181-727: Thiruvalluvar , commonly known as Valluvar , was an Indian poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the Tirukkuṟaḷ , a collection of couplets on ethics , political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exceptional and widely cherished work of Tamil literature . Almost no authentic information is available about Valluvar, states Kamil Zvelebil – a scholar of Tamil literature. His life and likely background are variously inferred from his literary works by different biographers. There are unauthentic hagiographic and legendary accounts of Valluvar's life, and all major Indian religions , as well as Christian missionaries of
362-441: A Brahmin father. Mu Raghava Iyengar speculated that "valluva" in his name is a variation of "vallabha", the designation of a royal officer. S. Vaiyapuri Pillai derived his name from "valluvan" (a Paraiyar caste of royal drummers) and theorized that he was "the chief of the proclaiming boys analogous to a trumpet-major of an army". The traditional biographies not only are inconsistent, but also contain incredulous claims about
543-727: A temple car carved from three blocks of granite , and a shallow, rectangular pond. The auditorium adjoining the memorial is one of the largest in Asia and can seat up to 4,000 people. A 133-foot-tall statue of Valluvar was unveiled on 1 January 2000, at Kanyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, where the Arabian Sea , the Bay of Bengal , and the Indian Ocean converge. The 133 feet denote Tirukkuṟaḷ ' s 133 chapters or athikarams and
724-456: A 16th-century Jain text. "It's the author's innate nature to select the best virtues found in all the known literature and present them in a manner that is acceptable to all." — Parimelalhagar about Valluvar, 13th century CE Valluvar's writings, according to scholars, also suggest that he might have belonged to Hinduism. Hindu teachers have mapped his teachings in the Kural literature to
905-517: A Jain Arhat . However, according to P. S. Sundaram – a scholar who has translated the text in the late 20th century, Parimelalhagar's commentary explicitly states that there are no [Jaina] heretical beliefs in the texts either. Some other epithets mentioned in the text also reflect a "strong ascetic flavour" of Jainism in Zvelebil's view: Zvelebil further states that Valluvar seems to have been "cognizant of
1086-551: A Tamil classic and maneuvered Valluvar as consistent within the framework of Parimelalakar's Hinduism. His commentary on Valluvar's teachings reflects both the cultural values and textual values in the 13th-to-14th-century Tamil Nadu. Valluvar's text can be interpreted and maneuvered in other ways. Despite scholars suggesting that Valluvar is either a Jain or a Hindu, owing to the Kural text's non-denominational nature, almost every religious group in India, including Christianity , has claimed
1267-456: A classic of Tamil culture . There is negligible authentic information available about Valluvar's life. In fact, neither his actual name nor the original title of his work can be determined with certainty. Tirukkuṟaḷ itself does not name its author. Monsieur Ariel , a French translator of his work in the 19th century, famously said it is "the book without a name by an author without a name". The name Thiruvalluvar ( lit. Saint Valluvar)
1448-459: A crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana Empire , whom they had formerly served as feudatories . The Pallavas became a major southern Indian power during the reign of Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) and Narasimhavarman I (630–668 CE), and dominated the southern Telugu region and
1629-458: A feature common to "international and Indian folklore". The alleged low birth, high birth and being a pariah in the traditional accounts are also doubtful. Traditionally, Valluvar is believed to have married to Vasuki and had a friend and a disciple named Elelasingan . In a manner similar to speculations of the author's biography, there has been much speculation about his religion with no historical evidence. In determining Valluvar's religion,
1810-436: A feature common to "international and Indian folklore". The alleged low birth, high birth, and being a pariah in the traditional accounts are also doubtful. By 1904, Purnalingam Pillai, an ardent Dravidianist, had analyzed and called these traditional accounts and stories as myths. Pillai's analysis and arguments are robust, according to Blackburn. These fictional accounts of Valluvar's life have become popular because aspects of
1991-561: A king must execute criminals for justice." This non-mystic realism and the readiness for just war teachings are similar to those found in Hinduism. According to M. S. Purnalingam Pillai, Valluvar has not condemned Saiva Siddhanta or its principles anywhere in the text, which he says is the crucial test to be applied in determining his religion. Matthieu Ricard believes Valluvar belonged to the Shaivite tradition of South India. The three parts that
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#17328511624572172-508: A man rather than a king. The text is a comprehensive pragmatic work that presents philosophy in the first part, political science in the second and poetics in the third. Of the three books of the Kural literature, the second one on politics and kingdom ( poruḷ ) is about twice the size of the first, and three times that of the third. In the 700 couplets on poruḷ (53 percent of the text), Valluvar mostly discusses statecraft and warfare. While other Sangam texts approved of, and even glorified,
2353-560: A manner similar to the Hindu text Arthasastra . For example, according to the text, an army has a duty to kill in battle, and a king must execute criminals for justice. Valluvar's mentioning of God Vishnu in couplets 610 and 1103 and Goddess Lakshmi in couplets 167, 408, 519, 565, 568, 616, and 617 suggests the Vaishnavite beliefs of the author. P. R. Natarajan lists at least 24 different usage of Hindu origin in 29 different couplets across
2534-523: A mountain and met the legendary Agastya and other sages. During his return journey, he sits under a tree whose shadow sits still over Valluvar and does not move the entire day, he kills a demon, performs miracles such as causing floods and making them retreat, he touches a grounded ship which miraculously then floats and sails off, his bride Vasuki cooks sand which comes out as boiled rice, and many more. Scholars consider these and all associated aspects of these hagiographic stories to be fiction and ahistorical,
2715-649: A primordial God, among others. According to Purnalingam Pillai, who is known for his critique of Brahminism, a rational analysis of the Valluvar's work suggests that he was a Hindu, and not a Jain. Similarly, J. J. Glazov , a Tamil literature scholar and the translator of the Kural text into the Russian language , sees "Thiruvalluvar as a Hindu by faith", according to a review by Kamil Zvelebil . Valluvar's mentioning of God Vishnu in couplets 610 and 1103 and Goddess Lakshmi in couplets 167, 408, 519, 565, 568, 616, and 617 hints at
2896-455: A regional power by the end of the 6th century, defeating kings of Ceylon and mainland Tamilakkam. Narasimhavarman I and Paramesvaravarman I stand out for their achievements in both military and architectural spheres. Narasimhavarman II built the Shore Temple . The kings that came after Paramesvaravarman II belonged to the collateral line of Pallavas and were descendants of Bhimavarman,
3077-453: A specialist in any particular field. He never indulged in specifics but always stressed on the basic principles of morality. This can be seen across the Kural text: while Valluvar talks about worshiping God, he refrains from mentioning the way of worshiping; he refers to God as an "ultimate reality" without calling him by any name; he talks about land, village, country, kingdom, and king but never refers them by any name; though he mentions about
3258-535: A total of 1,330 couplets. All the couplets are in kural venba metre , and all the 133 chapters have an ethical theme and are grouped into three parts, or "books": Tirukkuṟaḷ "Virtue will confer heaven and wealth; what greater source of happiness can man possess?" (Kural 31; Drew , 1840). The book on aṟam (virtue) contains 380 verses, that of poruḷ (wealth) has 700 and that of inbam or kāmam (love) has 250. Each kural or couplet contains exactly seven words, known as cir s, with four cir s on
3439-399: A universal, moral and practical approach to life. According to Mahadevan, Valluvar is more considerate about the substance than the linguistic appeal of his writing throughout the work. The Kural text is marked by pragmatic idealism , focused on "man in the totality of his relationships". Despite being a classic, the work has little scope for any poetic excellence. According to Zvelebil,
3620-460: A violent offensive, at the right place and right time, when the situation so demands and particularly against morally weak and corrupt kingdoms. A good and strong kingdom must be protected with forts made of thick, high and impenetrable walls. The text recommends a hierarchical military organization staffed with fearless soldiers who are willing to die in war, drawing from the Hindu concepts of non-mystic realism and readiness for war. "The sceptre of
3801-403: A wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of army and soldier's honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, and abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants. It also includes chapters on friendship, love, sexual unions, and domestic life. The text effectively denounced previously held misbeliefs that were common during
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#17328511624573982-405: Is "undoubtedly patterned" and "very carefully structured." There are no structural gaps in the text, with every couplet indispensable for the structured whole. There are two distinct meanings for every couplet, namely, a structural one and a proverbial one. In their isolated form, that is, when removed from the context of the 10-couplet chapter, the couplets lose their structural meaning but retain
