Kural Chronicles

KURAL 71

ARATHUPAAL

ILLARAVIYAL

ADHIKAARAM 8: ANBUDAIMAI – POSSESSING AND PRACTISING LOVE

அன்பிற்கும் உண்டோ அடைக்குந்தாழ் ஆர்வலர்
புன்கணீர் பூசல் தரும்.

Anbirkum unndoa adaikkumthaazh aarvalar

Punkaneer poosal tharum

Is there a latch or lock that can constrain love or hide it from others? The tear that escapes unbidden when a loved one is in trouble, stress or pain, will give away that love.

Anbu: love;  Unndoa: Is there?;  Adaikkum: constrain;  Thaazh: latch or lock;  Aarvalar: loved one;  Punkaneer: unbidden tear;  Poosal : conflict or trouble; tharum: give.

Today’s Kural is a random selection as promised and very aptly on that emotion that makes the world go around – LOVE.

A small detour, please bear with me. You may be knowing the Thirukkural is divided into three broad categories or Paal – Arathupaal, Porutpaal, Inbathupaal. These are further divided into sub headings called Iyal. You will notice I have added the sub heading at the top under which this Kural and Adhikaaram figure. The adhikaaram ‘Anbudaimai’ or ‘possession of love’ falls under the sub heading Illaraviyal.

Illaram plus Iyal is Illaraviyal.

Illaram means domestic life. Iyal means characteristic. Valluvar has dedicated  twenty adhikaarams, that is, two hundred kurals to Illaraviyal, wherein he  instructs us on the characteristics necessary for a happy and fruitful domestic life. Probably the most important among them is love.

Now onto Kural 71 which is the first Kural on love.

Anbirkum unndoa adaikum thaazh is now an immortal phrase – made immortal by newer poets and writers, media, movies, theatre maybe but the deep deep meaning it conveys renders it immortal in the hearts of all readers. Is there a latch or lock big enough or strong enough to contain or hide love?

 A lock suggests a door and a constrained space within; whereas Love is an unbound emotion, vast and deep. How do you latch it? How do you hide it? What happens if you try?  Valluvar beautifully expresses it –   an involuntary tear will well up unbidden, at sight of a loved one in trouble. That tear will give you away, he says.

To explain further may take away from the beauty but I will venture anyway. When you love someone, you feel what they feel be it joy or sorrow. You rejoice in their happiness and try to take away their pain if possible. The saying laugh and  the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone does not apply here. When you love someone, you cry with them too. It is something involuntary. For example, can a mother be angry for long, can she hide her love ever? That is pure unconditional love.

 I would love to hear your experiences or reflections on the same.