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Niitthaar Perumai, the Fundamental Role of the Ascetic: Canto 3, K27 and 28 of the Thirukkural
Niitthaar Perumai, the Fundamental Role of the Ascetic: Canto 3, K27 and 28 of the Thirukkural
Niitthaar Perumai: The Fundamental Role of the Ascetic, Canto 3 of the Thirukkural-K27 and 28. Translations and Commentary.
K27: kunamenung kunreeri ninraar veguli
kanameeyung kaatthal larithu.
The wrath 'tis hard e'en for an instant to endure
Of those who virtue's hill have scaled, and stand secure. (Tr. G.U.Pope)*
The anger of those who have ascended the mountain of goodness, though it
continues but for a moment, cannot be resisted. (Tr. W.H.Drew & J.Lazarus)*
(*In Pope's book et al, n° K29)
Resist not the visitations of ire of the ascetic who secures his powers by the requisite discipline won only after equivalent efforts at scaling mountain heights (for the consequences will turn out dire). (Tr. T.Wignesan)
K28: ainthavitthaa naarra lakalvisumbu laarkoomaa
ninthiranee saalung kari
Their might who have destroyed 'the five', shall soothly tell
Indra, the lord of those in heaven's wide realms that dwell. (Tr. G.U.Pope)*
Indra himself, the king of the inhabitants of the spacious heaven, is a sufficient proof of the strength of him who has subdued his five senses. (Tr. W.H.Drew & J.Lazarus)*
(*In the respective books of the translators, n° K25)
The very existence of Indra, the King of the gods who rules the endless heavenly spheres, bears testimony to the powers of the ascetic. (Tr. T. Wignesan)
(Here again, there's some wayward proof that Valluvar, the presumptive author of the Thirukkural, was first a Hindu and then perhaps - by adoption - a Jain or a Buddhist ; both these latter religions having flourished - even nation-wide - since the great Maurya emperor Asoka's rule in the sub-continent. See my poem on the poet: "Master Valluvan the long-misunderstood Tamil Mentor" in Rama and Ravana at the Altar of Hanuman: on Tamils, Tamil Literature and Tamil Culture. Allahabad: Cyberwit.net, 2008, 750p. First published by the Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, 2006, xiii-439p. Also available at PoetrySoup, PoemHunter or OccupyPoetry and in BLIND MAN's LANTERN: Poems that lash out, mock and rip into the dark. Allahabad: Cyberwit.net, 2015, 886p.)
© T. Wignesan - Paris, 2017
Copyright © T Wignesan | Year Posted 2017
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