4163-648: Is 31 BCE, as ratified by the government in 1921, and the Valluvar Year is being followed ever since. For more in-depth analysis, see Dating the Tirukkural . b. "Valluvanadu" was a Taluk in erstwhile Madras Presidency as part of Malabar District. Currently, that area is part of Palakkad and Malappuram districts of Kerala adjoining the Nilgiri District of Tamil Nadu. The Valluvanadu kings claim that they descended from Pallava Kings and were ruling earlier from
4344-603: Is a variation of "vallabha", the designation of a royal officer. S. Vaiyapuri Pillai suggested Valluvar derived his name from "Valluvan" (a Paraiyar caste of royal drummers) and theorized that he was "the chief of the proclaiming boys analogous to a trumpet-major of an army". H. A. Stuart, in his Census Report of 1891 , claimed that Valluvans were a priestly class among the Paraiyars and served as priests during Pallava reign, and similarly Robert Caldwell , J. H. A. Tremenheere and Edward Jewitt Robinson , too, claimed that Valluvar
4525-581: Is another hypothesis of Sathianathaier which claims that "Pallava" is a derivative of Pahlava (the Sanskrit term for Parthians). According to him, partial support for the theory can be derived from a crown shaped like an elephant's scalp depicted on some sculptures, which seems to resemble the crown of Demetrius I . The Pallavas captured Kanchi from the Cholas as recorded in the Velurpalaiyam Plates, around
4706-468: Is another. The famous Tondeswaram temple of Tenavarai and the ancient Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee were patronised and structurally developed by the Pallavas in the 7th century. The Pallava period beginning with Simhavishnu (575 CE – 900 CE) was a transitional stage in southern Indian society with monument building, foundation of devotional (bhakti) sects of Alvars and Nayanars ,
4887-423: Is based on the language of the text, its allusions to the earlier works, and its borrowing from some Sanskrit treatises. Zvelebil notes that the text features several grammatical innovations that are absent in the older Sangam literature. The text also features a higher number of Sanskrit loan words compared with these older texts. According to Zvelebil, besides being part of the ancient Tamil literary tradition,
5068-570: Is believed to have lived in Madurai and later in the town of Mayilapuram or Thirumayilai (present-day Mylapore in Chennai ). There are also accounts that say he was born in Mayilapuram and later moved to Madurai in order to publish his work at the royal court. The poem Kapilar Akaval states that Valluvar was born on the top of an oil-nut or iluppai tree ( Madhuca indica ) in Mayilapuram, while verse 21 of
5249-448: Is common for all, irrespective of whether the person is a bearer of palanquin or the rider in it. According to Albert Schweitzer , the idea that good must be done for its own sake comes from various couplets across the Kural text. In his 1999 work, Japanese Indologist Takanobu Takahashi noted that Valluvar dealt with virtues in terms of good rather than in terms of caste-based duties and when he discussed politics he addressed simply
5430-497: Is depicted as the son of Chola king Killi and the Naga princess Pilivalai, the daughter of king Valaivanan of Manipallavam . When the boy grew up the princess wanted to send her son to the Chola kingdom. So she entrusted the prince to a merchant who dealt in woolen blankets called Kambala Chetty when his ship stopped in the island of Manipallavam. During the voyage to the Chola kingdom, the ship
5611-565: Is described in the opening chapter of the Kural have the remotest connection with Christ or God, that is to say, as they are designated in the Bible". He also says that the chapter on love "is quite different from the Apostle's eulogium in 1 Cor. xiii". In the 1960s, some South Indian Christians led by M. Deivanayagam at the Madras Christian College , presented Valluvar as a disciple of Thomas
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5792-725: Is implicit in the last five chapters of Book I. The components of aṟam , poruḷ and inbam encompasses both the agam and puram genres of the Tamil literary tradition as explained in the Tolkappiyam. According to Sharma, dharma ( aṟam ) refers to ethical values for the holistic pursuit of life, artha ( poruḷ ) refers to wealth obtained in ethical manner guided by dharma , and kāma ( Inbam ) refers to pleasure and fulfilment of one's desires, also guided by dharma . The corresponding goals of poruḷ and inbam are desirable, yet both need to be regulated by aṟam , according to J. Arunadevi. On
5973-522: Is legendary. In 1708, the German missionary, Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, remarked that the Malabaris "think very highly of it", they make it "their handbook" often quoting from it to prove the validity of their traditions and arguments, and such books are "not just read but learned by heart" by the learned among them. According to Blackburn, it is hard to outdo the "hyperbolic honors" heaped on Valluvar and his work by
6154-491: Is no evidence of later revisions or insertions into the couplets. Thus, in spite of these later subdivisions by the medieval commentators, both the domestic and ascetic virtues in Book I are addressed to the householder or commoner. As Yu Hsi puts it, "Valluvar speaks to the duties of the commoner acting in different capacities as son, father, husband, friend, citizen, and so forth." According to A. Gopalakrishnan, ascetic virtues in
6335-427: Is praised by scholars for his innate nature to select the virtues found in all the known works and present them in a manner that is considered common and acceptable to everyone. The author is remembered and cherished for his universal secular values, and his treatise has been called Ulaga Podhu Marai (the universal scripture). The Kural is structured into 133 chapters, each containing 10 couplets (or kurals), for
6516-510: Is propounded by historians R. Sathianathaier and D. C. Sircar , with endorsements by Hermann Kulke , Dietmar Rothermund and Burton Stein . Sircar points out that the family legends of the Pallavas speak of an ancestor descending from Ashwatthama , the legendary warrior of Mahabharata , and his union with a Naga princess. According to Ptolemy , the Aruvanadu region between the northern and southern Penner rivers ( Penna and Ponnaiyar )
6697-559: Is the work of a single author because it has a consistent "language, formal structure and content-structure", states Zvelebil. Neither is the Kural an anthology nor is there any later additions to the text. The division into three parts ( muppāl ) is probably the author's work. However, the subdivisions beyond these three, known as iyal s, as found in some surviving manuscripts and commentaries, are likely later additions because there are variations between these subtitles found in manuscripts and those in historical commentaries. Starting from
6878-449: Is to provide a just rule, be impartial and have courage in protecting his subjects and in meting out justice and punishment. The text supports death penalty for the wicked in the book of poruḷ , but does so only after emphasizing non-killing as every individual's personal virtue in the book of aṟam . The Kural cautions against tyranny, appeasement and oppression, with the suggestion that such royal behavior causes natural disasters, depletes
7059-422: Is venerated for his selection of virtues found in the known literature and presenting them in a manner that is considered common and acceptable to all. The Tamil people and the government of Tamil Nadu have long celebrated and upheld the text with reverence. The term Tirukkuṟaḷ is a compound word made of two individual terms, tiru and kuṟaḷ . Tiru is an honorific Tamil term that corresponds to
7240-404: Is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar , also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam , but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after
7421-508: The Tirukkuṟaḷ is not a bhakti text, and it neither satirizes nor eulogizes Brahmins or ritualism. It is a practical, pragmatic text and "certainly not a Shaivite or Vaishnavite" text. According to Norman Cutler, Tirukkuṟaḷ is an aphoristic text and the influential Parimelalakar's commentary interprets it within his own context, grounded in Hindu concepts and theological agenda. His elegantly written interpretations have made his commentary
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7602-447: The Tirukkuṟaḷ , his indebtedness to some earlier Sanskrit sources, suggest that he lived after the "early Tamil bardic poets", but before Tamil bhakti poets era. In 1959, S. Vaiyapuri Pillai assigned the work to around or after the sixth-century CE. His proposal is based on the evidence that the Tirukkuṟaḷ contains a large proportion of Sanskrit loan words, shows awareness and indebtedness to some Sanskrit texts best dated to
7783-474: The Abrahamic religious texts. Tirukkuṟaḷ is the primary work credited to Valluvar. It contains 1330 couplets, which are divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets each. The first 38 sections are on moral and cosmic order ( Tamil: aram , Skt: dharma), the next 70 are about political and economic matters ( Tamil: porul , Skt: artha), and the remaining 25 are about pleasure ( Tamil: inbam , Skt: kama). Of
7964-500: The Bhagavad Gita , the Kural is one of the earliest systems of Indian epistemology and metaphysics . The work largely reflects the first three of the four ancient Indian aims in life, known as purushaarthas , viz., virtue ( dharma ), wealth ( artha ) and love ( kama ). The fourth aim, namely, salvation ( moksha ) has been omitted from being dealt with as the fourth book since it does not lend itself to didactic treatment, but
8145-664: The British Museum plates (Durga Prasad, 1988) belonging to Skandavarman I and written in Prakrit . Skandavarman appears to have been the first great ruler of the early Pallavas, though there are references to other early Pallavas who were probably predecessors of Skandavarman. Skandavarman extended his dominions from the Krishna in the north to the Pennar in the south and to the Bellary district in
8326-455: The Colonial era , to claim the work and its author as one of their own. The 19th-century Christian missionary George Uglow Pope , for example, claimed that Valluvar must have lived in the 9th century CE, come in contact with Christian teachers such as Pantaenus of Alexandria , imbibed Christian ideas and peculiarities of Alexandrian teachers and then wrote the "wonderful Kurral" with an "echo of
