A careful reading of Thirukkural couplets reveals that author Thiruvalluvar was a keen observer of nature, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, said here on Thursday while delivering the Salim Ali Memorial Lecture, organised by the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON).
He was speaking on ‘Themes from Nature in Thirukkural’. In one of the couplets (481), Thiruvalluvar had written that the king of a country should attack his enemy king not just for the sake of conquering or enmity but when his opponent was at his weakest and compared it to crow taking on owl during day.
Mr. Gandhi, however, added that owls could see in daytime but they chose to hunt at night.
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In another verse (490), he had said that when one ought to act or stay still. The poet must have used the simile by observing herons that stood still in ponds waiting for fish. And when fish swam by, they would pick it up in no time.
Ten verses down the line, he uses elephant to say that if it was trapped in mire and could not use its legs, a jackal would finish off the mighty animal, Mr. Gandhi said and pointed out that the verse again revealed the observation capabilities of the poet, who had his eyes and ears alert.
He had equally and keenly observed human nature and had used those in his couplets. In one of the couplets, he had written that a person should help just as his hand would rush to grab a garment falling off the body. The hand would move in reflex, immediately. Help should also be in such a way – immediately. There was no point in deliberating whether to help or not, for it was of no use.
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Though Thiruvalluvar came across as a man of phenomenal knowledge, there were places that he found it difficult to accept – places where he had said that if the woman prayed or worship her husband there would be rain. Though there was no rationale to it, one had to go by the author’s belief, Mr. Gandhi said.
“One must take Thiruvalluvar as he comes. There was no point in evaluating or judging the work or the author from our standards.”
The poet was also a social commentator in that he was able to see what would come of humans during drought and referred to Satyajit Ray’s Ashani Sanket (distant thunder) movie to drive home his point. K. Gurumurthy, former Director, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, spoke about Salim Ali and how he gained knowledge on birds. T.S. Ashok Kumar, Principal, Central Academy for State Forest Service and P.A. Azeez, Director, SACON, spoke on the occasion.