Kural 12
துப்பார்க்குத்
துப்பாய துப்பாக்கித் துப்பார்க்குத்
துப்பாய
தூஉம் மழை
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Thupparku thuppaya thuppagi Thupparkku
Thuppayathooum mazhai
Simple Meaning
For all beings that consume food, rain helps create edible
food and becomes food by itself.
Explanation
Thuppu means ‘food’
In the Kural 11, Valluvar said that Rain is the
ambrosia or Amrita for the earth. In this Kural he explains how. How is Rain
consumed by living beings? In two ways (1) Rain helps to create food and (2)
Rain becomes food itself as it is consumed as water. This applies to all forms
in life on earth.
Is there anything else in nature that helps to create
food and also becomes food in itself? I’m not sure.
Kural 13
விண்இன்று
பொய்ப்பின் விரிநீர் வியனுலகத்து
உள்நின்று
உடற்றும் பசி.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Vin-nindru poippin virineer viyanulagathu
ul-nindru udatrum pasi
Simple meaning
If it stops raining, the entire expanse of world that
is surrounded by an even larger volume of sea water, will suffer from hunger.
Explanation
After reading the first two Kurals in this chapter one
may wonder, what is the big deal about rain being Amrita and all. We have a
large sea surrounding the land masses. A dozen de-salination plants should
easily replace rain. Valluvar clarifies clearly – Even though the earth
contains more water than land, without rain at the right time, all creatures
will suffer from hunger. Without rain, the salt content of the sea water will continue
to rise and sea creatures will be destroyed followed by the rest of the
creation. Desalination cannot be a replacement of rain as it cannot give the
fertility that rain water gives.
Kural 14
ஏரின்
உழாஅர் உழவர் புயல்என்னும்
வாரி
வளங்குன்றிக் கால்.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Aerin uzhaar uzhavar puyal ennum
Vaari valangundrik kaal
Simple meaning
When rain doesn’t pour, farmers will stop ploughing their fields.
Explanation
This is a simple Kural. Without
rain the crops won’t grow, hence all farmers will stop ploughing their fields
and lose their source of income.
Kural 15
கெடுப்பதூஉம்
கெட்டார்க்குச் சார்வாய்மற் றாங்கே
எடுப்பதூஉம்
எல்லாம் மழை.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Kedupathooum kettarkku
saarvai matraange
Eduppathooum ellam mazhai
Simple meaning
Rain causes hardship (during draught) but it also
gives back in equal amount whatever it took away.
Explanation
Sometimes Rain causes hardship by its absence. What
about hardships during floods and hurricanes, when it rains in excess?
Parimelazhagar clarifies that the Kural refers only to
the hardships brought out by draught. There are some species in this planet
that can survive only by consuming a
large quantity of water once a year, sometimes even once in two years. For such
species, God creates floods. Even though
many of the other smaller plants get washed away in floods, some trees like
Banyan etc require that much water and hence that one flood is necessary. Hence
Valluvar doesn’t use the term hardships to refer to excess of rain.
On the other hand, a draught will cause problem for
all species of life. So here, the hardship referred to is the one brought about
by draught.
Whatever that Rain takes away by its absence, it will
bring back when it next rains.
A mother disciplines her child sometimes harshly. But
she doesn’t kill her child. Similarly, rain creates a temporary inconvenience
but it will always come back (Such is also the kindness of God). It is with
such hope that farmers are continuing to do their job.
Kural 16
விசும்பின்
துளிவீழின் அல்லால்மற் றாங்கே
பசும்புல்
தலைகாண்பு அரிது.
Transliteration(Tamil to English):
Visumbin thuliveezhin allaal matraange
Pasumpul thalai kaanpu arithu
Simple meaning
If no drop falls from the clouds, not even a green
blade of grass will be seen.
Explanation
Visumbu means sky. In this Kural Valluvar is saying the importance for rain for
even the lowliest of living creatures. Because the lowest living thing is said, it is
understood that even the other higher beings are included.
But why is grass considered a low living thing? In
earlier posts it was explained that humans have 6 senses and Plants have only
1(refer post on Our life in 1330 couplets).
So they are considered a “low” among living things. Even among plants, grass is
the plant that is hollow, there’s nothing inside. Hence it is the lowliest of
plants.
Interestingly in Hindu tradition, all pujas (prayers)
will start with offerings to Lord Ganesha. A mound of cow dung with a Darbha
grass on top will be used to symbolize Ganesha. Here is the reason. Among all
creation, the most lowly of non living things is dung! And the most lowly of
living things is grass. So to remind people that God’s grace is everywhere,
even among the lowliest of things, we symbolize Ganesha as a mound of cow dung
with Darbha grass on top. What a powerful message!
Comments
Post a Comment