Thirukkural on Homeless and Helpless

THIRUKKURAL ON  HOMELESS  AND HELPLESS

                                                  ( Victims of natural calamities like tsunami ) 

Thiruvalluvar calls the refugees as people from the south ( "தென்புலத்தார் ")

Why he call them homeless and helpless ?. Who should help them ?
Before going to the Thirukkural, let us see," What factors  make the people as refugees".

On Friday the  11th March 2011, century's worst  earth quake and tsunami hit Japan. Tsu in Japanese means harbour and nami means  wave, tsunami means harbour wave ( coastal wave ).  Friday and Saturday I was riveted to TV, earth quake and tsunami together demolished north east coast of Japan. Violently shook buildings fell like pack of cards. Walls of water whisked away everything , thousands of cars were floating  in the ferociously speeding sea water. Boats and  aeroplanes were seen scattered every where like toys. In a single village more than 10,000 people were  perished. The intensity was so high, the axis of the Earth was slightly tilted and day had become shorter in microseconds. The greatest tragedy is the radioactive leakage.

It is a pity , till to-day, science is unable to predict the occurrence of earth quakes. We have technology to measure the magnitude of Earth quakes in Richter scale  but  no technology to forecast. Untiring  efforts are going on to develop a device to predict earth quakes. Till  to-day,  it remains a dream.

Tsunami is the aftermath of an under sea earth quake, even though an earth quake can not be predicted, tsunamis can be guessed after an under sea earth quake and warning can be given to the nearby coastal regions. But in case of Japan,  both earth quake and tsunami were almost simultaneous.   

It has been observed that the animals and birds develop an  unusual behaviour prior to  an earth quake. On Feb 4, 1975 , Chinese evacuated the city Haicheng before an earth quake by observing the animals' unusual behaviour including restlessness .Even though it is said that the animals develop erratic behaviour preceding the earth quakes , it needs  scientific credibility.

Tsunami is not unknown to India.

In  Indian subcontinent,  south India  is largely affected by frequent storms, cyclones, minor and major tsunamis , hurricane, etc. Homeless people used to move to north Tamil  Nadu as refugees.

Tsunamis are coastal catastrophes that could turn towers into rubbles. If the epicenter of an earth quake is in  the ocean, mighty waves are formed  leading to Tsunamis.

Between 200 AD and 400 AD,  Poompukar ( பூம்புகார் ) of ancient Chola kingdom had perished by a tsunami.
In 1964 Dhanushkodi ( extension of   Rameshwaram ) had  wiped away by a  very strong cyclone.

In  December 2004,  thousands of people were killed in the east coast of Tamil Nadu by a tsunami.

Long back,  Madagaskar, Srilanka, Fiji islands, Malaysia, Indonesia,  south Africa, Australia, Zealand etc were  of same land mass.The entire land was called Lemuria (Kumari kandam   குமரிக் கண்டம் , many historians say Lemuria and Kumari Kandam are one and the  same )

Silapathikaram ( சிலப்பதிகாரம் ) written 1800 years ago in Tamil says, ' sea devoured Kumari ' ( குமரிக் கோடும் கொடுங்கடல் கொள்ள ) .Sea devouring ( gulping ) the  land is  Tsunami ( 

கடல்கோள் ).

 Manimagalai ( மணிமேகலை ) written 1600 years ago says, Poompuhar  ( பூம்புகார் ) an ancient port city of Chola kingdom  was swallowed by sea ( tsunami ) .This has the support of archeological findings of submerged ruins in the area of  Kaveripattinam ( ancient  Poompuhar ) .

The name  ' tsunami ' is new to our people but not the devastations of coastal catastrophes.  ( the ancient  names in Tamil for tsunami are கடல்கோள் , ஆழிப்பேரலை )

Churchward theory says  about 12000 years ago most of the lands 

collapsed into the  ocean and remaining lands were  formed into 

new continents. The missing continents are Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu.

Tsunamis had brought great disasters to the world, The legendary metropolis  city Atlantis 

was believed to be  washed away by a tsunami. Plato says,  the island Atlantis , " in a single day ...disappeared into the depth of the sea" . 

Recently by using deep ground radar, digital mapping and under water technology,  the location  of this Atlantis city has been traced. 

Our 

Earth,  after thousands of years will have a different face. 

In ancient days, homeless and helpless people  ( cyclone and  tsunami victims ) of south India migrated  to  north Tamil Nadu, Thiruvalluvar calls them  ' people from South '  தென்புலத்தார், They occupied  the out skirts of  villages and stayed  as refugees .Thiruvalluvar says, a house holder ( family man ) should look after these refugees ( தென்புலத்தார்).

The interpretation given above  as 'refugees'  for the people from south (தென்புலத்தார்) is based on the  history, considering the natural calamities that devastated the people of south in regular intervals.  For "தென்புலத்தார் "  Dr.S.M.Diaz in his translation says, " another interpretation ..... ....those escaped from the destructive action of the tidal waves in the south."( Book: Thirukkural by Dr.S.M. Diaz, page: 105 )

 Thirukkural 43  

தென்புலத்தார்/ தெய்வம்/ விருந்து/ ஒக்கல்/ தான் /என்று ஆங்கு

ஐம்புலத்து ஆறு ஓம்பல் தலை ( 43 )

A householder should be a patron of  people from south, God, 

guests, relatives and self. ( 43 )

The householder ( Grihastha = இல்லறத்தான் ) should be a patron-

To people from South (  refugees ) by helping them.

To God  by donating to the places of worship and people at His service.

To guests by hospitality.

To relatives by taking care of widows, sick, disabled  and aged of the family.

To self by taking care of his welfare, here self includes  wife and children .

In modern context-

It is the moral obligation of every country to rush with a helping hand

to save the countries affected by any  natural calamity.

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========== Sent by M.S.Vincent  from Bangalore on 1st April 2011=============

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