's sorrow to dispel.

'Tis hard to swim this world's wide sea,Unless we cling to Him,Ocean of grace andgood.

The head that bows not to our God SupremeIs useless as a senseless sense.

10. W ho then can sw im this m igh ty sea of bir ths ?Not they who cling not to our Sovereign's feet.

N.B.Notes on the various stanzas will be found on pp. 69-107.

2 . T H E RAIN-CLOUD'S EX CE LL EN CE

1. Whe n ra in comes ri gh t , the w o r l d goes o n ;'Ti s fi tt in g then to call i t ' heavenly food.'


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2. Rain makes good food for men;Itself is food for hungry men.

3. Should the clouds deceive this sea-girt world,Hunger and thirst will ramp and rage.

4. The ploughman cannot ply his ploughShould the monsoon's abundance fail.

5. 'Tis lack of rain that ruins a l l ;And the rain's help that lifts the ruined up.

6. If fr om the sky rain-drops ne'er fall ,Freshblades of grass w i l l ne'er be seen.

7. E'en the wid

220380 the sacred kural

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