As a quick recap of the previous Kurals- Kural 1
established that God is the fundamental force behind all creation. Kural 2 gave
the goal of any education for intelligent humans. After making an introduction
to God, Valluvar goes on to explain how we can approach Him. Three ways were
introduced: 1) Worship in the manam (mind) 2) Worship by words 3)
Worship in body action. Kural 3 and 4 talked about worshipping using the mind.
Now in Kural 5 worship by way of words is explained.
This is a fairly easy Kural.
Kural 5
இருள்சேர்
இருவினையும் சேரா இறைவன்
பொருள்சேர்
புகழ்புரிந்தார் மாட்டு.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
irulser iruvinaiyum seraa iraivan
porulser pugazhpurindhaar maattu
Explanation
All our actions, good and bad will produce karma (Vinai
in Tamil). Our soul has a natural tendency towards 3 main negative
qualities among others, they are -1)Desire 2) Anger 3) Delusion – that is,
failing to see the truth or understanding the false to be the truth (Also
called as Mayakkam in Tamil). It is because of mayakkam that we
are unable to see the truth in any situation and so we create bad and good
karma.
We normally think that bad karma is to be avoided and
good karma is okay. And when we finish our life time, our good and bad karma
will cancel each other out and whatever is remaining will give rise to a new
birth. But that is not true. There is no cancelling and all. Bad karma will
have to be played out and good karma
also will give rise to a new birth. If attaining Veedu or Mukti is the
goal, then we should be rid of good and bad karma and until the time we are rid
of them both we will keep taking births. How can we rid ourselves of good and
bad karma? By worshipping God in words. There is the word “purindhaar” in the
second line of this Kural. It means constantly saying.
This Kural says that by constantly uttering God’s
name, we will not accumulate any good or bad karma.
Kural 6
பொறிவாயில்
ஐந்தவித்தான் பொய்தீர் ஒழுக்க
நெறிநின்றார்
நீடுவாழ் வார்.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
porivaayil aindhavithaan poidheer ozhukka
neri nindraar needu vaazh Vaar
Explanation
We have five organs to perform functions that will
enable us to survive: mouth, hands, feet, excretory organs and reproductive
organs together called as karmendriyas
and five organs to receive input from our environment: eyes, skin,
tongue, nose, and ears also collectively known as gnanendriyas.
This Kural talks about the gnanendriyas. What
should we do with these organs to reach Veedu ? We need to control our desires
of our sense organs. Since God does not have any desire of senses, we can also
achieve control of senses by following Him.
In short, those who follow the flawless ways of the
One who does not have any desire of the senses, will live forever.
With this Kural, the three ways of worship - manam,
words, and actions have been covered. What is the need to have three more
Kurals? Valluvar could have finished the chapter here.
To stress any message, it has to be conveyed in the
direct way and the opposite way. For eg: there are two ways to convey the
message that one has to study well for
an exam – (a) “If you study well you will score well in exams”. (b) “If you
don’t study well you will fail in your exams”. When done in both ways, the
message will sink in deep in the minds of the listener. So in the next three
Kurals Thiruvalluvar will talk about what losses we would incur if we do not
worship God in manam, words, and actions.
Kural 7
தனக்குவமை
இல்லாதான் தாள்சேர்ந்தார்க் கல்லால்
மனக்கவலை
மாற்றல் அரிது.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Thanakkuvamai illaadhaan thaal serndhaar kallaal
manakkavalai maatral aridhu
Explanation
Note the use of the word “Serndhaar” in this Kural. It
means thinking continuously. So this Kural is about the losses due to not worshipping
at the mind level.
God is perfect. There is no comparison for Him. And
those who do not constantly think about HIM in their daily activities, cannot
be released from the worries of the mind. We should learn to work the following
idea into our consciousness, that is, whatever is happening to us, it is His
plan and it can never be wrong. When we can do that successfully, we will not
have any worries in life.
The Kural says, except for those who constantly
think about the feet of the One who is incomparable, it is impossible to remove the worries
of the mind.
The word arithu in Tamil means
difficult, but Parimelazhagar clarifies that it means impossible. Some people
write the meaning as it is difficult to remove the worries of the
mind, that is incorrect. It is impossible.
