Repetition of any work over a long period of time will result in developing a unique expertise. Over time we develop the capacity to observe mistakes and improvise, and that's how we become advanced in any field.
Applying the same concept, it can be said that the advancement of a civilization can be measured by the length of their existence. Tamil civilization is one such old and highly advanced civilization. For eg: Tholkappiam is a very old Tamil scientific work on Tamil Grammar. It is still not clear when it was composed. Some say that it was written around 1st CE, which is nearly 2000 years ago. For the speakers a language to bring out a book on Grammar, the language should have been in existence long before 2000 years. Because, grammar is nothing but a set of rules, for its speakers, that has been formulated after observing a language over a long period of time. Some historians say that the Tamil language has been in existence for atleast 3000 years.
When we say ancestors, we refer to them. These people are our ancestors. They were not barbarians or cavemen. They came from a highly developed advanced civilization. Our ancestors observed life over their years and made recordings in print form as to what works in life and what doesn't. They experimented with various social & political structures (poly gamy, monogamy. Polyandry etc) different life styles and they came to certain conclusions about what style of life will lead to happy people. These recordings together make our vast Tamil Literature.
Our ancestors were scientifically advanced people who wanted to pass on their experiences to posterity. We should understand that such recordings are very valuable treasures for any civilization and rejecting it would be an utter waste of knowledge. For example, one such learning is the Ekapathni vratham, wherein a man vows to have only one wife, followed by Lord Ram (Ramayan). If only we had continued this tradition, we wouldn't be living in a world of STDs.
As a fundamental principle, our ancestors always taught children, Aram (moral values taken from Nature) before acquiring Porul (wealth) and Inbam (Pleasure). They observed Nature and formulated rules by which humans can live in Harmony with nature. These rules are called Aram. I don’t want to use the word “moral values” because the origin of moral values is not clear. I prefer to use the word “aram” . Aram refers to principles of life formulated after observing nature for a long period of time. Had we upheld this practice of teaching aram to our children before teaching them ABC, and introducing media in their lives, the world would have been a far more peaceful place to live in. In today’s generation we have learned to acquire expertise in wealth acquisition and pleasure acquisition but because of the lack of teaching Aram in a child’s growing years, we are living in a world of horrible crimes and several new diseases, mental and physical.
Tamil culture has clearly documented Aram in Literature, Thirukkural being the forerunner of all. Our ancestors have left behind thousands of such timeless treasures.
If we look at our lives carefully, we will see that Nature protects and safeguards truth. Whatever is not necessary, Nature removes it overnight. Nature can and has moved mountains, wiped out civilizations, created and destroyed species from the face of the earth. Nature Knows! She is intelligent and powerful. We better learn to bow down humbly in front of her and figure out ways to live in harmony with Her. So if She has chosen to preserve something that is more than 2000 years old, then we should understand that there is some element of truth in it. Maybe it has something that is necessary in our current days. What She has destroyed, it should be understood that it is not necessary for our current time period.
In the current age of advanced technology, nearly all of us have are equipped with latest gadgets. Despite the increase in the RAM capacity and Gigabytes of storage available, and tons of photocopies and multiple prints of books, it is a ironical that always the ‘one important piece of paper’ always goes missing, just when you need it! It has to be undoubtedly, the power of Nature that has allowed the Thirukkural that was probably composed somewhere around 500 BCE, that too on palm leaves, when gurus probably lived in mud houses with thatched roofs, to be passed on to our generation without much damage. If we question as to why did Nature choose to preserve this document, the only obvious answer seems to be that there is probably something of value in it – a timeless piece of knowledge that is essential for a happy life on this earth.
There is no denying that human beings are mostly concerned about themselves. If there is a large group photo our eyes search only for us. Even for such selfish beings as ourselves, if we are asked to name our ancestors, we can only go back up to 5 generations. But we seem to know more about Thiruvalluvar, the composer of Thirukkural. That is the proof that Nature does preserve Things/People of Great Value.
If time and Nature have preserved Thirukkural for its value, then it seems very silly of us to question the validity of the treatise or its author. It is better we surrender ourselves to such Higher Powers than fight against it. The amount of literary treasures in Tamil and Hinduism is so vast that one lifetime is not enough to even read all of it once, let alone understand its meaning. Fortunately it is regarded among scholars that Thirukkural carries the essence of all of Tamil’s Literary works and Thiruvasagam carries the essence of all of Shaivite Hindu Teachings. A good knowledge of these two works, will allow one to explore freely into other literary works.
Comments
Post a Comment