2016-35 Naladiyar or Naladi Nanooru [400 Quatrains in Tamil]
There is an old Tamil saying which goes like this.
Full Text of the Naladiyar with English Commentary by Rev G.U.Pope: [Click Here]
The Nāladiyār [Tamil: நாலடியார்] is
a Tamil poetic
work of didactic nature
belonging to the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku anthology
of Tamil literature.
This belongs to the post Sangam period [100 - 500 CE].
It is a Tamil classic treating of virtue, wealth and love, contains 400 venpakkal or quatrains composed by Jaina ascetics. Every poem
deals with morals and ethics, extolling righteous behaviour.
There is an old Tamil saying which goes like this.
ஆலும் வேலும் பல்லுக்குறுதி,
நாலும் இரண்டும் சொல்லுக்குறுதி.
When literally translated, this means, “Banyan and Neem strengthen teeth, Four and Two strengthen
words”. The message implied here is that the
four-liner “Nāladiyār” and the two-liner “Thirukkural” strengthen one’s conduct
and speech, just like how brushing the teeth with sticks of banyan and neem
adds to its strength.
Nāladiyār is unique in the
employment of similes, which help to teach the moral codes using simple
examples from daily life. For example, one of the poems states that just like a
calf placed in front of a vast herd of cows seeks out its mother unerringly and
attaches itself, the deeds of the past home in on the doer and exact their
price unfailingly.
Rev G.U.Pope writes as follows in his introduction to Naladiyar or Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil:
'The subjects of study
are infinitely numerous ; but the learners' days
are few ; and if it be calmly thought out, men are liable to many diseases. Youthful enthusiasm
may lead men to anticipate great and varied triumphs; calm reflection teaches them
their natural weakness. So, men should learn with discrimination, [தெள்ளிதின்ஆராய்ந்தமைவுடைய] examining
closely things befitting them, with intelligence like that of the bird Hamsa,
that drinks only the milk and leaves the water, when these mingled are
presented to it.'
Rev G.U.Pope writes as follows in his introduction to Naladiyar or Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil:
Pervading these verses
there seems to me to be a strong sense of moral obligation, an earnest aspiration
after righteousness, a fervent and unselfish charity, and generally a loftiness
of aim that are very impressive.
I have felt sometimes
as if there must be a blessing in store for a people that delight so utterly in
compositions thus remarkably expressive of a hunger and thirst after righteousness.
They are the foremost
among the peoples of India, and the Kurral and Naladi have helped to make them so.
When we examine each quatrain
as an artistic whole—a kind of cameo—we find that there are several distinct and
clearly marked types.
1. There are the simply
didactic. Here the student must first master the third and fourth lines, in which
is enunciated the truth, precept, or principle, of which the former part of the
quatrain gives the proof or illustration.
This is seen in the first
quatrain, where the aphorism is, 'worldly prosperity is a thing of no account.' This axiom is illustrated
by a matter of daily experience.
2. One class of the didactic
quatrain depends for its effectiveness chiefly on some apt and ingenious simile,
illustration, or analogy.
In 290 the aptness of
the figure, the beauty of the expression, the wonderful terseness of the conclusion,
together with the perfection of the form and rhythm, leave nothing to be desired.
If I am not deceived
there is in many of these verses something far beyond mere technical skill. At times
by a few happy touches an idea is expressed in such apt language, and illuminated
by such a picturesque use and adaptation of familiar words, each chosen with
truest and most accurate discrimination that the quatrain becomes a group of
life-like pictures, on which the mind is fain to linger long, and to which it
recurs often.
கல்வி கரையில! கற்பவர் நாள்சில;
மெல்ல நினைக்கின் பிணிபல; - தெள்ளிதின்
ஆராய்ந் தமைவுடைய கற்பவே நீரொழியப்
பாலுண் குருகின் தெரிந்து. 135
கல்வி கரையில! கற்பவர் நாள்சில;
மெல்ல நினைக்கின் பிணிபல; - தெள்ளிதின்
ஆராய்ந் தமைவுடைய கற்பவே நீரொழியப்
பாலுண் குருகின் தெரிந்து. 135
In this matchless
verse [135] not a syllable could be spared; while almost every word is common and
easy, yet is the very fittest, and is used in its exact meaning. It is somewhat
archaic;—has a fascinating air of mystery; pleasantly exercises and amply rewards
the student's ingenuity; —seems dark at first, but once lit up, sparkles for ever.
Thus கரை = shore suggests
a metaphor: [கல்வி கரையில] 'learning is a shoreless - infinite - ocean.' Then comes the simple antithesis, [கற்பவர் நாள்சில] ' the learners' days are few.' In Tamil the use of the same root twice [in கல்வி and கற்பவர்] and again in the third line [கற்பவே] imparts an added charm.
Into these perfectly harmonious lines is compressed a whole chapter:
 |
| Swan [Hamsa] |
Full Text of the Naladiyar with English Commentary by Rev G.U.Pope: [Click Here]
