Vivekananda and Valluvar

Valluvar		Vivekananda
Thiruvalluvar is the author of Thirukkural, a great Tamil classic of the 4th or 5th century AD. It is one of the oldest ethical works of ancient India and is popularly called the Veda of Tamils. Though many religious scholars, including Christians, have claimed the Kural as a work of their faith, it was never recognized as a religious scripture because of its catholicity. Its universal appeal prompted Dr. G.U. Pope, one of the earliest translators of the classic into English, to call him the "Bard of Universal Man". Thirukkural undoubtedly transcends the barriers of religion, race, language and time! According to Valluvar, birth stands for mere accident and worth implies in real achievement:		Vivekananda, a Hindu monk who lived during 1863-1902, was a great exponent of Vedanta. He taught that salvation does not come from belief or faith, nor by reading scriptures or praying in temples and churches, but by Realization. He defined an atheist as one who does not believe in himself! Vivekananda's writings, lectures, essays and letters have been compiled and published in 9 volumes as "Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda" (by Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta). According to Swami Vivekananda, Vedanta is the basis of all religious faiths. In his own words:
"By birth all men are equal. Differences in their action render their worth unequal" (Kural 972)		"Without Vedanta every religion is superstition. With it everything becomes religion" (CW, V:212)

You may wonder what the millennium old teachings of Valluvar has got to do with the century old teachings of Vivekananda!  I admire the poetic brevity and ethical message of Thiruvalluvar and also appreciate the teachings and reasoning of Swami Vivekananda. Said Confucius: 

"Exploring the old and deducing the new makes a teacher" (Analects 2:11)

I explore the old Thirukkural for its moral teachings and deduce the recent spiritual teachings of Vivekananda to make me a teacher. Valluvar and Vivekananda are the great sages of my motherland. They are like "sign posts" for me, but this doesn't mean that I disregard the teachings of others. As Vivekananda himself says: 

 "Take all the old messages, supplement them with your own realization,
and become a Prophet unto others" (CW 4:134).

Valluvar and Vivekananda, separated by more than 15 centuries, have now become neighbors at their memorials in South India. About 366 metres from the shores of Kanyakumari in South India, are two island rocks in the Indian Ocean,  67 metres apart [1]. On the bigger island is located the Memorial for Swami Vivekananda, established in the year 1970. On the smaller island rock, stands the 95 feet tall statue of Thiruvalluvar, erected in the year 2000 by the Government of Tamil Nadu. 

The twin rocks at Kanyakumari: Before (left) and after (right) the construction of memorials for Vivekananda and Tiruvalluvar

Valluvar and Vivekananda now stand just 67 metres away from each other at the confluence of three seas (Indian ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea) at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. Remarkable memorials for the two remarkable personalities!

Purpose of this blog

Man is a spiritual being, longing and searching for answers for the purpose of his existence in this world. All living beings, once born must die at some point of time, with man being no different from animals. Says the Bible…..

Man's fate is like that of the animals;
The same fate awaits them both:
As one dies, so dies the other.
All have the same breath;
Man has no advantage over the animal.
Everything is meaningless.
(Ecclesiastes 3:19)

But man, being a thinking being whose conscience aspires to know the reality behind this worldly existence, is very conscious of death and looks for means to attain immortality. Well aware that this 'immortality' is not available in this life on earth, mankind has been looking for answers from within and without. The religious history of this world has seen many a great saints, prophets and avatars who have propounded different philosophies to explain the nature of our very 'existence' and often left all the unanswered questions to the will of an Ultimate Reality, which they called by various names. Some inferred the very existence in this world is a misery and therefore the objective is to escape from this life, many others viewed man as a sinner and therefore need to be saved to achieve salvation and others regarded the world as testing grounds for preparing ourselves for a sensual life in an ideal world called "Paradise". Some of these faiths do not even recognize the existence of a Creator God.

In a few cases the founders themselves established a new sect consisting a group of dedicated followers, while in many other instances the faithful followers went on to establish a new sect, which in due course were recognized as different paths or religions to achieve the said objectives of immortal existence or/and an escape from the misery of cyclical births and deaths. Generations of communities have been habituated to such beliefs and whether an individual likes it or not, he often settles down with the 'path' imparted to him by his mother religion. Belief then comes mostly by habit. However, there are other means of believing also.

"There are three means of believing: By Inspiration, by Reason and by Habit"
Blaise Pascal

"Instinct, reason, and inspiration are the three instruments of knowledge"Vivekananda (Complete Works II 389.1)

Great prophets, sages, saints and avatars believed in what they taught because they were Inspired.  When we look at the history of these inspired sages, one point becomes very clear, and that is, that they became Enlightened after much self inflicted toil and struggle. Every man cannot be expected to base his faith purely on inspiration. The next basis for belief is by Reasoning and this comes after a thorough investigation. Swami Vivekananda, the prophet of modern India, said "I am sure God will pardon a man who will use his reason and cannot believe" (Complete Works VI 12.3) and even asked "Why was reason given us if we have to believe?" (Complete Works VI 12.3). Thiruvalluvar also talks about Realization of Truth after investigation: 

“கற்றீண்டு மெய்ப்பொருள் கண்டார்”

"Those who have learnt & realized the Truth" (Kural 356)

Unfortunately, reason sometimes adapts to the faith one follows and the believers are led by the misguided impression that they are talking rationally.  It is also true that a vast majority of people have either no time for doing this investigation or the faculties & intellect to realize the unifying truth behind all faiths. That is why perhaps Confucius said:

"The people may be made to follow, but may not be made to know" (Analects  8:9)

There are also other constraints which force people to inherit the religion of their forefathers. This site follows the middle path: that is, believing by Reason. And the conclusion drawn is that there is no religion which does not talk about the Truth and at the same time there is none which talks about It completely. Since all traditional religions have their own shortcomings, they cannot be substituted for another but only supplemented.
Every religion has been shown by its rivals to contain some inconsistency or the other. This has been amply demonstrated in various websites on the internet. Unfortunately such criticisms serve no purpose as the faith professed by the critic himself contains many shortcomings! As we will see in the different pages of this website, contradictions between religions exist only in "non-essentials" since in "essentials" they are all one.
Comparative religion and ethics has been a favorite subject of mine and none other than Swami Vivekananda and Thiruvalluvar provide befitting answers for all the doubts that arise in my mind. This site has been launched mainly for the purpose of evaluating the claims of various faiths to validity and investigating the truth in their criticisms of other religions. While doing so, I have also used this opportunity to make people realize that their local rituals and customs are not the essence of the Eternal Religion. In Vivekananda's own words.....

"Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that path that suits him best"  (CW 6:416)

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