Kural 8
அறவாழி
அந்தணன் தாள்சேர்ந்தார்க் கல்லால்
பிறவாழி
நீந்தல் அரிது.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
aravaazhi andhanan thaal serndhaar kallaal
piravaazhi neendhal aridhu
Explanation
As explained in the introduction sections, Thirukkural
has three paals based on Purudartham (See earlier post: Our life in1330 couplets). They are Aram, Wealth and Pleasure.
In this Kural, Aazhi means ocean. Even though many
learned men have written many books about virutes, these virtues are taken from
nature. So the owner of these virtues is God (or Nature). God is the owner of
the ocean of virtues. And only those who have learned to cross the ocean of
virtues will be able to cross the ocean of Wealth and Ocean of Pleasure. A
person with no heed to virtues will not be able to enjoy the wealth and
pleasure in peace. We see this time and again in our lives, don’t we.
Wealth accumulated by wrongful means cannot give peace of mind. Many rich
people who did not care for virtues have died of mental and physical sicknesses
and never tasted peace all their lives. This Kural just hits the nail on the
head.
Again, Parimelazhagar clarifies that the word ‘arithu’
does not mean “difficult”. It means “Impossible”. Without aram, it is
not difficult to enjoy wealth and pleasure it is Impossible.
In short, this Kural says that those who do not
constantly think about the feet of the Owner of the ocean of virtues, CANNOT
cross other oceans.
So two Kurals to explain the consequences of not worshipping
in the mind has been written. The next Kural talks about the consequences of
not worshipping at the words and the body level.
Kural 9
கோளில்
பொறியின் குணமிலவே எண்குணத்தான்
தாளை
வணங்காத் தலை.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Kolil poriyin gunamilave engunathaan
thaalai vanangaa thalai
Explanation
When we pray we bow our head. Why do we bend the head
and not any other part?
Of all the body parts, the head is considered significant
and important because it contains all the organs of the mind (all gnanendriyas).
We bend down our head to indicate that we submitting all the organs of the mind
to the Supreme Power.
In this Kural, God is described as the One with eight
qualities, among others. The qualities are listed, not to establish a successful
definition of the Higher Power, but to show us that He cannot be defined using
human intelligence. The eight qualities are:
1. He operates independently
2. Has a pure body (Aram is considered as God’s body. If
someone hurts our body, we retaliate. Similarly, when we fight against nature,
we are effectively hurting God’s body and so Nature strikes back).
3. He possess natural intelligence
4. He understands everything
5. Naturally devoid of desires
6. Possess Universal Love in its highest form
7. Has endless capabilities
8. Abode of limitless happiness
Some also understand the eight qualities of God as the
8 siddhis (anima, mahima, lagima etc) that one gets when going down the path of
Yoga. Parimelazhagar says that, such an understanding is not wrong.
Just as how the eyes that cannot see is considered
useless, (and the ears that cannot hear etc) the head that does not bow to God
is considered useless.
The Kural says that just as how the organs that don’t
perform their required functions are considered useless, the head that does not
bow to the One with eight qualities is also considered useless.
With this Kural, the consequence of not praying with
the body is explained. Parimelazhagar asks us to extend the line of argument to
the mouth too. The mouth that does not utter the name of God is also useless, he
says.
So the consequences of the lack of the three levels of
prayer (mind, body and words) are hereby explained.
Kural 10
பிறவிப்
பெருங்கடல் நீந்துவர் நீந்தார்
இறைவன்
அடி சேராதார்.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
piravi perunkadal neendhuvar neendhaar
iraivan adi seraadhar.
Explanation
God’s feet is compared to a boat and our journey from
birth to Veedu is compared to an ocean. In the ocean, waves come and hit the
shore. The force with which the first wave hits the shore will determine the
force of the next wave which in turn will determine the speed of the next wave
and so on. So similarly, our karma in the first birth will determine the experiences
of the subsequent births.
This Kural says that those who grasp the boat (God’s
feet) will cross the ocean of life, the others will sink.
Here Parimelazhagar confirms that those who don’t grasp
the boat (God’s feet) will not only struggle but will definitely sink in the
ocean of births and rebirths.
With this Kural the chapter on Praise of God concludes. The Chapter explained what is God, How to approach Him with our mind, words and body and what would happen if we fail to grasp Him. We see that Valluvar wrote two Kurals to explain the worship at the mind level, one Kural for worship at the words level and one Kural for the worship at the body level. Because he has stressed the mind worship, we should understand that worshipping at the mind level is any day a superior method of worship.
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