8507-691: The Kalabhras and the confusion in the Tamil country was broken by the Pandya Kadungon and the Pallava Simhavishnu . Mahendravarman I extended the Pallava Kingdom and was one of the greatest sovereigns. Some of the most ornate monuments and temples in southern India, carved out of solid rock, were introduced under his rule. He also wrote the play Mattavilasa Prahasana . The Pallava kingdom began to gain both in territory and influence and were
8688-692: The Māmallapuram Praśasti is as follows: According to historian S. Krishnaswami Aiyengar , the Pallavas were natives of Tondaimandalam and the name Pallava is identical with the word Tondaiyar. Chola Prince Ilandiraiyan is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Pallava dynasty. Ilandiraiyan is referred to in the literature of the Sangam period such as the Pathupattu . In the Sangam epic Manimekalai , he
8869-572: The Pallava script , from which Grantha ultimately took form. This script eventually gave rise to several other Southeast Asian scripts such Khmer . The Chinese traveller Xuanzang visited Kanchipuram during Pallava rule and extolled their benign rule. The word Pallava means a creeper or branch in Sanskrit. Pallava also means arrow or spruce in Tamil. The origins of the Pallavas have been debated by scholars. The available historical materials include three copper-plate grants of Sivaskandavarman in
9050-531: The Sangam era and permanently redefined the cultural values of the Tamil land . The Kural has influenced scholars and leaders across the ethical, social, political, economic, religious, philosophical, and spiritual spheres over its history. These include Ilango Adigal , Kambar , Leo Tolstoy , Mahatma Gandhi , Albert Schweitzer , Ramalinga Swamigal , V. O. Chidambaram Pillai , Karl Graul , George Uglow Pope , Alexander Piatigorsky , and Yu Hsi . The work remains
9231-596: The Tiruvalluva Maalai claims that he was born in Madurai . In 2005, a three-member research team from the Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre (KHCRC) claimed that Valluvar was born in Thirunayanarkurichi, a village in present-day Kanyakumari district . Their claim was based on an old Kani tribal leader who told them that Valluvar was a king who ruled the "Valluvanadu" territory in
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#17328511624579412-590: The Vaishnavite beliefs of Valluvar. Shaivites have characterised Valluvar as a devotee of Shiva and have installed his images in their temples. According to Zvelebil, Valluvar sometimes uses epithets for God that are found in Hindu Dharmasastras and not in Jaina texts. Further, in some teachings about politics, economics, and love, Valluvar undoubtedly has translated into Tamil the verses found in Sanskrit texts such as Arthasastra . According to Stuart Blackburn,
9593-663: The arhat in the Jain conception is the god with the lotus as his vehicle. There are exceptions, adds Zvelebil, when Valluvar treats this God with epithets found in the Hindu text Manusmriti (1.6), that is, "the Primeval Lord" and "the King, the Monarch". Zvelebil states that his proposal is supported by the 13th-century Hindu scholar Parimelalhagar , who wrote a commentary on the Kural text, who admitted that these epithets are "very well applicable" to
9774-479: The iyal subdivisions, the grouping of the couplets into chapters is the author's. Every topic that Valluvar handles in his work are presented in ten couplets forming a chapter, and the chapter is usually named using a keyword found in the couplets in it. Exceptions to this convention are found in all the three books of the Kural text as in Chapter 1 in the Book of Aram, Chapter 78 in the Book of Porul, and Chapter 117 in
9955-573: The kshatriyas ; but apart from the Pallava, Chola and Vijayanagar line of warriors which claimed chakravartin status, only few locality warrior families achieved the prestigious kin-linked organisation of northern warrior groups. The earliest documentation on the Pallavas is the three copper-plate grants, now referred to as the Mayidavolu (from Maidavolu village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh ), Hirehadagali (from Hire Hadagali of Karnataka ) and
10136-437: The late Sangam works , known in Tamil as Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku . The Kural has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. According to traditional accounts, it was the last work of the third Sangam and was subjected to a divine test, which it passed. The scholars who believe this tradition, such as Somasundara Bharathiar and M. Rajamanickam, date the text to as early as 300 BCE. Historian K. K. Pillay assigned it to
10317-464: The shastras . Burton distinguishes between the chakravatin model and the kshatriya model, and likens kshatriyas to locally based warriors with ritual status sufficiently high enough to share with Brahmins; and states that in south India the kshatriya model did not emerge. As per Burton, south India was aware of the Indo-Aryan varna organised society in which decisive secular authority was vested in
10498-435: The "wise saying, moral maxim" sense. In isolation, a couplet is "a perfect form, possessing, in varying degree, the prosodic and rhetoric qualities of gnomic poetry." Within the chapter-structure, the couplets acquire their structural meaning and reveal the more complete teaching of the author. This, Zvelebil states, is the higher pattern in the Kural text, and finally, in relation to the entire work, they acquire perfection in
10679-524: The "wonderful Kurral" with an echo of the " Sermon on the Mount ". According to Pope, Valluvar must have lived in the ninth century CE because that would fit the historical chronology to his theory. Nevertheless, scholars, including Zvelebil, J. M. Nallaswamy Pillai, Sundaram Pillai, Kanakasabai Pillai, and Krishnaswamy Aiyengar, and even missionaries such as John Lazarus refute such claims. Pillai declares Pope's claim as "an absurd literary anachronism" and says that
10860-537: The 'Sermon of the Mount'." This theory, however, is ahistorical and discredited. According to Zvelebil, the ethics and ideas in Valluvar's work are not Christian ethics . Albert Schweitzer hints that "the dating of the Kural has suffered, along with so many other literary and historical dates, philosophies and mythologies of India, a severe mauling at the hands of the Christian Missionaries, anxious to post-date all irrefutable examples of religious maturity to
11041-400: The 10th and the 13th centuries CE. Of these, only the works of Manakkudavar, Paridhi, Kaalingar, Pari Perumal, and Parimelalhagar are available today. The works of Dharumar, Dhaamatthar, and Nacchar are only partially available. The commentaries by Thirumalaiyar and Mallar are lost completely. The best known among these are the commentaries by Parimelalhagar, Kaalingar, and Manakkudavar. Among
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#173285116245711222-472: The 19th and 20th centuries. In January 2016, Chitravina N. Ravikiran set music to the entire 1330 verses using over 169 Indian ragas. The Kural couplets have also been recorded by various Tamil film music composers. a. The period of Valluvar is dated variously by scholars from c. fourth century BCE to c. fifth century CE, based on various methods of analysis, including traditional accounts and linguistics analyses. The officially accepted date, however,
11403-425: The 19th century, have tried to claim him as secretly inspired ( crypto- ) or originally belonging to their tradition. Little is known with certainty about his family background, religious affiliation, or birthplace. He is believed to have lived at least in the town of Mylapore (a neighbourhood of the present-day Chennai ), and his floruit is dated variously from fourth century BCE to early fifth century CE, based on
11584-576: The 64th Nayanmar of the Saivite tradition. There are various temples exclusively dedicated to Valluvar across South India. The most famous of these is the temple at Mylapore , Chennai . Built in the early 16th century, the shrine is located within the Ekambareeswara-Kamakshi (Shiva-Parvati) temple complex in Mylapore. The locals believe that this is where Valluvar was born, underneath a tree within
11765-572: The Apostle . According to this theory, Thomas visited present-day Chennai, where Valluvar listened to his lectures on the Sermon on the Mount . However, later scholars refute this claim. According to Zvelebil, the ethics and ideas in Valluvar's work are not Christian ethics , but those found in Jainism doctrine, which can be seen from the Kural's unwavering emphasis on the ethics of moral vegetarianism (Chapter 26) and non-killing (Chapter 33), as against any of
11946-458: The Book of Inbam, where the words used in title of the chapters are not found anywhere in the chapter's couplets. Here again, the titles of all the chapters of the Kural text are given by Valluvar himself. According to S. N. Kandasamy, the naming of the first chapter of the Kural text is in accord with the conventions used in the Tolkappiyam . According to Zvelebil, the content of the Kural text
12127-467: The Christian era." Valluvar is thought to have belonged to either Jainism or Hinduism . This can be observed in his treatment of the concept of ahimsa or non-violence , which is the principal concept of both the religions. In the 1819 translation, Francis Whyte Ellis mentions that the Tamil community debates whether Valluvar was a Jain or Hindu. According to Zvelebil, Valluvar's treatment of
12308-516: The Jaina tradition associates the work with Kunda Kunda Acharya , also known as Elachariyar in the Tamil region, the chief of the Southern Pataliputra Dravidian Sanghaat, who lived around the latter half of the first century BCE and the former half of the first century CE. Nevertheless, early Digambara or Śvetāmbara Jaina texts do not mention Valluvar or the Kural text. The first claim of Valluvar as an authority appears in
12489-493: The Kural does not mean renunciation of household life or pursuing of the conventional ascetic life, but only refers to giving up immoderate desires and having self-control that is expected of every individual. According to Joanne Punzo Waghorne, professor of religion and South Asian studies at the Syracuse University , the Kural is "a homily on righteous living for the householder." Like the three-part division, and unlike
