Introduction

IN PRAISE OF GOD
The First 10 verses of Thirukkural

An English Explanation
Rasainthiran Menayah

Introduction

The Honorary Portrait

Archeologically, there is not much authentic information available about the author of the most famous and revered Tamil treatise, the Thirukkural. Whatever little information available to us, is mostly based on the linguistic characters and language used by the poet, in writing his book. Using this as a guide only an officially “acceptable” date of his life time has been set and that is 30 BC. This is the same for the now accepted honorary portrait.

A well known exponent (Para’mael Alagar) who is credited to have provided one of the best explanation to this treatise had included an account of Thiruvalluvar’s birth, life, details of his marriage, wife, and other information which are “fully imaginative and mythology based". On the surface this account looks honorable, but actually is much undignified. Due to this reason, many of the well read authors and Tamil exponents have left this “history” out. Most books now do not carry this introductory history introductory passage.

In the lack of any reliable information about the author, and with many Indian groups and religions claiming “ownership of the author” a political step was taken to provide an imaginary but honorable image, based on the Tamil tradition. It was in this view, the said image was “created” and today, all Tamils have come to accept the image as the actual Thiruvalluvar and 30 BC as his actual date of birth.

No harm has been done by this move, but has given the Tamil people a sense of belonging and identification with the author, the book, the culture, the intellectual genius and greatness of the Tamil language. This was a much missing yearning for the Tamils who have lived to see the decline of their culture from all angles, especially in their prose, music and drama – the essence of the Tamil culture and civilization.

The religion of the Tamils is another great debate. Did the Tamils had an indigenous religion or not, and what are the proofs for it? Or did this group of people so highly cultured, but did not have a religion for itself. Thirukkural's first chapter is on the praise of God. This is the first written record of "religious theology" of the Tamils and thus there is much interest in it.