Correcting a willful distortion

Growing up in Tamil Nadu I have been familiar with Thirukkural in many ways, both in school and outside. Buses, Business places, Government Office and many walks of our normal life had one or other Kural being displayed all over.

In spite of that, the understanding of Kural and its meaning has been a much maligned affair. Of Late, the motivated Right wing propaganda machine is trying to appropriate this important text which is synonymous with Tamil ethos. It has reached a crescendo with Nagaswamy’s ill motivated work.

Though there have been brisk push back from Various Tamil circles, the fact that the person who did this dastardly act enjoys an intellectual podium that transcends Tamil, and more than that, Thirukkural itself enjoys a wider audience beyond the Tamils, it is most fitting that a Solid rebuttal to that malicious propaganda comes out in English, catering to a wider audience outside the Tamil readers. This had been long due and when I read this book, I was overjoyed at the meticulous effort the Author Kathiravan had put in to bring out this book, “𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙪𝙠𝙠𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡: 𝘼 𝙎𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙨?”

While one reads Kural and its explanation from various quarters, there are very inherent aspects of Kural that is usually much maligned and distorted. This book is very clear in bringing out the Secular nature of Kural by putting those inherent aspects clearly. Let me try listing some of them, based on my order of priority.

𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗺(அறம்):

“𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠: 𝑎𝑅𝑢 (அறு) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑚 (அம்). 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 “𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ.” 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑎ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝐴𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑖𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠.”

Aram as espoused by Valluvar is something based on Individual Merit irrespective of caste or Social standing. It is universal. It is a rule that defines a path of life for everyone and it does not vary from one another based on their Social standing.

However, the distortion starts by equating it to Religious Dictum. Here Nagaswamy equates it to Hindu Dharma. On a broader look just by common inference of the Similarity of words both might seem similar to a simple reader. But the Significance of how Hindu Dharma sits on Top of Varna and Caste stratification is a significant point that is missed by most. Hindu Dharma defined various yard stick based on that stratification. Here Nagaswamy uses many non existent similarities to force fit his motive.

“𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑎 𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑣𝑎𝑟. 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ-𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑠 (𝐵𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑠, 𝐾𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑠, 𝑉𝑎𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑦𝑎𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑆𝑢𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑠), 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑤𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝐷ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑎. 𝐼𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 (𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎) 𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 (𝑗𝑎𝑡𝑖).”

𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗿 (சான்றோர் ):

As per Valluvar definition of Sandron or a Sandror is a person of eminence based on their Character and merit rather than Birth or religious adherence.

However, Nagaswami distorts it to mean a specific set of People either by Birth or by Religious prominence.

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗩𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗿 ( அந்தணர் / பார்ப்பனர் ):

This is a classic case of forceful Conflation of two disparate terms to suit a particular narration.

While Valluvar means a Anthanar as any person who exhibits Righteousness and Kindness, without limiting to a birth, Nagaswamy clearly distorts to mean a Hindu Brahmin which is by birth.

On the other Hand Thiruvalluvar uses Paarpanar ( பார்ப்பனர் ) for someone who is ritualistic.However Nagaswamy conflates both to mean Brahmin and thus injects a meaning that suits his narrow narration.

𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆::

One classical beacon of Thiruvalluvars theme is the universal equality of people born in the earth. That is the following Kural,

பிறப்பொக்கும் எல்லா உயிர்க்கும் சிறப்பொவ்வா

செய்தொழில் வேற்றுமை யான்

This Kural clearly states that all beings are equal at birth even though they might be rated differently based on their individual excellence they show in their profession.

This evidently is the anathema for Nagaswami, who has targeted his maximum distortion on this central idea.

He tirelessly brings vaguely related, unrelated and non-existent quotations from Puranas and Multitude of scriptures like Manu dharma Shastra, Artha Shastra, Vedas, and various other Hindu texts.

However, Kural is very methodical and Clinical in its approach. It defines right and Wrong for a reader very clearly.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

This book also clearly shows how systematic Distortion of Nagaswami and many others before him have been actively done by selectively cherry picking and ignoring the context.

In that sense, the Conclusion chapter by the author is a very important section one has to read not just understand the level of distortion but much more, to understand how Thirukkural should be read. This section clearly explains how Thirukkural is organized and presented to offer a complete view by Complementation and Augmentation. This clearly is what Nagaswami and his Tribe have missed.

“𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐯𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐲𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢." - 𝐊. 𝐙𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐥

The problem with texts that implies an idea by story to impose a set of rules, is the issue with interpretation. Though it is said that the narration in form of Stories are to reach a larger audience, this also requires a “learned” set of people to “Interpret them rightly” . That is what a good literature can aspire to , not what a said guide for Social behavior.

If interpretation of a anecdotal event is all it is, Consider this- It took millions of years of apples falling from the tree, until Newton interpreted it right and gave us the definition of Gravity and its laws in clear unambiguous, measurable definition.

Kural is exactly that.