12670-433: The Kural literature is divided into, namely, aram (virtue), porul (wealth) and inbam (love), aiming at attaining vitu (ultimate salvation), follow, respectively, the first three of the four foundations of Hinduism, namely, dharma , artha , kama and moksha . According to Norman Cutler, the prodigious 13th-century Tamil scholar Parimelalakar – who wrote the most influential commentary on Tirukkuṟaḷ – interprets
12851-405: The Kural text. In the introductory chapters of the Kural, Valluvar cites Indra , the king of heaven, to exemplify the virtue of conquest over one's senses. According to Tamil Hindu scholars such as Parimelalakar, other concepts and teachings found in Valluvar's text and also found in Hindu texts include Vedas, gods ( Trimurti ), sattva, guṇa , munis and sadhus (renouncers), rebirth, affirmation of
13032-628: The Kural text. According to Purnalingam Pillai, who is known for his critique of Brahminism , a rational analysis of the Kural text suggests that Valluvar was a Hindu, and not a Jain. Matthieu Ricard believes Valluvar belonged to the Shaivite tradition of South India. According to Thomas Manninezhath – a theology scholar who grew up in South India, the Tirukkuṟaḷ is believed by the natives to reflect Advaita Vedanta philosophy and teaches an "Advaitic way of life". Notwithstanding these debates, Valluvar
13213-462: The Kural text. Despite knowing its seemingly contradictory nature from a purist point of view, the author is said to employ this method to emphasise the importance of the given code of ethic. Following are some of the instances where Valluvar is quoted as employing pseudo-contradictions to expound the virtues. The ethical connections between these verses are widely elucidated ever since the medieval commentaries. For example, Parimelalhagar elucidates
13394-492: The Mauryan Asoka 's rule. He relates the name "Pallava" to Pulindas , whose heritage is borne by names such as "Pulinadu" and "Puliyurkottam" in the region. According to Sir H. A. Stuart the Pallavas were Kurumbas and Kurubas their modern representatives. This is supported by Marathi historian R. C. Dhere who stated that Pallavas were originally pastoralists that belonged to Kuruba lineages. The territory of Pallavas
13575-535: The Nilgiri area. Tirukku%E1%B9%9Fa%E1%B8%B7 The Tirukkuṟaḷ ( Tamil : திருக்குறள் , lit. 'sacred verses'), or shortly the Kural ( Tamil : குறள் ), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals , of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue ( aram ), wealth ( porul ) and love ( inbam ), respectively. It
13756-670: The Pallava architecture are the rock-cut temples at Mamallapuram . There are excavated pillared halls and monolithic shrines known as Rathas in Mahabalipuram. Early temples were mostly dedicated to Shiva . The Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram and the Shore Temple built by Narasimhavarman II , rock cut temple in Mahendravadi by Mahendravarman are fine examples of the Pallava style temples. The temple of Nalanda Gedige in Kandy , Sri Lanka
13937-565: The Pallava line, whom the Kasakudi plates state as "the lion of the earth". Thereafter the Pallavas held on to Kanchi until the 9th century, until the reign of their last king, Vijaya-Nripatungavarman . The Pallavas were in conflict with major kingdoms at various periods of time. A contest for political supremacy existed between the early Pallavas and the Kadambas . Numerous Kadamba inscriptions provide details of Pallava-Kadamba hostilities. During
14118-458: The Pallavas could be divided into four separate families or dynasties; some of whose connections are known and some unknown. Aiyangar states We have a certain number of charters in Prakrit of which three are important ones. Then follows a dynasty which issued their charters in Sanskrit; following this came the family of the great Pallavas beginning with Simha Vishnu; this was followed by a dynasty of
14299-468: The Pallavas in their inscriptions although a few records continued to be in Sanskrit. At the time of the time of Paramesvaravarman I , the practice came into vogue of inscribing a part of the record in Sanskrit and the rest in Tamil. Almost all the copper plate records, viz., Kasakudi, Tandantottam, Pattattalmangalm, Udayendiram and Velurpalaiyam are composed both in Sanskrit and Tamil. Many Pallava royal inscriptions were in Sanskrit or Prakrit, considered
14480-596: The Pallavas originated in Kanchi itself, where they initially rose to prominence. From there, they expanded their dominion northward, reaching as far as the Krishna River. Another theory posits that the Pallavas were descendants of Chola Prince Ilandiraiyan and had their roots in Tondaimandalam , the region around Kanchi. These theories provide different perspectives on the Pallavas' early history and territorial expansion, but
14661-774: The Pallis were one of the communities who served often in Pallava armies. The similarity of the name ending "- varman " of Pallava rulers with that of Hindu kings during the Hindu/Buddhist era of Indonesia such as king Mulavarman of the Kutai Martadipura Kingdom , king Purnawarman of the Tarumanagara kingdom, king Adityawarman of the Malayapura kingdom, etc. has been commented upon by historians since discovery. There have been possible high relations and connections of
14842-535: The Periya Pudupatti village. The same practice can be found in other communities as well, including Mylapore . Other temples for Valluvar are located at Periya Kalayamputhur , Thondi , Kanjoor Thattanpady , Senapathy , and Vilvarani . A temple-like memorial to Valluvar, Valluvar Kottam , was built in Chennai in 1976. This monument complex consists of structures usually found in Dravidian temples , including
15023-524: The Prakrit charters beginning with "Bappa-deva" were the historical founders of the Pallava dominion in southern India. The Hirahadagalli Plates were found in Hirehadagali, Bellary district and is one of the earliest copper plates in Karnataka and belongs to the reign of early Pallava ruler Shivaskanda Varma. Pallava King Sivaskandavarman of Kanchi of the early Pallavas ruled from 275 to 300 CE, and issued
15204-643: The Sangam period. The Kural text is among the earliest systems of Indian epistemology and metaphysics. The work is traditionally praised with epithets and alternative titles, including "the Tamil Veda" and "the Divine Book." Written on the ideas of ahimsa , it emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual. In addition, it highlights virtues such as truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of spouse, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering
15385-400: The Sanskrit term sri meaning "holy, sacred, excellent, honorable, and beautiful." The term tiru has as many as 19 different meanings in Tamil. Kuṟaḷ means something that is "short, concise, and abridged." Etymologically, kuṟaḷ is the shortened form of kuṟaḷ pāttu , which is derived from kuruvenpāttu , one of the two Tamil poetic forms explained by the Tolkappiyam ,
15566-556: The Tamil country", unrelated to the ancient lines of Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas. Since Simhavarman's grant bears no regal titles, they believe that he might have been a subsidiary to the Andhra Ikshvakus who were in power in Andhradesa at that time. In the following half-century, the Pallavas became independent and expanded up to Kanchi. S. Krishnaswami Aiyengar also speculates that the Pallavas were natives of Tondaimandalam and
15747-508: The West. He performed the Aswamedha and other Vedic sacrifices and bore the title of "Supreme King of Kings devoted to dharma". The Hirahadagali copper plate (Bellary District) record in Prakrit is dated in the eighth year of Sivaskanda Varman to 283 CE and confirms the gift made by his father who is described merely as "Bappa-deva" (revered father) or Boppa. It will thus be clear that this dynasty of
15928-424: The ancient Tamil literary tradition, the author was also a part of the "one great Indian ethical, didactic tradition", as a few of his verses are "undoubtedly" translations of the verses in Sanskrit classics. In the 19th century and early 20th century, European writers and missionaries variously dated the text and Valluvar to between 400 and 1000 CE. According to Blackburn, the "current scholarly consensus" dates
16109-570: The army ( patai ) is most important element. Valluvar recommends that a well kept and well trained army ( patai ) led by an able commander and ready to go to war is necessary for a state. Valluvar presents his theory of state using six elements: army ( patai ), subjects ( kuti ), treasure ( kul ), ministers ( amaiccu ), allies ( natpu ), and forts ( aran ). Valluvar also recommends forts and other infrastructure, supplies and food storage in preparation for siege. The Tirukkuṟaḷ text has been translated into several Indian and international languages. It
16290-399: The articulation of Thiruvalluvar in one of the couplets of Tirukkuṟaḷ on the liberation ( Moksha ) from the cycle of rebirth ( Saṃsāra ) through living a life with a compassionate heart. Zvelebil states that the text contains epithets for God that reflect Jain ideology: These, according to Zvelebil, are "very much Jaina-like" because the arhat is seen as "standing on the lotus", or where
16471-448: The author asserts as the most important economic activity later in Book II of the Kural text. "The greatest virtue of all is non-killing; truthfulness cometh only next." (Kural 323; Aiyar , 1916). The three books of the Kural base aṟam or dharma (virtue) as their cornerstone, resulting in the work being collectively referred to simply as Aṟam . Valluvar holds that aṟam
16652-472: The author of the Kural text. Along with various versions of his birth circumstances, many state he went to a mountain and met the legendary Agastya and other sages. There are also accounts claiming that, during his return journey, Valluvar sat under a tree whose shadow sat still over him and did not move the entire day, he killed a demon, and many more. Scholars consider these and all associated aspects of these hagiographic stories to be fiction and ahistorical,
