Some might ask: Should we even be doing this research?
Why try to box Thiruvalluvar into a religious identity? Isn't his work universal, and common for all?
Good question!
The answer to this consists of 2 points.
1. Marcus Aurelius, a Stoic philosopher's work is universal & is followed globally.
But this does not take away his religious beliefs.
Marcus worshipped & prayed to Roman god Jupiter.
Even a universal philosopher has an identity.
What's wrong in researching Thiruvalluvar's?
2. In the foreword of "Is Thiruvalluvar a Chriśtian", M Karunanidhi, the then CM in 1969, wrote:
"Despite my opinion that Valluvar is common for all religions, I welcome research that stimulates thinking"
Inspired by him, let's pursue this research that stimulates thinking!
Full Disclosure:
Nothing about Thirukural is authoritative: starting with its name, its author, its chapter divisions, its time period.
We do not have any indisputable historical primary sources.
All we have are 1330 couplets, that are the highest expression of human thought.
Then how to go about this research?
In a multiple choice exam, if you are not sure of the answer, you eliminate incorrect options.
Whatever remains must be the BEST candidate for the right answer.
We follow the same strategy of elimination to arrive at the BEST possible answer
Option 1: Atheist
Many think Valluvar is purely a virtue ethicist who had no religious faith.
E.g: Lyricist and #MeToo accused Mr. Vairamuthu has claimed that Kural speaks only about Dharma, Artha, Kama & not Moksha.
Such claims are laughable at best & malicious at worst.
It is almost as if Valluvar knew people would distort his beliefs.
In verse 247, he clearly says:
"This world is not for weathless ones,
That world is not for graceless ones"
What is this second world?
Is this a rational thing that can be perceived by eyes or other devices?
He mentions not being born again as a human goal in verses 345, 349, 351, 356, 357 and 358.
Is this not the fourth purushartha - Moksha?
In verse 346, he calls this realm higher than the ones Devas reside in.
He clearly believed in a god, Verses: 43, 50, 55, 388
So:
❌ Atheist
The official state govt date for Valluvar is 31 BCE, as recommended by Maraimalai Adigal, an exponent of Pure Tamil movement.
Thiruvalluvar year is an officially recognized Tamil calendar system.
If today is 2023, Thiruvalluvar year is 2023+31 = 2054
So, Thiruvalluavar: 31 BCE
This puts Thiruvalluvar well ahead of Jeśuś and Prophet Muhammëd's period.
After eliminating these 2 options, we're left with 3 final options: Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism - all these religions prevailed in South India, during Valluvar's period of 31 BCE.
So, which one is it?
Philosophically, both Buddhism & Jainism are agnostic.
They do not believe in God 100%, let alone a god with a physical form.
But in Verse 10, Valluvar says: "Only those who clench the feet of god, can cross the ocean of life"
Implies:
Valluvar believed in a God that has a form
Verse 259 is often quoted to claim that Valluvar rejected Vedic rituals like Yagna, and professes complete ahimsa like a Jain saint.
But is this true?
Valluvar is comparing that:
Not killing an animal is better than doing 1000 Vedic yagnas, pouring havis.
When you compare good things, you only compare-up, not compare-down.
When you say
Kallis = Sachin + Zaheer, it is inherent that Sachin & Zaheer are good players & Kallis is twice as good as them
If someone says 1 Kumble is equivalent to 100 Leverocks, is that even a compliment?
Valluvar also mentions a lot of Hindu concepts (with verse #):
Indran: 25
Yaman: 326, 1050, 1083, 1085
Lakshmi: 84, 167, 179, 617, 920
Moodhevi, goddess of misfortune: 167, 617, 936
These are not mere references, the deities are mentioned exactly as per Puranas
1. Moodhevi as elder sister of Lakshmi
2. Vaamana as Adi Alandhaan - step measurer
3. Devas as Imaiyaar - ones who do not blink (906).Devas do not blink/ sweat/cast shadows according to Hindu myth.
Based on multiple such research data by scholars, it is evident that Thiruvalluvar was a Hindu.
Kannadasan, a former, Dravidian ideologue, concludes his essay in the famous Arthamulla Hindu Madham:
"Valluvar is a Tamil Hindu. The Hindu Valluvar is a Thamizhar."
Since time immemorial, Thiruvalluvar is worshipped as a saint, a Nayanmar in Hindu temples.
His temple in Mylapore comes under Hindu HRCE department.
Till date, On the day of arupathumoovar, 63 nayanmar are taken out in procession including Thiruvalluvar & his consort Vasuki.
It doesn't mean that Valluvar has to be boxed as a saint meant for one religion alone.
Turmeric, Yoga, Ayurveda, Thiruvalluvar etc. are India's gift to the world.
But if someone patents Turmeric & tries to do identity theft, you fight back with data, claiming what's your own.
Rumi is everybody's poet & nobody can take away his Sufi Iślamic identity.
