For us to annalise what kind of “God Head” the Thirukkural is advocating to us, we need to look at the intellectual supremacy of the Tamil people first. A culture that is not matured enough intellectually, will not be able to provide us with a concept that is superior in nature.
The Tamil tribe is one of the oldest group of people who have manages to retain their culture, religion and language quite intact. It cannot be denied that these people have lost much of their original tradition due to adulteration and disinformation, but it still remains and can be retrieved if wanted.
The word “tribe” has been used here because with such antiquity, these people do not have a country of their own. They share the similar fate of all the original tribes of world whose country has been taken over by invaders, and now these tribes just occupy their ancestral land with the invaders. The Tamils within India, and also those who left its shore mostly due to forced migration, only enjoy a citizenship of that country. Even in India it was only political uprising that has provide them a state for their identity,
Yet these people have a language which is original and specific to them and not derived from other sources. It can stand on its own with rules for use of alphabets, words, prose and content. The Tholkkapium, the Tamil book of grammar is proof of this. Tamil is a mass media language and has gone from print into the internet and web pages.
The Tamils also have their own tradition of the art of drumming (mattalam), the art of stringed instrument (yaal) and the Tamil flute (nathasvaram). These instruments have their own specific 108 beats (thalam) and the 100 (+3) panns (ragas).
Although much had been lost as far back during the seventh century, revitalization in the past half century has reproduced back the “systems’ of these instrumentals and music. Although the Tamil population is still enveloped in the Karnatic (Carnatic) music, it cannot be denied that this Carnatic music is just an adulteration and a borrowed concept of the 108 tahlam and 103 panns of the Tamil people. At one time, Tamil musicians were made into a down trodden class by the so called upper class society, thus the whole music system was lost.
Similarly, the art of dance (Kuuthu) was also reduced and down trodden to a near social plague, before it was “reinvented” as “Bharata Natiam” by the once again so called upper class society. Today, much of the original treatise do exist, but the Tamils have yet to muster courage and take control of the art and reproduce it in its original Tamil forms and using Tamil terminology.
Similarly, the theological concepts of the Tamil people have been systematically adulterated and altered so that their original 36 theological concepts have been lost. A revitalization of these concepts was tried by many “saints” but it was fruitless. We are still stuck with a Vedic based version of the Saiva-Siddhanta theological concept.
Thirukkural has escaped much adulteration due to its very short but precisely placed topics in a single book. The explanations of the verses are however much wanting. The translations into other languages are not that good either.
With such high and intellectual achievement which most other civilizations has not been able to achieve or challenge, the concepts of God, derived from them must be also equally inspiring to all of us.
The Tamil tribe is one of the oldest group of people who have manages to retain their culture, religion and language quite intact. It cannot be denied that these people have lost much of their original tradition due to adulteration and disinformation, but it still remains and can be retrieved if wanted.
The word “tribe” has been used here because with such antiquity, these people do not have a country of their own. They share the similar fate of all the original tribes of world whose country has been taken over by invaders, and now these tribes just occupy their ancestral land with the invaders. The Tamils within India, and also those who left its shore mostly due to forced migration, only enjoy a citizenship of that country. Even in India it was only political uprising that has provide them a state for their identity,
Yet these people have a language which is original and specific to them and not derived from other sources. It can stand on its own with rules for use of alphabets, words, prose and content. The Tholkkapium, the Tamil book of grammar is proof of this. Tamil is a mass media language and has gone from print into the internet and web pages.
The Tamils also have their own tradition of the art of drumming (mattalam), the art of stringed instrument (yaal) and the Tamil flute (nathasvaram). These instruments have their own specific 108 beats (thalam) and the 100 (+3) panns (ragas).
Although much had been lost as far back during the seventh century, revitalization in the past half century has reproduced back the “systems’ of these instrumentals and music. Although the Tamil population is still enveloped in the Karnatic (Carnatic) music, it cannot be denied that this Carnatic music is just an adulteration and a borrowed concept of the 108 tahlam and 103 panns of the Tamil people. At one time, Tamil musicians were made into a down trodden class by the so called upper class society, thus the whole music system was lost.
Similarly, the art of dance (Kuuthu) was also reduced and down trodden to a near social plague, before it was “reinvented” as “Bharata Natiam” by the once again so called upper class society. Today, much of the original treatise do exist, but the Tamils have yet to muster courage and take control of the art and reproduce it in its original Tamil forms and using Tamil terminology.
Similarly, the theological concepts of the Tamil people have been systematically adulterated and altered so that their original 36 theological concepts have been lost. A revitalization of these concepts was tried by many “saints” but it was fruitless. We are still stuck with a Vedic based version of the Saiva-Siddhanta theological concept.
Thirukkural has escaped much adulteration due to its very short but precisely placed topics in a single book. The explanations of the verses are however much wanting. The translations into other languages are not that good either.
With such high and intellectual achievement which most other civilizations has not been able to achieve or challenge, the concepts of God, derived from them must be also equally inspiring to all of us.
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