Thirukkural, spiritual epic of saint Thiruvalluvar, reduced to a book of dos and don’ts by vested interests: TN Guv

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T S Venkatesan

The paid pipers of proselytization of papacy, which included politicians, film personalities and sundries, have been peddling, puppeting to promote divisive politics in the name of caste, community and religion as part of their anti-national agenda. They are questioning age-old Hindu customs, spirituality and what not only to promote Abrahamic religion.

TN Governor Ravi has never been hesitated to show profound love for Classic Tamil, richness of Thirukkural and Tamil culture.  While addressing the Thirukkural To Humanity for World Peace and Harmony Conference organised by Anna University the Kural Malai Sangam on the theme “Thirukkural to humanity, for world peace and harmony” in Chennai on Oct.7, he said spiritual nature of Thirukkural, written by saint Thiruvalluvar, was systematically underrated for years together by reducing its significance and promoting it as a mere book on ‘code of conduct’.  He said, in fact, Thirukkural being a unique blend of spirituality and Needhi (moral) Sastra. Governor Ravi said hat this despiritualisation was a denial of India’s heritage and culture and wanted Thirukkural should be restored to its full glory.  He said, “Thirukkural is a greater work than just a book of dos and don’ts.

TN Governor made a detailed presentation of the contents of Thirukkural from the first couplet and explained how it moved to other spiritual subjects step by step and attains moksha (freedom from the cycle of births and deaths).  He said, “Unfortunately, Thirukkural has been presented as a code of conduct for the past many years … The whole spirituality of Thirukkural, which is so rich and carries the spirituality of India, is played down. We say it is a great work of literature and the root of Indian culture. But somehow we feel shy about talking the spirituality spoken in Thirukkural. This conditioning of mind began during the Colonial period, and it persists. One of the first people who translated Thirukkural was GU Pope, and he made a despiritualised translation of Thirukkural. But when I say that, some people take offence … You cannot suppress the truth with noise. You must understand what damage GU Pope has done and what was his mission in India”.

Blaming the colonial rulers, he said, “the British Parliament passed a law called India Charter 1813, which mandated the British government, (the) East India Company and others to evangelize India. Against this backdrop, people like Bishop Caldwell and GU Pope came to India. GU Pope was a member of the Society for Promotion of the Gospel”. He said his translation had de-spiritualized and played down the element of spiritualism.  Pope translated “Adi Bhagavan as a primal deity, instead of ‘supreme god’, Ravi pointed out.

Governor Ravi said the de-spiritualized Thirukkural was being used for political purposes and by the rationalists and atheist. This has handy for the people who have no faith in God.

He said, “Thiruvalluvar was hijacked in a despiritualised manner and Thirukkural was reduced to a mere code of conduct. This is not fair. It is an outstanding combination of spirituality and moral (Needhi) Sastra. It has to be appreciated in its fullness. What Thiruvalluvar said was the sum and substance of Bharathiya Atyatmiya and this is our identity. This is what makes us who we are. It is a far greater work than a mere code of conduct …, ”.

The governor said it is time Thirukkural  to be restored to its full glory as it is a unique mix of dharma sastra and needhi sastra-spirituality and righteous conduct.   He said “couplets begins with bhakthi –total surrender to Adhi Bhagvan and moves on to talk about controlling one’s senses that enable the person to free oneself from the cycle of birth and death. It also talks about sanyasa and renunciation.  Thirukkural is not a literary masterpiece and more than a ‘spiritual gold mine’, a fact that was systematically downplayed right from the colonial era”.

Ravi said couplets 341 to 350 talks about spirituality and went on explaining its essence.  He said, “the element of bharatiya spirituality was underplayed, and it was being projected as a book on code of conduct”.  He summed up by saying “What Thiruvalluvar said is the sum and substance of Bharathiya Atyatmiya and this is our identity. This is what makes us who we are. It is a far greater work than a mere code of conduct … “

In August last, Governor R.N. Ravi accused Pope of translating with the colonial objective to “trivialize” the spiritual wisdom of India; in January he said the spiritual part Thirukkural was ignored; In July this year he debunked the Aryan invasion theory of Caldwell as myth. He said the geographic regions, north and south of the Vindhya Range known as ‘Panch Aryas’ and ‘Panch Dravidas’ respectively were mischievously distorted to create racial divide among people to weaken the country’s unity” the Governor said.

Tamil Nadu Governor, the only one, not belonged to the state and a non-Tamil, has been talking about the greatness and richness of Thirukkural, Hindu Culture and debunking false narratives set by invaders, Dravidian leaders. None from the Dravidian group, who are claiming champions and saviors of Tamil, in the state attached importance and spoke like him.  They merely follow their ‘masters’ voice’ for their political survival in splitting the society to pave way for spreading their religions.

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