Introduction
Thirukural is an
ancient Tamil scripture written by Thivalluvar in the third Sangam era which
was around 300BC. This literature was unique in its own way because the verses
were written as two-line couplets. Thiru means worshipful and Kural means
couplets. Thirukural had been acknowledged as one of the literature which can
be used for self and social development irrespective of the time period,
nation, culture, or religion. It is termed as “ulaga pothumarai” which means
common to everyone in the universe. Thirukural comprises of 1,330 couplets with
10 kural under each heading or athikaram which each athikaram dealing with
various factors associated with human life skills, social or spiritual life.
These athikarams are further grouped under three major areas – Aram, Porul, and
Inbam. Aram deals with the ethical code of conduct which an individual is
expected to follow in his personal and social life. Porul deals with ethics
which should be followed in earning and spending money, political governance,
military functioning, effective interpersonal relationships, ways of
maintaining family, the importance of cultivation, farming, overcoming poverty,
and identifying people with criminal tendencies. Inbham deals with all the
aspects associated with love and romance
Thirukural
is one of the few literary works that have survived over the past two thousand
years in its complete and original form and it is considered relevant
literature even in the present world. Thirukural is one of the most widely translated
work. Till now it has been translated in 41 different languages. The content of
Thirukural acts as a guide for human beings on how they should lead a moral and
ethical life by which they become useful to the world. Unlike other works of
literature of the ancient Indian era whose core focus was on spiritual life
Thirukural dealt with how a person should live his life on earth while he is
alive. According to Thirukural a person who leads an ideal life will be ranked
on par with gods. Thirukural deals with essential factors related to a personal
life which is permanent irrespective of the changes that occur in the social
structure over a period of time.
Thirukural deals with the suffering experienced in an empathetic
manner It does not consider human suffering to be illusory or trivial. It
stresses the need to be compassionate and insightful while dealing with the
suffering experienced by different sections of people. It also provides
workable approaches in issues that confront human beings in their day to day
life such as the ones associated with family, social behavior, immoral life,
consequences of lack of self-control, emotional turmoil, managing romantic
relationships, and handling separation and grief.
The most important
features of Thirukural are:
- It never
mentions anything related to any specific religion
- It is
universally applicable irrespective of the culture or social structure
- The
teachings transcend time.
Effective
communication
There is a lot of
emphasis in Thirukural on the approach by which every communication can be made
effective. It advocates the use of simple comprehensible pleasant words and
appropriate nonverbal communication which is in tune with the verbal
communication for building an effective interpersonal relationship and positive
feelings with in oneself
The appropriate words
used in verbal communication should be the ones filled
with tenderness and pass. Thirukural emphasizes the best gift a
person can give is pleasant words along with a natural smile. The words used
should be honest right from one's heart. According to Thirukural the identity
of an effective personality is pleasantness in speech, flowing from the heart
which is filled with cheerfulness, tolerance along with the expression of
amiable friendly body language. The importance of appropriate gestures and body
language which play a vital role in making verbal communication effective is
also emphasized in the script. It has also explained how positive and pleasant
words will help in preventing a person from slipping into a negative state of
mind which in turn can lead to suffering. Thirukural states that many problems
emerge due to the lack of control over the tongue meaning the words used and it
stresses that everyone should have conscious control over the usage of the
tongue.
According to Thiruvalluvar communication which is dominant with
humility and with words that are pleasing to others are the valuable ornaments
of every human being which means that appealing and pleasant speech is the
identity of a positive respectable personality. He also adds that communication
should also be informative, which can be beneficial to others filled with
righteousness and not just something, done with the only purpose of only
pleasing others
Behavior and
Action
Thirukural has also explained the importance of the right
behavior and actions. it has explained the consequences of actions that are
done in haste. So according to thirukkural, every action has to be carried out
after analyzing the pros and cons and also contemplating the consequences
before the proceedings are done. One should also evaluate and realize their own
abilities before execution and repenting for any action done after it executed
does not give worthwhile results.
