Vallalar, the Supreme Jurist.
Dear seekers of Truth,
According to Vallalar, unlike Thirumoolar, it is not that god is love but god is compassion because while love is conditional, compassion is unconditional. While Thirumoolar dwells on the bondage between god and devotee being impaired by the three stigmas such as ego, karma and illusion, Vallalar is concerned with the relationship between the two devotees impaired by ego, karma and illusion. They continue to live in that state of ignorance as they do not have the experience of soul; they are on the contrary oblivious as to the very existence of soul. They do not know that soul is immortal and it lives after death and takes different bodies as per its karma.
Vallalar holds with certainty that the soul which has taken human body in this birth may even be relegated to an animal or plant in its next birth because of its acts. The paramount teaching of Saint Vallalar is that praraptha karma, our past acts have constituted destiny which has landed us in the present birth. We cannot alter the face of praraptha. But having come into this birth in a particular placement, agamya karma offers the freedom by which we can create our future.
Compassion holds the key to such freedom. Compassion springs from the realization that at the state of soul, every living being is one and the same.
It is to be known that gold is known only at the state of an atom. It comprises of 79 protons, 79 neutrons and 79 electrons. The proton and neutron are comprised of quarks three each in proton and neutron. While there is gold at the state of atom, there is no gold at the state of proton, neutron and electron. In other words, there exists no proton of gold, neutron of gold and electron of gold. It is so in the case of all the elements listed in the Periodic Table. Accordingly, platinum comprises of 78 protons, 78 neutrons and 78 electrons. Mercury comprises of 80 protons, 80 neutrons and 80 electrons. If one proton is removed, from gold (79), it becomes platinum (78) and if one proton is removed from mercury(80), it becomes gold (79). If one proton is added to platinum(78), then, platinum becomes gold(79) and if one proton is added to gold(79), then gold becomes mercury(80). This is the secret of alchemy.
In the same manner, at the state of soul, soul is not distinguished as a male or a female, human or an animal, plant or mineral and so on. Only at the state of manifestation, according to the physical constitution it has taken, the soul is seen in the form of a human, an animal or a plant etc. Therefore, just as there is no distinction at the state of sub atomic particles, so also there is no distinction at the state of soul among all beings irrespective of whether it is human or otherwise. When there is no distinction at the state of soul, it does not stand to reason as how there could be any distinction at the state of birth alone. That is why Saint Vallalar prays for all the souls of this world irrespective of the race, religion, colour, creed and language.
In “Manumurai kanda vasagam”, at the age of 31 in 1854, Vallalar has cast away the axiomatic principles of “Manu Sastra” which upholds the dharma of the humanity and “Artha Sastra” which regulates the dharma of the kings. It is to be borne in mind that “Manumurai kanda vasagam” is not a simple reproduction of what has been written in the preamble to “Periapuranam” under the caption “Thirunagara Chirappu” but was enriched by Vallalar as its sequel as per the request of Sastra Vilakka Sankathar at Chennai. The Saint in “Manumurai kanda vasagam” has split the warp and weft of the cardinal principle of compassion and sifted the grain of truth from the chaff of falsehood in the deliberation between the king and his ministers.
The saint by this extraordinary exposition has set in motion an excellent precedent for the highest jurisprudence unknown in the annals of world’s legal system. The deliberation is not a simple demonstration of mere linguistic eloquence and an erudite jurisprudence. There is no sign of judicial activism, no sign of judicial innovation, no sign of travesty of justice in excess of any jurisdiction but the deliberation has all the excellence of justice which is a shrine where truth presides over in its sanctum. There is a saying in the legal system that justice is not the handmaid but it is the mistress of law. In the same manner, Vallalar has held that truth is not the handmaid but it is the mistress of compassion.
Vallalar is guided neither by American jurisprudence nor by British jurisprudence but by the principles of compassion natural to all the species occupying the crust of this earth. Just as Vallalar holds that the experience of soul, the truth of nature is the life of excellence, so also Vallalar emphasizes that the principles of natural justice are constructions on the foundation of grace manifest by the Almighty to all His creations alike. In his court, Vallalar does not permit either preponderance of probability or the proof beyond any reasonable doubt. The degree of proof expected in his court is the degree of compassion irrespective of the degree of intelligence inherent in a human being in his sixth sense and an animal in its fifth sense brought together in the trial for securing ends of justice. It is the common code of compassion built on the principles of “jeeva karunya”. Vallalar seeks the convergence of liberty, equality and fraternity made applicable exclusively to humanity as such by the founding fathers of the constitutions of different countries to be extended to all beings in their entirety irrespective of their state of existence in the scheme of living.
“Manumurai Kanda Vasagam” is not concerned with the justice meted out to the cow. The arguments advanced by the king against his descendant, the only legal heir to the state, on the ground of equality between the souls, exhibits the infallible instrument of peace required by this world today. When the compassion of the compatriots is concerned with the injury caused to human beings, Vallalar has struck the death knell to the legality of dispensing justice according to the status of the species. It is to be celebrated as the hallmark of “sanmarkkam”. Justice done in “Manumurai Kanda Vasagam” is not simply justice seen to have been done but justice ought to have been done with a view to dispensing with disparity between the souls.
No wonder that the judge not only rose up when Vallalar entered the court hall at Cuddalore in the year 1869 but also discharged him of the charges leveled against the Saint.
