Basis of Explanation

The valour and thirst of many political, non political and community leaders to promote Thirukkural as a means to minimize and to bring awareness to the anger and decay displayed by our Indian / Tamil youth is commendable, but we must be realistic to realise that the social ills faced by the community is not due to the lack of language or culture, but due to the social disparity caused by our own Indian / Tamil based political parties. Discussing politics or promoting Thirukkural may not be the way to solve our illness, though we cannot deny that some temporary restrain can be achieved. We must be thankful that the patience being practiced by the community is due to the strong foundation of virtue we already have.

In the process of publicizing the Thirukkural, the Tamil literary and academic front must not be compromised. Many have started to provide their own interpretations to suit their objectives. Once again this is commendable and must be also encouraged. Without this endeavor no literary advancement can be achieved. However, certain rules and regulations must be followed.

The guide is the Thirukkural itself. The book is divided into the 3 sections. Thus explanation of a verse must be first confined within that section. We must not try to introduce the concept of virtue and character into the romance section. One can argue that romance is a part of virtue and character. Yes, this is an undeniable fact, but we must remember that “virtue and character” have their own sections and these values are discussed clearly in these sections. We need not overlap the interpretations.

Instead of providing various interpretations, we can provide cross references within Thirukkural for each of the values we want to emphasize or elaborate. This move is more intellectual.

Next, each chapter within the three sections has its own headings. Virtue has 38 chapters, Character has 70 chapters and romance has 25chapters. Each chapter has its specific heading, thus each verse must be explained within the context of the heading. One must not get out of this context.

Finally, grammatical rules and regulations of the Tamil language must be maintained to preserve the greatness and the wisdom of this book of antiquity. Thirukkural is a book of antiquity and surely written with all the Tamil linguistic greatness of the era. In our ignorance, we must not overlook these regulations.

It is due to these reason, an attempt was made not to translate the first 10 verses, but rather to provide an explanation for the verses was decided. It was felt that justice could not be done by just merely trying to translate the verses, which are very rich in theological and religions meanings.

A deeper understanding of the religious and theological concepts of the era of Thiruvalluvar needs to be understood and taken into consideration before trying to provide an explanation of the verses.

Coupled with this, the explanations must be also within the limits of the Tamil grammar and the thoughts of the grammarians of that era. For this, only Tholkappiam can be of any assistance. This is the only full book of that era available with us today. Most of all the other Tamil books on religion and theology with us today were written much after Thirukkural was penned.

This critical fact and information was taken into account when an attempt to explain the first ten verses.