Kural 17
நெடுங்கடலும்
தன்நீர்மை குன்றும் தடிந்தெழிலி
தான்நல்கா தாகி
விடின்
Transliteration (Tamil to English):
Nedungadalum thanneermai kundrum thadinthezhili
Thaanalgaa thagi vidin
Simple meaning
The mighty ocean’s natural tendency will be reduced if the clouds that
have directly absorbed the water (in the form of a water spout or vapour) fail
to give rain.
Explanation
In the previous Kural, Valluvar said that rain is
important to even the smallest of living things (blade of grass). In this Kural
he says that rain is important even for the mighty ocean.
Whenever we are stressing the importance of anything
we have to specify the importance for the tiniest and the mightiest. Then the
magnitude of the importance will be well understood. So he has touched the
importance for both the lowest of creation and highest of creation, in these
two Kurals.
Sometimes we may have observed that water will be
directly absorbed from the sea by the clouds, like a pillar of water. This is
called waterspout. Sometimes even fish will be absorbed along with and we have
witnessed fish rain! The word “thadinthu” means “to smell it in like a long
inhale”. So it refers to the waterspout. Some people also understand it as
water vapor, which is also correct.
So when the sea
water that is absorbed by the clouds, doesn’t come down as rain what would
happen to the sea?
Sea organisms will not grow because the salt content
will increase and will become unsuitable to sustain life. Many shells and rare
minerals will not be formed. It is said that pearl will be formed only during
Swati nakshatram, when the oyster comes to the surface and opens
its mouth and a drop of water enters the shell. It is a rare event as it is,
without rain it will become extinct.
Even though the foundation of rain is sea, the mighty
ocean will lose its natural tendency without rain.
With these 7 kurals (11 to 17) the importance of rain
for the earth has been established. The next Kural will deal with a different
subject.
Kural 18
சிறப்பொடு பூசனை
செல்லாது வானம்
வறக்குமேல்
வானோர்க்கும் ஈண்டு.
Transliteration (Tamil to English):
Sirapodu poosanai sellaathu vaanam
Varakkumel vaanorkkum eendu
Simple meaning
If it doesn’t rain, the special poojas like the Thiruvizha cannot
happen.
Explanation
Why does Valluvar talk about poojas?
In the previous Kurals, Valluvar made it clear that
the world cannot function without rain. What about the Devas and the Pitrs?
Devas & Pitrs can be understood as the celestial beings in a
higher vibrational plane. Devas grant boons to humans and they take care of us.
These things cannot be proved in a lab. If Valluvar says they are present, we
have to believe him, that’s all.
There are two kinds of poojas (prayer ceremony)
performed in temples. One is the daily pooja also called as Nithiyam and the
other is the annual pooja called Nai Nithiyam pooja. In the daily pooja there
is a possibility of things going wrong such as lack of flowers or lack of other
pooja items. So to make a solid good pooja without any flaws, temples follow
the practice of having one big pooja in a year. A lot of care will be taken to
make sure nothing goes wrong. All pooja protocols will be carefully observed.
This is the Thiruvizha or the special pooja or the Nai Nithiyam Pooja.
But what is the use of this?
During these Poojas, priests will make offerings of
food, saree and other things in the sacred fire. This will be received by the
Devas. The mental thought that Devas should receive it, is enough for such a
transaction. Without our offerings, Devas will not receive food. God has
created such a structure so that we humans will be tightly linked with Devas. They
grant us boons and we give them food.
You see, in our youth we will have a lot of physical
stamina but not enough life experience. When we get old we will have a lot of
experience but not enough physical strength. This is structured so because only
then old and young people can live together harmoniously as they will benefit
from each other. Following this tradition, in Tamil culture parents will always
live with their children.
Without rain people will not have enough money to
perform all these poojas. Hence not only will humans suffer in the earth plane,
but even Devas and Pitrs will suffer in the higher vibrational planes.
One more important point is shown in this Kural about
Tamil culture -the importance of order. Higher valued things will be
given importance first. In a wedding, elders and learned people will be given
front row seats. If there is a public gathering a learned person will be given
special respect and made to sit in the front. Ordinary people will take a back
seat. This is done to motivate the regular people to achieve higher goals. The
ordinary person will aspire to live a good life to get that respect. These days
we have messed up this practice, a thief is taking the front row and a judge is
sitting in the last row, and we are okay with that. In the name of equality we
are treating everyone - educated, uneducated, cultured, well-mannered,
ill-mannered, all uniformly, without any difference. That will not serve the
purpose of motivating the individuals in the society to become a better person.
