About thiruvalluvar in tamil short 5 lines to tell in the
Answers
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ᎯᏁᏕᏯᎬᏒ:-
Talked to a close friend of mine who is a distinguished Tamil professor and he pointed me out to interpretation written by V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, yes the very same Kappalotiya Thamizhan.
So I decided to dig around and see what VOC has to say. To my surprise he has taken a very hermeneutic approach, i.e. critical interpretation. Let us see what we have.
We have three books, Book of Virtue, Book of Wealth and Book of Love
The book that is controversial according to VOC is the Book of Virtue, because it has a chapter called Prologue (Paayiram), which according to him does not fit the remaining chapters (Athigaaram).
He takes an approach of critical interpretation and compares with what he has found in the libraries. He states that in a very old handwritten copy, he found the words “சிறப்பு பாயிரம் முற்றிற்று” (Translation - Special Prologue is complete). And he found these words under the very first chapter “கடவுள் வாழ்த்து” (Translation - Praise of God). VOC contends that this is an indicator that it was a later day addition.
VOC is of the opinion that the richness of word usage and depth of meaning of the first three chapters does not match the remaining chapters, which are very consistent. Hence, it is very likely these three chapters were later day additions by an enthusiastic poet.
He further points out the inconsistency that it is hard to believe that the chapters “Praise of God” (கடவுள் வாழ்த்து) “Blessing of Rain” ( வான் சிறப்பு) and “Greatness of Ascetics” (நீத்தார் பெருமை) are written by the same man who wrote chapters “Renunciation” (துறவு) and “Truth Consciousness” (மெய்யுணர்தல்). Very interesting hermeneutic contradiction actually. Why would the poet write about primacy of introspection and at the same time praise a good who is not subject to introspection and critical analysis? VOC points out apparent contradictions between greatness of ascetics chapter and renunciation chapter. When we read those chapters afresh, it actually makes sense.
Read the chapter Truth Consciousness, Valluvar clearly rejects the concept of rebirth as we understand it today. Valluvar states that the person who understands the true nature of things will not be born again. That sounds like hardcore Buddhism/Jainism to me. And it does not sync with Praise of God.