Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on behalf of 1.3 billion Indians, addressed the 74th session of United Nations General Assembly on Friday. This was an excellent projection of Indian democracy, culture and its thousands of year old vibrant traditional history of the universality of all humans.
To buttress his submissions, PM Modi quoted a great poet of India who lived 3,000 years ago — Kaniyan Poongundranaar and wrote in Tamil, the most ancient language of the world. “Yaadum Oore Yaavarum Kelir” he said, which means ‘To us, all villages are one, all people our kin.’
Whilst our Prime Minister has often quoted Thirukkural, the famous collection of ethical verses by great Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvar, this time he chose to quote from Sangam literature Pura Naanooru. Sangam literature is one of the main sources used to document the history of ancient Tamil lands and remains the main source of documentation of early Chola, Pandya and Chera kingdoms.
Sangam was an ancient academy which brought together Tamil poets and authors periodically to publish their works. Under current estimates, the Sangam period lasted between 500 BCE until 200 CE. This literature comprises some of the oldest extant Tamil literature and deals with love, war, governance, trade and bereavement. Much of the literature belonging to the period is lost. What is available today is perhaps just a fraction of the material produced during this period.
Poongundranar rejected the division of mankind into various categories and emphasised the universality of all humans. What the venerable Prime Minister quoted from is Poem 192 of Pura Naanooru.
It encompasses 13 lines, which as translated by Reverend G.U. Pope in 1906, mean: To us all towns are our own, everyone our kin/ Life’s good comes not from others’ gifts, nor ill/ Pains and pain’s relief are from within/ Death’s no new thing, nor do our bosoms thrill/ When joyous, life seems like a luscious draught/ When grieved, we patient suffer; for, we deem/ This much-praised life of ours a fragile raft/ Borne down the waters of some mountain stream/ That o’er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain/ Tho’ storms with lightning’s flash from darkened skies/ Descend, the raft goes on as fates ordain/ Thus have we seen in visions of the wise!/ We marvel not at the greatness of the great/ Still less despise we men of low estate.
The treasures of our heritage are numerous. Our leader delivered only a few drops in the right forum, and of course, at the right time! The world must employ it.
Sangam Of The World
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PM quoted the great Tamil poet Kaniyan Poongundranaar, who lived 3,000 years ago
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| He quoted from poem 192 of Pura Naanooru from Sangam literature produced between 500 BCE to 200 CE |
— S Kumana Rajan is the editor-in-chief of Tamil Lemuriya, a Tamil magazine published from Mumbai
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