Thiruvalluvar insists that every individual should take up the
tasks after realizing his capacity and people should avoid overburdening
themselves. He explains this by the verse in which he states that the axle of
vehicles even if it is overloaded with peacock feathers the is a possibility
the axle of the vehicle will even if the peacock feathers which, are very light
in nature are loaded excessively. Equally one must contemplate the appropriate
time of involvement in an activity. Any activity that is done at the right time
and at the right place can assure the successful execution of the task and
achieving the intended goals. The importance of the right place is explained by
the verse which says while chariots however big and luxurious it is cannot
travel in the ocean. Similarly, a ship however big it is cannot travel on the
road. There is also information on the need for human beings to realize the
effectiveness of life is based on the realizations about the role of
righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and fear of life (death) before involving any
actions.
In the organizational behavior context, thirukural has explained
how proper examination should be done before trust is developed in a person. At
the same time, it also stresses the need to trust a person without giving room
for doubts once the person is engaged in an assignment. Similarly one should
make sure that the right person is chosen and engaged for the right task. Once
a decision is taken that the chosen person can accomplish a task, by some specific
means then the master should leave the responsibility of discharging the duty
with the person.
Thirukkural explains the need for self-control and restricting
oneself if they need to have a peaceful life. It is explained in a verse that
depicts that human beings should function like a tortoise which controls all
the five senses whenever it wants to. Discipline and decorum in their behavior
are very essential for a human being and it should be given greater importance
than life. The correctness of conduct is the source of virtue and
inappropriateness in conduct can cause sorrow which can go on forever, is one
of the core themes advocated by tirukkural in relation to behavior.
Education
The importance of education and how an education process should
happen has been dealt, in an extensive manner in Tirukkural. It testifies that
education is the core requirement for every individual to lead an ideal life
with perfection. Subject Learning should happen without any flaws and it should
be done in-depth. Education should focus on selective learning so that deep
exploration of the subject can be done to understand the ultimate truth. The
value of education should not be evaluated on the basis of knowledge s person
processes but on the basis of how a person leads his life himself and to what
extent his conduct is worthy of his education. It also states that the deeper a
person learns the subject the better his understanding and knowledge utilization.
It has been explained in the verse which states the deeper you dig a well the
more the water generated.
According
to Tiruvalluvar illiteracy is a sin which is the cause of ignorance. Education
and Knowledge acquired are the only factors that differentiate humans from
animals. The importance of education is described by the verse which states
only educated people have eyes, what others have in that place is just
wounds.
Listening was acknowledged as an important method of learning
and acquiring knowledge as stated by tiruvalluvar. He states the importance of
listening in the verse which states that the best wealth a person can possess
is the capacity to listen and listening skills are the most important wealth.
He feels that the messages received by listening are far more valuable and
pleasurable than the pleasure we get from the taste of the best food we have.
The culmination of education, listening, etc, should lead to the acquisition of
knowledge which in turn should lead to wisdom. The ultimate goal of education
is explained in the verse which states that the real education and wisdom is
the tendency to explore the deeper truth in any information that a person
receives by analysis and not just taking the information for granted based on
the words they hear
Personality
development
According to tirukural the real development of personality
happens with education which should also lead to unlearning harmful behavior
and attitudes. Personality development also happens by various activities which
include the possession of knowledge, correcting mistakes once identified,
seeking guidance from knowledgeable persons, avoiding people who are
mean-minded, bringing about a change after realization of mistakes, having the
right knowledge about one’s own abilities, knowing the right place and right
time to act, getting clarity through enlightenment, engaging oneself in a way
that leads to the realization of one’s own potential to the fullest, cherishing
relationship with people who are close, maintaining memory, avoiding being
sluggish in any activities, and developing the capacity to survive difficult
situations
Interpersonal
relationship
Tirukural has also dealt with the process of developing and
maintain effective interpersonal relationships. It describes how friendships
should be created only after proper investigation and also the clarity one
should have about whom they can consider as friends. It suggests that people
should give up evil friendships which may cause suffering. He describes the
role of familiarity in interpersonal, types of malicious friendships, unwanted
friendship, stupidity in behavior among friends, ignorance which can cause
conflicts, hostility, the power of hatred, understanding and acknowledging the
efficiency of enemies, enmity within, and being careful while confronting
people in power.
Tirukural also distinguishes between genuine friendship and
unreal friendship. It states that the real Intimate friendship is one that is
not affected by issues which is done on the basis of taking the right of
long-standing intimacy
Tiruvalluvar also admires the greatness of cherishing good
relationship with one’s own family members and relatives. He expresses it
through the verse which states that even if a person loses all his property it
is his relatives who will never let him down and will move with him with their
accustomed kindness.
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