Sage Thiru-valluvar
"The Bard of Universal Man"
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Chapter - 57 : Absence of 'Terrorism'
 

Introductory Note

Better title will be ‘Absence of Tyranny.’ Drew translates as ‘Against acting with cruelty: against a reign of terror.’

Rev. G. U Pope says: “This is closely allied to the subject of last chapter: that regards injustice, this specially forbids harshness.”

Translation(s)

Who punishes, after making investigations, in due degree so as to stay ahead of crime, he is a king.

 

Translation(s)

Not clear to me. Compare with Manu vii. 140.

 

Translation(s)

Where subjects endure cruel wrongs out of dread, the ruin to unjust king is swift and sure.

Explanation

Gulag was a Russian Government Agency which administered forced labor camps to which people were deported as a penalty. Deportees included those who had unexcused absence from work, petty criminals like thiefs, & political prisoners. Tens of million Russians were sent to these camps in years of communist rule - several without trials. The adjacent picture shows a Gulag prisoner. Here is National Geographic's comment:
"To escape the firing squad, Gulag prisoners would get the portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin tattooed on their chest. Who would have dared shoot at one of Socialism's heroes? Gennadi Vassilievich had done his military service in the '50s. He had traveled all the way to the Chinese border under Stalin's order. After the collapse of Socialist ideology, Gennadi added a cross.

On the Russian bank of the Amur River, I observed him, staggering along, lost and dressed in rags. Through his half-opened shirt, I saw his tattoo. I came near him and greeted him. I detected fear in his eyes. I introduced myself and asked his name. With difficulty, as though he were scouring his memory, he announced, 'Gennadi Vassilievich,' and started to weep. Then he apologized. "You know, nobody has asked me my name in ten years. Nobody. Ever since the day I was thrown out of the plant where I worked, out of the house I lived in. I have roamed the streets for ten years.'"
Photograph and caption by Reza

"Public sentiment is everything, without it nothing can fail, without it nothing can succeed."
- Abraham Lincoln

Translation(s)

Where subjects sadly say: ‘Ah! Cruel is our king’; his age shall dwindle and his joys of life decay swiftly.

 

Translation(s)

(The king) whom subjects may scarcely see, of harsh forbidding countenance; his ample wealth will shall waste, blasted by demon’s grace.

 

Translation(s)

The tyrant, harsh of speech and harsh of eye, his ample joy swiftly fading, shall soon die.

 

Translation(s)

Harsh words and punishments, severe beyond right, are files that wear away the monarch’s conquering might.

Explanation

Thiru-valluvar lived in the era when ‘files’ were used for filing hard material.

Translation(s)

Who leaves the work to those around and thinks of it no more; if he in wrathful mood reprove, his prosperous days are over!

Explanation

This is common sense but I too go against it often. If we leave the work to someone and do not guide them, then shouting at them suddenly appears very unfair to them. They would be no more inclined to do the work for us.

Translation(s)

Who builds no fort from where he can defy the foe, shall fear in times of war and swiftly die.

 

Translation(s)

Tyrants share the counsel with fools. Earth can bear no heavier burden.

Explanation

The heaviest burden the earth can bear is that of a tyrant!

View from North,
Thiruvalluvar Memorial (133 Feet, 7000 Tonnes), Kanyakumari, India
Credit: Kris Kumar, Flickr

References