16833-414: The author was also a part of the "one great Indian ethical, didactic tradition" as a few of the verses in the Kural text are "undoubtedly" translations of the verses of earlier Indian texts. In the 19th century and the early 20th century, European writers and missionaries variously dated the text and its author to between 400 and 1000 CE. According to Blackburn, the "current scholarly consensus" dates
17014-539: The author), Poyyamoli (the falseless word), Vayurai valttu (truthful praise), Teyvanul (the divine book), Potumarai (the common Veda), Valluva Maalai (garland made by the author), Tamil Manunool (Tamil ethical treatise), Tiruvalluva Payan (fruit of the author), Muppal (the three-fold path), and Tamilmarai (the Tamil Veda). The work is traditionally grouped under the Eighteen Lesser Texts series of
17195-511: The brother of Simhavishnu. They called themselves as Kadavas , Kadavesa and Kaduvetti. Hiranyavarman, the father of Nandivarman Pallavamalla is said to have belonged to the Kadavakula in epigraphs. Nandivarman II himself is described as "one who was born to raise the prestige of the Kadava family". According to the available inscriptions of the Pallavas, historian S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar proposes
17376-460: The chapters on moral vegetarianism and non-killing reflects the Jain precepts. Certain epithets for God and ascetic values found in the text are found in Jainism, states Zvelebil. He theorizes that Valluvar was probably "a learned Jain with eclectic leanings", who was well acquainted with the earlier Tamil literature and also had knowledge of the Sanskrit texts. According to A. Chakravarthy Nainar,
17557-571: The charter in 283 CE in the eighth year of his reign. As per the Hirahadagalli Plates of 283 CE, Pallava King Sivaskandavarman granted an immunity viz the garden of Chillarekakodumka, which was formerly given by Lord Bappa to the Brahmins, freeholders of Chillarekakodumka and inhabitants of Apitti. Chillarekakodumka has been identified by some as ancient village Chillarige in Bellary, Karnataka. In
17738-459: The colonial era literature, all inferred from selective sections of his text or hagiographies published since the colonial era started in Tamil Nadu. One traditional version claims that he was a Paraiyar weaver. Another theory is that he must have been from the agricultural caste of Vellalars because he extols agriculture in his work. Another states he was an outcaste, born to a Pariah woman and
17919-487: The colonial era literature, all inferred from selective sections of his text or hagiographies published since the colonial era started in Tamil Nadu. One traditional version claims that he was a Paraiyar weaver. Another theory is that he must have been from the agricultural caste of Vellalars because he extols agriculture in his work. Another version states he was an outcast, born to a Pariayar woman and Brahmin father. Mu Raghava Iyengar speculated that "valluva" in his name
18100-503: The common people from sharing power (Mahadevan 1995a: 173–188). The Pallavas in their Tamil country used Tamil and Sanskrit in their inscriptions. Under the Pallava dynasty, a unique form of Grantha script , a descendant of Pallava script which is a type of Brahmic script , was used. Around the 6th century, it was exported eastwards and influenced the genesis of almost all Southeast Asian scripts. Pallavas were followers of Hinduism and made gifts of land to gods and Brahmins. In line with
18281-583: The couple had seven children, including three sons (Valluvar, Kapilar, and Atikaman) and four sisters (Avvai, Uppai, Uruvai, and Velli). However, this legendary account is spurious. Kamil Zvelebil dates Kapilar Agaval to 15th century CE, based on its language. Various biographies mention the name of Valluvar's wife as Vasuki , but such details are of doubtful authenticity. The traditional biographies are not only inconsistent, but they also contain claims about Valluvar that are not credible. Along with various versions of his birth circumstances, many state he went to
18462-477: The crucial test to be applied according to M. S. Purnalingam Pillai is to analyze what religious philosophy he has not condemned, adding that Valluvar has "not said a word against" the Saiva Siddhanta principles. The Kural text is aphoristic and non-denominational in nature and can be selectively interpreted in many ways. This has led almost every major religious group in India, including Christianity during
18643-437: The dates of Tamil texts with similar Tamil language features, and by placing it after some of the Tamil and Sanskrit treatises that are evidenced in the Tirukkuṟaḷ . Zvelebil notes that the text features several grammatical innovations, that are absent in the older Sangam literature . The text also features a higher number of Sanskrit loan words compared with these older texts. According to Zvelebil, besides being part of
18824-451: The earliest commentaries to the Kural text. Dedicated commentaries on the Kural text began to appear about and after the 10th century CE. There were at least ten medieval commentaries of which only six have survived into the modern era. The ten medieval commentators include Manakkudavar , Dharumar , Dhamatthar , Nacchar , Paridhiyar , Thirumalaiyar , Mallar , Pari Perumal , Kaalingar , and Parimelalhagar , all of whom lived between
19005-460: The earliest known textual reference to the legend of Valluvar, but it remains undated. This text attracted attention in the colonial era because an early 19th-century commentary referred to him as "Valluvan" (Valluvar) whose text presented the "esoteric wisdom of the Vedas to the world". The original text relates the Kural in the context of Sanskrit literature. The commentary includes the gloss that Valluvan
19186-442: The early 1st century CE. According to Kamil Zvelebil , a Czech scholar of Tamil literature, these early dates such as 300 BCE to 1 BCE are unacceptable and not supported by evidence within the text. The diction and grammar of the Kural, and Valluvar's indebtedness to some earlier Sanskrit sources, suggest that he lived after the "early Tamil bardic poets," but before Tamil bhakti poets era. In 1959, S. Vaiyapuri Pillai assigned
19367-624: The early Europeans in colonial India. Gover, for example, praised it as "Tamil Homer, The Ten Commandments, and Dante rolled into one". During the colonial era, it was the text the Hindus used to respond to the "Christian allegations of Hindu superstition and barbarity". Valluvar is traditionally worshiped as a god and saint by various communities across the Southern region of India. Many communities, including those in Mylapore and Tiruchuli , worship Valluvar as
19548-626: The entire work, with the shortest ones (kurals 833 and 1304) containing 23 letters and the longest ones (kurals 957 and 1246) containing 39 letters each. Among the 133 chapters, the fifth chapter is the longest with 339 letters and the 124th chapter is the shortest with 280 letters. Of the 1,330 couplets in the text, 40 couplets relate to god, rain, ascetics, and virtue; 340 on fundamental everyday virtues of an individual; 250 on royalty; 100 on ministers of state; 220 on essential requirements of administration; 130 on social morality, both positive and negative; and 250 on human love and passion. Along with
19729-512: The ethical connections between couplets 380 and 620, 481 and 1028, 373 and 396, and 383 and 672 in his commentary. The Kural is one of the most reviewed of all works in Tamil literature , and almost every notable scholar of Tamil has written exegesis or commentaries (explanation in prose or verse), known in Tamil as urai , on it. Some of the Tamil literature that was composed after the Kural quote or borrow its couplets in their own texts. According to Aravindan, these texts may be considered as
19910-569: The exact origins of the Pallava dynasty continue to be a subject of debate among historians. The proponents of the Andhra origin theory include S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar and K. A. Nilakanta Sastri . They believe that Pallavas were originally feudatories of the Satavahanas in the south-eastern part of their empire who became independent when the Satavahana power declined. They are seen to be "strangers to
20091-458: The finest example being the Shore Temple , a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mamallapuram . Kancheepuram served as the capital of the Pallava kingdom. The dynasty left behind magnificent sculptures and temples, and are recognized to have established the foundations of medieval southern Indian architecture, which some scholars believe the ancient Hindu treatise Manasara inspired. They developed
20272-514: The first half of the first-millennium CE, and the grammatical innovations in the language of Tirukkuṟaḷ . Pillai published a list of 137 Sanskrit loan words in Tirukkuṟaḷ . Later scholars Thomas Burrow and Murray Barnson Emeneau show that 35 of these are of Dravidian origin, and not Sanskrit loan words. Zvelebil states that an additional few have uncertain etymology and future studies may prove those to be Dravidian. The 102 remaining loan words from Sanskrit are "not negligible", and some of
20453-461: The first line and three on the second, following the kural metre . A cir is a single or a combination of more than one Tamil word. For example, the term Tirukkuṟaḷ is a cir formed by combining the two words tiru and kuṟaḷ . The Kural text has a total of 9310 cir s made of 12,000 Tamil words, of which about 50 words are from Sanskrit and the remaining are Tamil original words. A manual count has shown that there are in total 42,194 letters in
20634-645: The first quarter of the 4th century CE, all issued from Kanchipuram but found in various parts of Andhra Pradesh , and another inscription of Simhavarman I half century earlier in the Palnadu (Pallava Nadu) area of the western Guntur district . All the early documents are in Prakrit , and scholars find similarities in paleography and language with the Satavahanas and the Mauryas . Their early coins are said to be similar to those of Satavahanas. Two main theories regarding
20815-449: The first two books of the Kural, in particular, are "a stumbling block which can browbeat the most sublime ideas of Christian morality." According to John Lazarus , the Kural's chapter on "no killing" applies to both humans and animals, in stark contrast to the Bible's concept of killing, which refers only to the taking away of human life. He observes, "None of the ten epithets by which the Deity
