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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:16:16 -0700
To: agathiyar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [agathiyar] vaLLuvar's kavari mA (was: Re: (fwd) A posting on hair)
Cc: agathiyar@yahoogroups.com
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From: "Mani M. Manivannan"
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At 4/10/02 09:15 AM, naga_ganesan wrote:
>Great tamil scholars such as Viiramaamuni, Caldwell, Pope
>on vaLLuvar:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tamil-ulagam/message/9498
>
>The late vaLLuvamAlai (spurious) done several centuries after kuRaL,
>This spurious text claims as tho' sangam poets were
>present for praising vaLLuvar's work.
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tamil-ulagam/message/9524
>
>Problems of acceptance if dalit is an eminent poet:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tamil-ulagam/message/9471
Ganesan's assertions refuted in:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tamil-ulagam/message/9505
If VaLLuvamAlai is considered to be "spurious" because it was done "several centuries after kuRaL" then assertions of modern scholars such as viiramAmunivar, Bishop Caldwell and G. U. Pope are even more questionable. They were relying on spurious claims in "kapilar ahaval" that is generally accepted to be truly centuries after kuRaL. It is only Kapilar ahaval we come across the ridiculous claim that vaLLuvar, auvai, athiyaman, kapilar and even vaLLi, the consort of Lord Muruga, to be siblings born off a brahman father and "pulaithi" mother and abandoned by them.
One has to make several assumptions to accept Ganesan's assertions none of which have been proven.
1. Did untouchability, at least to the extent implied in Arthasastra, exist in the ancient Tamil country?
2. Were the ancient paRaiya, one of the three honored kudis of ancient Tamil clans, considered untochoubles, beyond the pale of civil society and denied access to education?
3. Did the ThiruvaLLuvar belong to the vaLLuva clan among the paRaiyas?
4. Did VaLLuvar personally experience untouchability or at least witnessed it?
5. If vaLLuvar was a victim of untouchability, how did he gain access to education?
6. Is the kuRal a mere retelling of manu, Artha, and kama sastras, and is a work derived from Sanskrit works?
7. If vaLLuvar was a victim of untouchability or had witnessed it, why does he not condemn it?
8. Why would an untouchable scholar compose book of ethics for the society that was oppressing them without ever mentioning such oppression? And why would an oppressor accept such work as the authority?
9. Why isn't there any reference to his origins in contemporary works or even in ThiruvaLLvuamAlai, if he really hailed from an oppressed community?
These and other questions have not been addressed and when one applies the principle of Occam's razor, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that there is no persuasive evidence that there was untouchability during vaLLuvar's times. Certainly there is no evidence that vaLLuvar or his community were considered untouchables once we discount the "spurious" kapilar ahaval.
This subject has been analyzed threadbare in several different fora. Unless some fresh evidence shows otherwise, I hope such questionable assertions will not be repeated.
Regards,
Mani M. Manivannan
Newark, CA, USA.
