குறள் மேல்வைப்பு வெண்பா -4

குறள் மேல்வைப்பு வெண்பா -4

Dear All ,

Thanks for the response to and the positive comments on  the first three posts  on Kural and the stories.

Now for the fourth in the series.

This one is from the Chapter titled  Vaaymai (வாய்மை ).   The Kural , in this chapter has ten verses , nwhich talk about the virtues of telling the truth.

The story referred to is that of King Harichandran . He was a stickler for the truth and  refused to utter even a single lie , irrespective of the consequences. There are several versions to his story. In the one taught to me in my childhood, he looses his Kingdom and all his wealth due to his refusal to utter a lie and ends up selling his wife and himself in order to pay off his debt to Rishi Viswamitra. He ends up as a gatekeeper in a crematorium to which his wife brings the dead body of his son, who dies due to a snake bite. At this time , Viswamitra tells him that his son will be resurrected and he himself will get back his kingdom , if only he tells a single lie. Harichandran refuses, even at the cost of loosing his only son. Pleased with his determination not to utter even a single lie,  the gods Indra and Yama appear and resurrect his sun and also restore his kingdom and riches to him.wif ( In some other versions , he is forced to execute his wife and is told that she can survive and his son can be resurrected if he tells a lie. ).

A very detailed version of the story of King Harichandran can be had from this link. http://rajalakshmi77.blogspot.in/2013/04/harichandran-truthful-king.html

This story in brief  is captured in the poem below .

As in the earlier  குறள்  கருத்து மேல்வைப்பு வெண்பா –s , the poem in four lines, with the Kural in original forming the third and fourth lines and the story of Harichandra who epitomizes truth , captured in the first two lines

Now for  the (குறள்  கருத்து மேல்வைப்பு வெண்பா )

"பொய்யுரையேன் என்மகனைக் காத்திடவும் " என்றுரைத்த  

செய்யனரிச்* சந்திரன்தன் காதைதரும்  நீதியிதே

பொய்யாமை பொய்யாமை ஆற்றின் அறம்பிறவும் 

செய்யாமை செய்யாமை நன்று                                      

·       செய்யன் = நேர்மையானவன்

The English version by Suddhananda bharathiyar :

      Lie Not ! Lie Not ! naught else you need

     All virtues are Truth , indeed

The English version by Rev. Pope ;

If all your life be utter truth, the truth alone ,

‘Tis well though other virtuous acts be left undone

The Meaning :

 If a man has the power to abstain from falsehood, it will be well with him , even though he practices no other virtue.

Please  forward this to your friends so that they also may get exposed to / get reacquainted with the Tamil Classic Thirukkural
அன்புடன் 
ரமேஷ்

.