20996-456: The flowering of rural Brahmanical institutions of Sanskrit learning, and the establishment of chakravartin model of kingship over a territory of diverse people; which ended the pre-Pallavan era of territorially segmented people, each with their culture, under a tribal chieftain. While a system of ranked relationship among groups existed in the classical period , the Pallava period extolled ranked relationships based on ritual purity as enjoined by
21177-465: The following subdivisions or iyal s are found in Parimelalhagar 's version, which greatly varies from that of Manakkudavar : Modern scholars and publishers chiefly follow Parimelalhagar's model for couplet numbering, chapter ordering, and grouping the chapters into iyal s. Such subdivisions are likely later additions, but the couplets themselves have been preserved in the original form and there
21358-472: The four immoral deeds of meat-eating , alcohol consumption , polygamy , and prostitution , the Kural literature strongly condemns these as crimes, reportedly for the first time in the history of the Tamil land . In addition to these, the Kural also strongly proscribes gambling. The Kural is based on the doctrine of ahimsa . According to Schweitzer, the Kural "stands for the commandment not to kill and not to damage." Accordingly, Valluvar dictates
21539-722: The hero as "a one-woman man" without concubines. In a social and political context, the Kural text glorifies valour and victory during war and recommends a death sentence for the wicked only as a means of justice. According to Kaushik Roy, the Kural text in substance is a classic on realism and pragmatism, and it is not a mystic, purely philosophical document. Valluvar presents his theory of state using six elements: army ( patai ), subjects ( kuti ), treasure ( kul ), ministers ( amaiccu ), allies ( natpu ), and forts ( aran ). Valluvar also recommends forts and other infrastructure, supplies and food storage in preparation for siege. A king and his army must always be ready for war, and should launch
21720-491: The hilly tracts of the Kanyakumari district. Valluvar is generally thought to have belonged to either Jainism or Hinduism . Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism were the three religions that flourished in the Indian subcontinent during the time of Valluvar. Early 19th-century writers proposed that Valluvar may have been a Jain. The 1819 translation by Francis Whyte Ellis mentions that the Tamil community debates whether Valluvar
21901-489: The householder to renounce the eating of meat "in order that he may become a man of grace." While the Bible and other Abrahamic texts condemns only the taking away of human life, the Kural is cited for unequivocally and exclusively condemning the "literal taking away of life," regardless of whether it is human or animal. The greatest of personal virtues according to the Kural text is non-killing , followed by veracity , and
22082-508: The king is the firm support of the Vedas of the Brahmin, and of all virtues therein described." (Kural 543; John Lazarus 1885 & A. K. Ananthanathan 1994 ). The Kural text does not recommend democracy; rather it accepts a royalty with ministers bound to a code of ethics and a system of justice. The king in the text, states K. V. Nagarajan, is assigned the "role of producing, acquiring, conserving, and dispensing wealth". The king's duty
22263-573: The latest developments" in Jainism. Zvelebil theorizes that he was probably "a learned Jain with eclectic leanings", who was well-acquainted with the earlier Tamil literature and also had knowledge of the Sanskrit texts. Nevertheless, early Digambara or Svetambara Jaina texts do not mention Valluvar. The first claim of Valluvar as an authority appears in a 16th-century Jain text, about 1,100 years after his life. According to other scholars, Valluvar's writings suggest that he belonged to Hinduism . Hindu teachers have mapped his teachings in Tirukkuṟaḷ to
22444-462: The layout and focus on the Valluvar to be synonymous with the Sanskritic concept of Puruṣārtha (the objectives of human life). According to Parimelalakar, the Valluvar text covers primarily and directly the first three aspects, but not vitu ( moksha , release). The text, however, does cover turavaram (renunciation) – the means to attain spiritual release. Thus, vitu is indirectly discussed in
22625-431: The medieval era, commentators have multifariously divided the Kural text into different iyal sub-divisions, grouping the Kural chapters diversely under them. The idea of subdividing the Tirukkural into iyal sub-divisions was first put forth by a Tiruvalluva Maalai verse attributed to Nanpalur Sirumedhaviyar . The medieval commentators have variously grouped the chapters of Book I into three and four iyal s, grouping
22806-513: The month of 'Thai' as per Tamil Calendar) as Thiruvalluvar Day in the poet's honour, as part of the Pongal celebrations. Thiruvalluvar Day was first celebrated on 17 and 18 May 1935. Valluvar's works have also influenced the South Indian classical music and popular culture. Carnatic musicians and composers such as Mayuram Vishwanatha Shastri and M. M. Dandapani Desigar have tuned select couplets in
22987-430: The most translated, the most cited, and the most citable of Tamil literary works. The text has been translated into at least 57 Indian and non-Indian languages, making it one of the most translated ancient works . Ever since it came to print for the first time in 1812, the Kural text has never been out of print. The Kural is considered a masterpiece and one of the most important texts of the Tamil literature . Its author
23168-429: The name Pallava is identical with the word Tondaiyar. Chola Prince Ilandiraiyan is traditionally regarded as the founder of the Pallava dynasty. Ilandiraiyan is referred to in the literature of the Sangam period such as the Pathupattu . In the Sangam epic Manimekalai , he is depicted as the son of Chola king Killi and the Naga princess Pilivalai, the daughter of king Valaivanan of Manipallavam . Another theory
23349-549: The northern parts of the Tamil region for about 600 years, until the end of the 9th century. Throughout their reign, they remained in constant conflict with both the Chalukyas of Vatapi to the north, and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas to their south. The Pallavas were finally defeated by the Chola ruler Aditya I in the 9th century CE. The Pallavas are most noted for their patronage of Hindu Vaishnava temple architecture,
23530-547: The official languages. Similarly, inscriptions found in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka State are in Sanskrit and Prakrit. Sanskrit was widely used by Simhavishnu and Narasimhavarman II in literature. The phenomenon of using Prakrit as official languages in which rulers left their inscriptions and epigraphies continued till the 6th century. It would have been in the interest of the ruling elite to protect their privileges by perpetuating their hegemony of Prakrit in order to exclude
23711-415: The original chapters diversely under these divisions and thus changing the order of the chapters widely; while Parimelalhagar divided it into three iyal s, others divided it into four, with some 20th-century commentators going up to six. Book II has been variously subdivided between three and six iyal s. The chapters of Book III have been variously grouped between two and five iyal s. For example,
23892-563: The origins of the Pallavas have emerged based on available historical data. The first theory suggests that the Pallavas were initially subordinate to the Satavahanas, a ruling dynasty in the Andhradesa region (north of the Penna River in modern-day Andhra Pradesh ). According to this theory, the Pallavas later expanded their influence southward, eventually establishing their power in Kanchi (modern-day Kanchipuram ). The second theory proposes that
24073-494: The other one being neduvenpāttu . According to Miron Winslow , kuṟaḷ is used as a literary term to indicate "a metrical line of 2 feet, or a distich or couplet of short lines, the first of 4 and the second of 3 feet." Thus, Tirukkuṟaḷ literally comes to mean "sacred couplets." The work is highly cherished in the Tamil culture, as reflected by its twelve traditional titles: Tirukkuṟaḷ (the sacred kural), Uttaravedam (the ultimate Veda ), Tiruvalluvar (eponymous with
24254-533: The prevalent customs, some of the rulers performed the Aswamedha and other Vedic sacrifices . They were, however, tolerant of other faiths. The Chinese monk Xuanzang who visited Kanchipuram during the reign of Narasimhavarman I reported that there were 100 Buddhist monasteries, and 80 Hindu temples in Kanchipuram. The semi-legendary founder of Zen Buddhism , Bodhidharma , is in an Indian tradition regarded to be
24435-453: The rain for being the vitalizer of all life forms on earth. It proceeds to describe the qualities of a righteous person, before concluding the introduction by emphasizing the value of aṟam or virtue. It continues to treat aṟam in every action in life, supplementing it with a chapter on predestination. Valluvar extols rain next only to God for it provides food and serves as the basis of a stable economic life by aiding in agriculture, which
24616-632: The reign of Simhavarman II , who ascended the throne in 436, the territories lost to the Vishnukundins in the north up to the mouth of the Krishna were recovered. The early Pallava history from this period onwards is furnished by a dozen or so copper-plate grants in Sanskrit . They are all dated in the regnal years of the kings. The following chronology was composed from these charters by Nilakanta Sastri in his A History of South India : The incursion of
24797-563: The reign of Vishnugopavarman II (approx. 500–525), political convulsion engulfed the Pallavas due to the Kalabhra invasion of the Tamil country. Towards the close of the 6th century, the Pallava Simhavishnu stuck a blow against the Kalabhras. The Pandyas followed suit. Thereafter the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas in the north with Kanchipuram as their capital, and Pandyas in