Similarly, Thiruvalluvar is everybody's philosopher guide. His verses have a universal appeal. He is a gift from Bharat to the world.
What does the strategist and writer Cho have to say about the recent Ramayana dating controversy?
Although Cho isn't alive today, he has shared his opinion on this topic in the preface to his immortal work 'Hindu Maha Samudhram'.
And he does take a clear side. A thread (1/8)
Cho starts his 6 volume compendium of Hindu Maha Samudhram with the traditional mantra for Sankalpa, & proceeds to explain the math behind Brahma's 1 day equaling 4.32 lakh human years.
He contrasts the western date 14/1/2005 with the Sankalpa date as per Sveta Varaha Kalpa.
He says that this traditional dating of lakhs of years may seem untenable to the civilized mind which limits all of recorded human history based on Greek and Chinese civilizations to 3000 BCE.
Is this 3000 BCE dating free of errors - Cho asks.
And he answers it quite clearly.
Did Rama live in Treta Yuga lakhs of years ago, or in 5114 BCE?
Is there an element of truth in the astro-logical/nomical analysis that date Ramayana to our history?
Is there merit to this intellectual exercise of chronologizing an Itihasa or is it pointless?
A thread (1/8)
Every book must first know its audience and their intellectual context.
There's an Indic mind that's capable of visualizing one Brahma's day as 4.32 billion human years.
There's also a western educated skeptic mind that relies on scientific method to comprehend the world.
And we have both these minds.
Our cultural context helps us with the Indic mode of thinking, and Macaulay education mode trains us to byheart "21 Apr 1526" as the date for Battle of Panipat in exam.
History thus becomes 'If there is a date to it, it must really have happened'
Might be hard to believe today, but once upon a time, in 1971, Tamilnadu was one of the two states within the country, to have total prohibition of alcohol in force. Along with Gujarat.
This is the story of who implemented Prohibition in TN and who lifted it, and why : (1/8)
Again, it might be hard to believe today, but TN was once the bastion of Congress.
In the 1st Madras legislative assembly election in 1937, Congress won 159/215 seats - its most impressive electoral performance across all provinces.
Led by Satyamurthy and Kamaraj initially.
But Rajaji evinced interest at the last minute and took over the leadership.
He perhaps thought of this as a godsent opportunity to implement his ideas on prohibition in Madras Presidency.
Despite winning the elections, Congress was reluctant to form the government. Why?
According to sources, Film Companion is shutting down, as Anupama Chopra is moving on to Hollywood Reporter.
For those who don't know, what TNM is for "journalism", FC is for film reviews.
You couldn't find a more w0ke, biased film site even if you tried. A 🧵of their reviews:
FC Review#1:
The Kerala Story is not even a film since it is all propaganda based on "Whatsapp Forwards"
The film featured interviews of real victims of radicalization, grooming and LJ, and who were jailed in Afghanistan.
FC Review #2:
The Kashmir Files is a dishonest dive into the past that is a living room debate parading as a movie.
Yeah right, Kashmiri Pandits wanted to mass emigrate simply because Kashmir was too beautiful and
their pains aren't real unless a w0ke reviewer sitting in his air conditioned room at Worli acknowledges it.
Today is Thirunaaraiyoor Nambiyaandar Nambi's guru poojai (Vaikasi Punarapoosam).
The story of how Nambi was asked by Rajaraja to discover and compile the Shaivite Thirumurais is fascinating.
A thread on this miraculous Sthala Puranam (1/9):
Thirunaaraiyoor, a small village 20 km Southwest to Chidambaram houses a Paadal Petra Sthalam, Soundareswarar Temple.
In this temple, the son is more famous than his father – and goes by the name Pollaa Pillayaar.
It is not பொல்லாப் பிள்ளையார் as is commonly misspelt, but பொள்ளாப் பிள்ளையார் meaning “unsculpted”. This is because this Pillayar murthy here is believed to be a swayambhu murthy.
This temple’s priest from an Adishaivite family was blessed with a son and he was named Nambiyaandar Nambi.
The young Nambi grew to be devout and accompanied his father for his temple duties. One day, Nambi’s father had to go to a neighboring village and delegated the temple duties to Nambi.
How on earth did the educated, civilized and God fearing people of Tamilnadu allow this malicious, unfair harassment of TBs to continue for a century now?
Nobody desires evil Thanos, yet this vicious harassment has not gone away for generations, so what gives?
A thread (1/9)
Because this targetted harassment has an utility, it has a benefit for the society at large.
For as long as this one community remains the punching bag, the spotlight is taken away from all other communities and they are shielded.
This explains why mostly only TBs suffer from "ancestral guilt", and why most w0kes from TN are TBs who overcompensate.
Nobody else is made to feel guilt or shame the way the TBs are subjected to, and this is the real win of D narrative: it consolidates the other 97%, psychologically.