MARAIMALAIYAM - 32 (A commemorative publication of centenary celebrations of Pure Tamil Movements) Ocean of Wisdom Ancient & Modern Tamil Poets Letters of Maraimalaiyadigal Author Mummozhi Chemmal Marimalaiyadigal Editor A. Mathivanan Publisher G. Elavazhagan Tamizhmann First Edition : 2015 Pages : 320 Price : 400/- Maraimalaiyam - 32 Author Marimalaiyadigal Editor A. Mathivanan Publisher G. Elavazhagan Published by Tamizhmann No. 2, Singaravelar Street, T.Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. Ph: 24339030, Cell: 9444410654 E-mail: [email protected] Paper : 16.0 G Maplitho Size : 1/8 Demmi Font : 11.5 Pages : 320 Binding: Perfect Copies : 1000 Book Design : V. Chitra & Mrs. Kayalvizhi Wrapper Design : Kavi Baskar Printers : Venkateswara Offset, Thousand Lights, Chennai - 600 006 & Process India, Thiruvallikeni - 600 005. 3 Preface Maraimalai Adigal who sowed the seed for the Pure Tamil movement was a multi-faced personality. He was a Professor, Scholar, Researcher, Linguist, Orator, Literary critic, Author, Journalist, Nature cure expert, Leader of movements, Printer, Publisher, Psycho analayst, Reformer, Philosopher and Saint. It is rare to find a scholar in the whole of ninteenth and twentieth centuries who could be equated with him. As a scholar par excellence in Tamil, English and Sanskrit, he was the inspiring source for Devaneya Pavanar (1902 - 1981) who spent all his life to establish that Tamil was the primary classical language of the world which could exist independently without the support of any other language. He worked with a single - minded devotion to establish the supremacy of the Tamil language. He put in his best efforts to propagate to the world that Tamil as a classical language deserved the place which the linguists of the world had offered to other classical languages such as Greek, Latin, Hebrew etc. He left no branch of knowledge untouched, be it, literature or linguistics, human physiology or psychology, philosophy or Ethics. With his mastery over Tamil, English and Sanskrit he could establish success in any field he ventured to tread upon. As an avid researcher, his findings paved the way for future researchers. The breadth, depth and length of his research could be evidenced from his masterpiece, ‘Manicka Vasakar Varalarum Kalamum’. (The History and Times of St. Manicavasakar) It stands a testimony to his methodology and establishing the facts with irrefutable evidences. To put it in a nutshell, he was a reformer and a reformist movement by himself. He was all against casteism and he condemned it as a perpetual evil perpetrated by the Aryans. He put forward very strong ideas against casteism in his Tamil work ‘Sadhi 4 Maraimalaiyam - 32 Vetrumaiyum Poli Saivarum’ & ‘Seerthirutha Kurippukal’. To a great extent, the views of Maraimalai Adigal formed the basis for the Justice parties and the Dravidian parties to work for the renaissance of Tamil language and the upliftment of Tamil race. He pioneered the movements such as Pure Tamil Movement, Anti-Hindi Agitation, Saivite Samaj, etc. Among them the Pure Tamil movement has had the distinction of having a triumphant history of a century (1916-2016). He could well be termed a personal medical counsellor to anybody who has studied his Tamil work, ‘Makkal Noorandu Uyir Vazhkai’ (k¡fŸ üwh©L cÆ® thœ¡if). As a dutiful mentor, he would give out the tips on wellness and specific methods of treatment for various diseases only after due testing on himself and members of his family like Roentgen, the inventor of x-ray. He made it a norm to preach the principles of life only after he practised them in his own life. Tamizhmozhi Kavalar Thiru G. Elavazhagan, the founder of Tamilmann Pathippagam has devoted his life for the cause of Tamil. Starting with the publication of complete works of Devaneya Pavanar marking his centenary celebrations in the year 2002 till the current project of bringing out the entire works of Maraimalai Adigal, embarking on marathan projects has become his way of life. To mention a few, the complete writings of Thiru.Vi.Ka, Na.Ci. Kandaiya, Saminatha Sarma, Avvai Duraisami, Navalar Venkatasami Nattar, Vidhwan Gopalaiyar, Sami Chidhambaranar, Pavendar Bharathidasan have been published by him as classic prints for the benefit of the Tamil community at home and abroad. A word of apology: Inspite of all our strenuous efforts, some essays in “The Ocean of wisdom” (Iussue no. 4 of July, 1935 Vol. I) had to be left incomplete since the old volumes were subjected to the ravages of nature and time. And we are unable to retrieve the volumes of ‘Oriental Mystic Myna’ (bi monthly -1908) Sure, if found at a later date, they will be incorporated in the editions to come. It is our earnest desire that the treasures of Maraimalai Adiagal bequeathed upon the Tamil readers, teachers, scholars and students be utilised in full measure in order to reach the horizons of wisdom. A. Mathivanan Editor Ocean of Wisdom5 5 The