24978-418: The reign of the fifth king of the Pallava line Kumaravishnu I. Thereafter Kanchi figures in inscriptions as the capital of the Pallavas. The Cholas drove the Pallavas away from Kanchi in the mid-4th century, in the reign of Vishnugopa , the tenth king of the Pallava line. The Pallavas re-captured Kanchi from the Kalabhras in the mid-6th century, possibly in the reign of Simhavishnu , the fourteenth king of
25159-717: The same lines, Amaladass concludes that the Kural expresses that dharma and artha should not be separated from one another. According to Indian philosophical tradition, one must remain unattached to wealth and possessions, which can either be transcended or sought with detachment and awareness, and pleasure needs to be fulfilled consciously and without harming anyone. The Indian tradition also holds that there exists an inherent tension between artha and kama . Thus, wealth and pleasure must be pursued with an "action with renunciation" ( Nishkama Karma ), that is, one must act without craving in order to resolve this tension. The content of Tirukkuṟaḷ , according to Zvelebil: The Kural text
25340-769: The same name as Valluvar. These books, 'Pancharathnam' and 'Gnana Vettiyan', contribute to Tamil science, literature and other Siddha medicines . In addition to these, 15 other Tamil texts have been attributed to Valluvar, namely, Rathna Sigamani (800 verses), Karpam (300 verses), Nadhaantha Thiravukol (100 verses), Naadhaantha Saaram (100 verses), Vaithiya Suthram (100 verses), Karpaguru Nool (50 verses), Muppu Saathiram (30 verses), Vaadha Saathiram (16 verses), Muppu Guru (11 verses), Kavuna Mani (100 verses), Aeni Yettram (100 verses), Guru Nool (51 verses), Sirppa Chinthamani (a text on astrology), Tiruvalluvar Gyanam , and Tiruvalluvar Kanda Tirunadanam . Several scholars, such as Devaneya Pavanar , deny that Thiruvalluvar
25521-515: The show of three fingers denote the three themes Aram , Porul , and Inbam , that is, the sections on morals, wealth and love. The statue was designed by V. Ganapati Sthapati , a temple architect from Tamil Nadu. On 9 August 2009, a statue was unveiled in Ulsoor, near Bengaluru , also making it the first of its kind in India for a poet of a local language to be installed in its near states other than his own homeland. A 12-foot statue of Valluvar
25702-426: The shrines complex. A Valluvar statue in a seated posture holding a palm leaf manuscript of Tirukkuṟaḷ sits under the tree. In the shrine dedicated to him, Valluvar's wife Vasuki is patterned after the Hindu deity Kamakshi inside the sanctum. The temple shikhara (spire) above the sanctum shows scenes of Hindu life and deities, along with Valluvar reading his couplets to his wife. The sthala vriksham (holy tree of
25883-590: The son of a Brahmin father and a Paraiyar mother was invented by Brahmins in 1825, who wanted to Hinduise a Buddhist text. According to Geetha, the deconstruction and reinterpretation of the history of Valluvar into a Buddhist framework by Thass shows the significance and appropriation of Valluvar's text by all sections of Tamil society. The 19th-century Christian missionary George Uglow Pope claimed that Valluvar must have come in contact with Christian teachers such as Pantaenus of Alexandria, imbibed Christian ideas and peculiarities of Alexandrian teachers and then wrote
26064-422: The south with Madurai as their capital. The royal custom of using a series of descriptive honorific titles, Birudas , was particularly prevalent among the Pallavas. The Birudas of Mahendravarman I are in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. The Telugu Birudas show Mahendravarman's involvement with the Andhra region continued to be strong at the time he was creating his cave-temples in the Tamil region. The suffix "Malla"
26245-403: The state's wealth and ultimately results in the loss of power and prosperity. In the sphere of business, a study employing hermeneutics concludes that the Kural advocates a consciousness and spirit-centered approach to the subject of business ethics on the basis of eternal values and moral principles that should govern the conduct of business leaders. Valluvar remained a generalist rather than
26426-448: The teachings found in Hindu texts. The three parts that the Kural is divided into, namely, aṟam (virtue), poruḷ (wealth) and inbam (love), aiming at attaining veedu (ultimate salvation), follow, respectively, the four foundations of Hinduism, namely, dharma , artha , kama and moksha . While the text extols the virtue of non-violence, it also dedicates many of 700 poruḷ couplets to various aspects of statecraft and warfare in
26607-410: The teachings found in Hindu texts. Valluvar's treatment of the concept of ahimsa or non-violence , which is the principal concept in both Jainism and Hinduism, bolsters this argument. While the text extols the virtue of non-violence, it also dedicates many of 700 porul couplets to various aspects of statecraft and warfare in a manner similar to Arthasastra : "An army has a duty to kill in battle, and
26788-513: The teachings in the Tirukkuṟaḷ states Zvelebil are "undoubtedly" based on the then extant Sanskrit works such as the Arthashastra and Manusmriti (also called the Manavadharmasastra ). According to Kamil Zvelebil, the Tirukkuṟaḷ does not belong to the ( Sangam ) period. In the 1970s, Zvelebil dated the text to somewhere between 450 and 500 CE. His estimate is based on
26969-409: The teachings in the Kural text, according to Zvelebil, are "undoubtedly" based on the then extant Sanskrit works such as the Arthashastra and Manusmriti (also called the Manavadharmasastra ). In his treatise of Tamil literary history published in 1974, Zvelebil states that the Kural text does not belong to the Sangam period and dates it to somewhere between 450 and 500 CE. His estimate
27150-564: The temple) is the iluppai tree under which Valluvar is believed to have been born. The temple was extensively renovated in the 1970s. At the Valluvar temple at Tiruchuli near Aruppukkottai in Virudhunagar district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu , Valluvar is taken in a procession as the 64th Nayanmar on his death anniversary in the Tamil month of Maasi (February–March) by the Valluvar community , who are into fortune-telling, chiefly in
27331-506: The ten medieval commentaries, scholars have found spelling, homophonic, and other minor textual variations in a total of 900 couplets, including 217 couplets in Book I, 487 couplets in Book II, and 196 couplets in Book III. Pallava dynasty The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan , also known as Tondaimandalam . The Pallavas played
27512-479: The text and the author to approximately 500 CE. In 1921, in the face of incessant debate on the precise date, the Tamil Nadu government officially declared 31 BCE as the year of Valluvar at a conference presided over by Maraimalai Adigal . On 18 January 1935, the Valluvar Year was added to the calendar. "The book without a name by an author without a name." — E. S. Ariel , 1848 The Kural text
27693-427: The text and the author to approximately 500 CE. In January 1935, the Tamil Nadu government officially recognized 31 BCE as the year of Valluvar. As suggested by Maraimalai Adigal , the Valluvar Year was added to the calendar. Thus, the Valluvar year is calculated by adding 31 to any year of the common era. As with most other details about Valluvar, the exact place of his birth remains uncertain. Valluvar
27874-422: The text does not feature "true and great poetry" throughout the work, except, notably, in the third book , which deals with love and pleasure. This emphasis on substance rather than poetry, according to scholars, suggests that Valluvar's main aim was not to produce a work of art, but rather an instructive text focused on wisdom, justice, and ethics. The Kural text begins with an invocation of God and then praises
28055-413: The third son of a Pallava king. The Pallavas were instrumental in the transition from rock-cut architecture to stone temples. The earliest examples of Pallava constructions are rock-cut temples dating from 610 to 690 and structural temples between 690 and 900. A number of rock-cut cave temples bear the inscription of the Pallava king, Mahendravarman I and his successors. Among the accomplishments of
28236-546: The three sections, Valluvar's second section ( porul ) is about twice the size of first section, and three times that of the third. In the 700 couplets on porul (53% of the text), Valluvar mostly discusses statecraft and warfare. Valluvar's work is a classic on realism and pragmatism, and it is not a mystic, purely philosophical document. Valluvar teachings are similar to those found in Arthasastra , but differ in some important aspects. In Valluvar's theory of state, unlike Kautilya,
28417-462: The totality of their structure. In terms of structural flow, the text journeys the reader from "the imperfect, incomplete" state of man implicit in the early chapters to the "physically, morally, intellectually and emotionally perfect" state of man living as a husband and citizen, states Zvelebil. In poetic terms, it fuses verse and aphoristic form in diction in a "pithy, vigorous, forceful and terse" manner. Zvelebil calls it an ethics text that expounds
28598-411: The traditional accounts and the linguistic analyses of his writings. Kamil Zvelebil infers the Tirukkuṟaḷ and Valluvar are best dated to around 500 CE. Valluvar has influenced a wide range of scholars down the ages since his time across the ethical, social, political, economical, religious, philosophical, and spiritual spheres. He has long been venerated as a great sage, and his literary works
28779-421: The traditional accounts were selectively accepted by Christian missionaries such as George Pope and other European writers, were widely published and then became a required reading about Tamil history. The exact date of Valluvar is unclear. His work Tirukkuṟaḷ has been dated variously from 300 BCE to about the sixth century CE. According to traditional accounts, it was the last work of the third Sangam and
28960-450: The two greatest sins that Valluvar feels very strongly are ingratitude and meat-eating . According to J. M. Nallaswamy Pillai, the Kural differs from every other work on morality in that it follows ethics, surprisingly a divine one, even in its Book of Love. In the words of Gopalkrishna Gandhi , Valluvar maintains his views on personal morality even in the Book of Love, where one can normally expect greater poetic leniency, by describing