Note in the
Kural, “sirapodu poosanai…” first “sirappu” (sirappu meaning
special pooja and odu means along with) is mentioned and then “Pooja”
(referring to daily pooja) is mentioned. The higher valued Pooja is mentioned
first.
So the Kural says, without rain special poojas and
ordinary poojas will also be hindered.
Kural 19
தானம் தவம்இரண்டும்
தங்கா வியன்உலகம்
வானம் வழங்கா
தெனின்.
Transliteration (Tamil to English):
Thaanam thavam irnandum thangaa viyanulagam
Vaanam vazhangaa thenin.
Simple meaning
When rain fails to come, Charity and Penance will also come to a halt.
Explanation
After establishing that without rain, life on earth will come to a halt
and celestial beings will suffer, a question arises, will aram continue?
This Kural answers: No! Both Illaram (Aram for family life) and
Thuravaram (Aram for self-actualization) will come to a screeching halt.
Without aram we cannot have wealth and pleasure. So the world along with
aram, porul and inbam will be destroyed.
Dhaanam
means Charity, that is giving our things to others. But this is not a complete
definition. Parimelazhagar gives a crystal clear definition for charity. There
are 4 steps:
1.
The
money (or things) that we are giving away should have been earned in the way of
aram. If are trying to give away wealth acquired by thieving or any
other ill means, it does not qualify as charity.
2.
The
charity should be given to deserving people. When we give away something, we
are taking part in his actions and he is taking part in our actions. So when we
give money to someone and he/she does drugs with the money, then we acquire a
bit of that bad karma. When we give money as charity and the receiver does some
good work with it, we get a bit of that good karma. So, it is important that we
give away our hard earned wealth to deserving people.
3.
When
we give, we must be very happy – happy that we are having a chance to help
someone.
4.
The
actual action of giving.
As a side note, Avvaiyar gives beautiful definitions
for aram, porul, inbam and Veedu in short crisp words: Giving
away is aram, acquiring wealth after letting go of bad deeds is porul,
two lovers who are one in their mind and support each other is love, leaving
all of the above for the Greater One is Veedu. (eethal aram,
theevinai vittu ettal porul, kadalar iruvar karuthu oruvithu aadaravu pattathey
inbam, paranai ninathu ithanai vittathey perinba veedu.)
Thavam
means penance. In the path of renunciation, we need control our mind. The mind
has a tendency to go through our five senses. When we are on a diet and want to
keep away from a slice of pizza, the mind will go through the tongue and crave.
We need to learn to have control over this behavior. So, people undergo fasts.
Fasting is a way of telling the mind “You are asking for pizza, I will give
you no food. Learn to stay under my control”. It is a way of denying pleasures for the senses in order to
control the mind. When the body asks for comforts, maybe an A/C in the hot
weather, then you make the body stand in heat to disciple the mind. Saints used
to stand in cold water during winter, for the very same reason - to discipline
the mind. That is the goal of thavam. These days we have lost this reasoning.
We think that fasting is a ritual to please God. So when we fast, our hunger
makes us angrier. That is not control of the mind. We might as well eat and be
happy. When we willingly taking on challenges of denying comforts and are able
to stay normal, the fast is considered successful.
Thaanam (Charity)
is associated with a family man, and Thavam (Penance) is associated with
a saint. Thaanam is also applicable for Saints, but it is predominantly
associated with a family man.
Note the order: Without illaram (family life) there
is no thuravaram (life of
renunciation). Without experiencing the comforts of life, one cannot
renounce it. So Thaanam is placed before thavam.
Without rain, people will not have wealth to give away
for charity. We will not have thaanam and thavam and therefore aram,
porul, inbam all will cease to exist.
Kural 20
நீர்இன்று அமையாது
உலகெனின் யார்யார்க்கும்
வான்இன்று அமையாது
ஒழுக்கு.
Transliteration (Tamil to English):
Neer indru amaiyathu ulagenin yaar yaarkum
Vaan indru amaiyathu ozhukku
Simple meaning
Without rain there won’t be aram, wealth and pleasure for anyone (rich,
poor, short, tall….basically all people)
Explanation
In the above 7 kurals Valluvar explained the
importance of rain. Here he summarizes and says, without rain we will not have
any order in the world. Everyone, regardless of their age, color, social
status, will be affected. Aram, Wealth and Pleasure which is basically all of
our activities will become extinct without rain.
With these 10 kurals the Significance of Rain is
explained. Rain is one of the many outward expressions of God’s Grace.
In the next chapter Valluvar will introduce the people
who are capable of observing the order in Nature. These are the Saints also
called as “Neethaar” who have
renounced everything, and have no strings attached.
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