Ocean of Wisdom 6 Maraimalaiyam - 32 Ocean of Wisdom7 7 Content The Ocean of Wisdom 9 1. Our Aims and objects 14 2. The Heart of Raising the Head 22 3. Thanks Giving 37 4. Tholkaiam and Marriage 45 5. Who the Originators of Yoga 68 8 Maraimalaiyam - 32 Ocean of Wisdom9 9 The Ocean of Wisdom With my best compliments and respects I have sent to you the first no. of my English magazine: The Ocean of Wisdom, for your kind perusal. Please receive it and if you deem it in any way worthy of being encouraged, please write to me your valuable opinion of it and oblige. Now a word about me and about my work. I am proud to say that I come of a great and ancient race called the Tamilian, whose civilisation, according to Brugsch, formed the basis of the Egyptian and according to Dr. Caldwell, Z. Ragozin and others existed prior to the Babylonian, the Chaldean and the Aryan civilisation. Many rare literary and religious Tamil poems and prose commentaries pro- duced from 3500 B.C. up to the present bear testimony to the high antiquity of the Tamils and their superior culture. But, at the same time, I cannot but feel humbled by the thought of my people’s present degenerated, miserable and uncultured con- dition brought on by the domination of the brahmans who, thought they belong to the higher stratum of the very same Tamil Community, had early separated themselves from it and adopted the Aryan lan- guage, rites and ceremonies with a view to elevate themselves in the estimation of their innocent and most useful fellow countrymen. This pronounced seclusion of theirs may not be considered harmful, if it had been preferred for the sake of attaining to a higher cultivation of mind and moral sentiments and for extending the benefits of that cul- ture, even if it be indirectly, to the people. For one may do good to others, even though he does not mingle with them physically. But such has not been the case with the brahmin seclusion whatever it 10 Maraimalaiyam - 32 may have meant at the start. And of the inward and outward purity to which the brahmins lay an exclusive claim, only those who have an intimate knowledge of their life can know full well how far that can be justified. However that might be, their temper of mind is disposed not towards bringing any enlightenment and amelioration to the peope who stand outside the pale of their brahmin caste but towards bar- ring them out completely and turning their services solely to their own account. To gain their object they have so artfully established the supremacy of their priestly function in all the rites and ceremonies of every Tamil home that no Tamilian, however enlightened, will dare to perform them without the brahmin priest. When performing their priestly function they recite Sanscrit verses the meaning of which is known neither to the priests nor to the laity. They have so powerfully worked upon the imagination of the people that, for any undetaking small or great, no one ventures to begin it without at first consulting the priest for the auspicious moment. Thus kept always in a dreadful state of mind the people have become devoid of all moral courage and faith in the providential care of an almighty Lord and Heavenly Father. Their present faith consists in seeking, as ordained by the priests, to propitiate with animal sacrifices the numerous maleficent spirits which have no actual existence but in their fancy. But thanks to the disinterested services of the Christian mis- sionaries and the beneficent activities of the British government which have tended as much to better the condition of the down-trodden classes as to bring light and a brotherly feeling amongst the educated people. Owing to the persistent efforts of the two the stronghold the brahmanic influence has had on the minds of the people is loosening to an appreciable extent, although it has not quitted it completely, While it is loosening in some quarters, it is tightening in others. The reason for this is obvious. The Tamils are now mainly illiterate, and even the few who are educated are not educated in their own mother tongue. It is true that in English schools and colleges a little bit of Tamil is taught; but the standard is not sufficiently high. The brahmin Ocean of Wisdom 11 Tamil Pandits, nay even the few non-brahmin Pandits who are nur- tured in brahmin traditions, myths and legends, never deviate from the beaten track of teaching, nor do they allow the students to ac- quire a critical and historical knowledge of their language and litera- ture. While such is the case with the educated few, how much worse must it be with the illiterate masses! Now, my work within the college in which I had the honour to serve for 13 years and without it among the people for more than 40 years, had been to instil into the minds of both students and people a deep interest in the acquisition of a critical, historical and scholarly knowledge of their own mother tongue, and the system of thought which it embodies.