29141-570: The usurper Nandi Varman, another great Pallava. We are overlooking for the present the dynasty of the Ganga-Pallavas postulated by the Epigraphists. The earliest of these Pallava charters is the one known as the Mayidavolu 1 (Guntur district) copper-plates. Based on a combination of dynastic plates and grants from the period, Aiyangar proposed their rule thus: The genealogy of Pallavas mentioned in
29322-567: The value of reading and reciting scriptures, he never names them; he talks about the values of charity without laying down the rules for it; though he repeatedly emphasizes about the importance of learning, he never says what is to be learnt; he recommends taxation in governance but does not suggest any proportion of collection. Scholars claim that Valluvar seldom shows any concern as to what similes and superlatives he used earlier while writing later chapters, purposely allowing for some repetitions and apparent contradictions in ideas one can find in
29503-538: The work and its author as one of their own. However, these claims are not supported academically and are constantly refuted by scholars. For example, the Christian claims have cropped up only after the colonial missionaries came to India. The Tamil Scholar Mu. Varadarajan suggests Valluvar must have "practised religious eclecticism, maintained unshakeable faith in dharma but should have rejected religious symbols and superstitious beliefs." The Dalit activist Iyothee Thass , who converted to Buddhism , claimed that Valluvar
29684-759: The work to around or after the 6th century CE. His proposal is based on the evidence that the Kural text contains a large proportion of Sanskrit loan words, shows awareness and indebtedness to some Sanskrit texts best dated to the first half of the 1st millennium CE, and the grammatical innovations in the language of the Kural literature. Pillai published a list of 137 Sanskrit loan words in the Kural text. Later scholars such as Thomas Burrow and Murray Barnson Emeneau show that 35 of these are of Dravidian origin and not Sanskrit loan words. Zvelebil states that an additional few have uncertain etymology and that future studies may prove those to be Dravidian. The 102 remaining loan words from Sanskrit are "not negligible", and some of
29865-485: Was "born in a low caste", but the original text does not. According to Stuart Blackburn, this comment appears to be extra-textual and possibly based on the oral tradition . No other pre-colonial textual sources have been found to support any legends about the life of Valluvar. Starting around the early 19th century, numerous legends on Valluvar in Indian languages and English were published. Various claims have been made regarding Valluvar's family background and occupation in
30046-466: Was a Jain or Hindu. If Valluvar was indeed a Jain, it raises questions about the source of the traditional Valluvar legends and the mainstream colonial debate about his birth. Kamil Zvelebil believes that the ethics of the Tirukkuṟaḷ reflects the Jain moral code, particularly moral vegetarianism (couplets 251–260), and ahimsa , that is, "abstention from killing" (couplets 321–333); scholars also note
30227-430: Was a Paraiyar. Valluvar was likely married to a woman named Vasuki and lived in Mylapore. According to traditional accounts, Valluvar died on the day of Anusham in the Tamil month of Vaikasi . The poem Kapilar Agaval , purportedly written by Kapilar , describes its author as a brother of Valluvar. It states that they were children of a Pulaya mother named Adi and a Brahmin father named Bhagwan. The poem claims that
30408-602: Was also installed in Haridwar , Uttarakhand. There is also a statue of Valluvar outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square , London . A life-size statue of Valluvar is one among an array of statues installed by the Tamil Nadu government on the stretch of the Marina . The Government of Tamil Nadu celebrates the 15th (16th on leap years) of January (the second of
30589-494: Was authored by Thiruvalluvar ( lit. Saint Valluvar). He is known by various other names including Poyyil Pulavar, Mudharpavalar, Deivappulavar, Nayanar, Devar, Nanmukanar, Mathanubangi, Sennabbodhakar, and Perunavalar. There is negligible authentic information available about Valluvar's life. For all practical purposes, neither his actual name nor the original title of his work can be determined with certainty. The Kural text itself does not name its author. The name Thiruvalluvar
30770-493: Was bordered by the Coromandel Coast along present Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh. Out of the coins found here, the class of gold and silver coins belonging to the 2nd-7th century CE period contain the Pallava emblem, the maned lion, together with Kannada or Sanskrit inscription which showed that the Pallavas used Kannada too in their administration along with Prakrit, Sanskrit and Tamil. Overlaid on these theories
30951-680: Was first mentioned in the later era Shaivite Hindu text known as the Tiruvalluva Maalai , also of unclear date. However, the Tiruvalluva Maalai does not mention anything about Valluvar's birth, family, caste or background. No other authentic pre-colonial texts have been found to support any legends about the life of Valluvar. Starting around early 19th century, numerous inconsistent legends on Valluvar in various Indian languages and English were published. Various claims have been made regarding Valluvar's family background and occupation in
31132-492: Was first mentioned in the later text Tiruvalluva Maalai . The speculations about Valluvar's life are largely inferred from his work Tirukkuṟaḷ and other Tamil literature that quote him. According to Zvelebil, Valluvar was "probably a learned Jain with eclectic leanings and intimate acquaintance with the early works of Tamil classical period and some knowledge of the Sanskrit legal and didactic texts ( subhashita )". The Shaivite Tamil text Tiruvalluva Maalai contains
31313-648: Was known as "Tondaman." Pallava royal lineages were influential in the old kingdom of Kedah of the Malay Peninsula under Rudravarman I, Champa under Bhadravarman I and the Kingdom of the Funan in Cambodia. Some historians have claimed the present Palli Vanniyar caste are descendants of the Pallavas who ruled the Andhra and Tamil countries between the 6th and 9th centuries. Tamil scholar M. Srinivasa Iyengar claimed claimed
31494-608: Was not to produce a work of art, but rather an instructive text focused on wisdom, justice, and ethics. Valluvar is revered and highly esteemed in the Tamil culture, and this is reflected in the fact that his work has been called by nine different names: Tirukkuṟaḷ (the sacred kural), Uttaravedam (the ultimate Veda ), Thiruvalluvar (eponymous with the author), Poyyamoli (the falseless word), Vayurai valttu (truthful praise), Teyvanul (the divine book), Potumarai (the common Veda), Muppal (the three-fold path), and Tamilmarai (the Tamil Veda). Its influence and historic use
31675-472: Was originally called "Tiruvalla Nayanar", and was a Buddhist. Thass further contended that the name "Tirukkuṟaḷ" is a reference to the Buddhist Tripiṭaka . He claims that Valluvar's book was originally called Tirikural ("Three Kurals"), because it adhered to the three Buddhist scriptures Dhamma Pitaka , Sutta Pitaka , and Vinaya Pitaka . According to Thass, the legend that presents Valluvar as
31856-444: Was ruled by a king Basaronaga around 140 CE. By marrying into this Naga family, the Pallavas would have acquired control of the region near Kanchi. While Sircar allows that Pallavas might have been provincial rulers under the later Satavahanas with a partial northern lineage, Sathianathaier sees them as natives of Tondaimandalam (the core region of Aruvanadu). He argues that they could well have adopted northern Indian practices under
32037-416: Was subjected to a divine test (which it passed). The scholars who believe this tradition, such as Somasundara Bharathiar and M. Rajamanickam, date the text to as early as 300 BCE. Historian K. K. Pillay assigned it to the early first-century CE. These early dates such as 300 BCE to 1 BCE are unacceptable and not supported by evidence within the text, states Zvelebil. The diction and grammar of
32218-443: Was the author of these texts. George Uglow Pope called Valluvar "the greatest poet of South India", but according to Zvelebil, he does not seem to have been a poet. According to Zvelebil, while the author handles the metre very skillfully, the Tirukkuṟaḷ does not feature "true and great poetry" throughout the work, except, notably, in the third book , which deals with love and pleasure. This suggests that Valluvar's main aim
32399-592: Was translated into Latin by Constanzo Beschi in 1730, which helped make the work known to European intellectuals. Tirukkuṟaḷ is one of the most revered works in the Tamil language. Tirukkuṟaḷ is generally recognized as the only work by Valluvar. However, in the Tamil literary tradition, Valluvar is attributed to be the author of many other later-dated texts including two Tamil texts on medicine, Gnana Vettiyan (1500 verses) and Pancharathnam (500 verses). Many scholars state that these are much later era texts (16th and 17th centuries), possibly by an author with
32580-465: Was used by the Pallava rulers. Mahendravarman I used the Biruda, Shatrumalla , "a warrior who overthrows his enemies", and his grandson Paramesvara I was called Ekamalla "the sole warrior or wrestler". Pallava kings, presumably exalted ones, were known by the title Mahamalla ("great wrestler"). Pallava inscriptions have been found in Tamil , Prakrit and Sanskrit . Tamil was main language used by
32761-476: Was wrecked due to rough weather and the boy was lost. He was later found washed ashore with a Tondai twig (creeper) around his leg. So he came to be called Tondaiman Ilam Tiraiyan meaning the young one of the seas or waves . When he grew up the northern part of the Chola kingdom was entrusted to him and the area he governed came to be called Tondaimandalam after him.He was a poet himself and four of his songs are extant even today. He ruled from Tondaimandalam and
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