The 44 questions put into the lips of the King by Vallalar summarize the critical ingredients of sanmarkkam. The implications of the questions posed by the king to his self transcend the dialects of Plato and the analects of Confucius and though rising in unison with the spiritual introspection of Marcus Aurelius, still such questions excel in their spiritual ramifications.
Whether I caused the mind of the good to tremble?
Whether I abandoned anyone in the middle of the river?
Whether I defamed the innocent by a coercive suit?
Whether I closed the path used by the passersby?
Whether I forestalled the donors of a noble cause?
Whether I punished without considering the merits?
Whether I caused rift in the unconditional friendship?
Whether I betrayed the friendship of soul mates?
Whether I spied for the thieves?
Whether I have robbed the subjects by raising the toll?
Whether I set fire in the stomach of the poor?
Whether I caused decree without dharma?
…………………….
Even though humanity itself is a species of homogeneity, now it has been reduced to the state of endangered species by its own volcanic eruptions of wars waged by one state against another on the ground of race, religion, linguistics, caste, and creed and so on. It is painful to record that the present day judiciary is compelled to dispense justice not to an animal pitted against the onslaught of a human being but to render justice to a human being who is subject to illimitable injury caused by his own fellow human beings.
Vallalar seeks to remove the veils of difference in the physical plane and strives to unify the humanity on the spiritual plane by the experience of soul. In the scheme of life, the soul sails in between “praraptha karma” which is bondage of the past acts and “agamya karma” which offers freedom in the present to secure the future which lies even in the next breath as well as in the next birth. Instead of creating the destiny by the freedom vested in the “agamya”, the soul consciously consigns by the cloud of illusion the freedom of the present to the bondage of its past crystallized in “praraptha”. Vallalar makes the human being to become aware of the acts of compassion with which one can forge the key on the anvil of its freedom in the present birth to unlock its shackles of mortality and stabilize in the orbit of immortality around Arut Perunjothi, the Almighty.
Various spiritual traditions are engrossed in erasing the imprints which have contributed to the “praraptha”. In this process, the past is always recalled from the memory and the soul in reality, relives the past. Vallalar guides us not to engage our entire life in the process of obliterating the karma of the past but guides us to burn by the acts of compassion a new disc of future with the freedom offered in the present life itself by “agamya”.
Vallalar has conducted “Thirukkural” classes. We can explain the findings with
illustrations from “kural”.
Chapter 38 Destiny
Mightier than destiny, is there anything? Yet another
Even besieges, it barges ahead. 380
In this couplet Valluvar speaks about the “praraptha karma” set in motion from the coffers of the past actions frozen as “sanchitha”. We have got no control there.
Valluvar offers two states of freedom against the bondage of destiny as shown below;
Chapter 25 of Thirukkural speaks about the state of grace;
By saving souls one reigning in grace, comes to nought
Of one’s soul dreaded karma. 244
Chapter 62 Deeds of Excellence
Even destiny, they could subdue with determination
When slogging without fatigue 620
In these couplets Valluvar speaks about the “agamya karma” by which, the soul is being offered the freedom to create its own destiny of future. Vallalar is more concerned with Chapter 25 where the individual in line with jeeva karunya, extends a helping hand to others whereas in Chapter 62, the individual in isolation strives by his own efforts to break the barriers of his shackles. We can alter the course of life by raising ourselves to the state of soul and from that state serving the suffering humanity by the unconditional acts of compassion.
It may be appreciated that Vedas were condensed as Upanishads and Upanishads were condensed as Brahma Sutras. Aadhi Sankara again condensed the Brahma Sutras into Viveka Chudamani. This spiritual exposition holds that when a soul during its life time attains jeevan mukthi, the karma of sanchita and agamya is only burnt out but the soul could not extricate itself from the clutches of praraptha which has been in currency. The praraptha sails along with jeevan muktha till such time videka mukthi is attained at the time of his death.
The cancer in the case of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi was attributed to praraptha by the Vedantha. But the conclusion of Vallalar is different. While Vedantha holds that praraptha continues to affect even a jeevan muktha, Vallalar holds that when a carbon becomes a diamond, the diamond is not assayed by the content of carbon but by the character of a diamond. In the same way, while vedantha holds that only in death of the body videka mukthi crystalises, Vallalar holds when a soul becomes a jeevan muktha, it is blessed with videka mukthi not in death but in immortality.
Only the human being, who is aware of this underlying unity, raises himself up to compassion to extend a helping hand to the alleviation of the suffering of his fellow human beings. In this realization of oneness, there arises the benefit of soul. When the soul understands this unity, it understands the scheme of praraptha. When once praraptha is understood, the soul realizes the freedom it has got. Then with that freedom it sets in motion its own future by way of agamya.
How blessed we are to walk with Vallalar on the Path of Truth?
How fortunate we are to breathe the air of Sanmarkkam in this birth?
While even the closest devotees of the Saint while in body were denied this opportunity why we who are separated in time by a century and more should be blessed with the thoughts of Sanmarkkam and provided with the means of achieving the goal as desired by Vallalar?
Let us read “Manumurai Kanda Vasagam” once again and sit in “sat vichara” as to what exactly the interaction between the king and his ministers as designed by Vallalar in the year 1854, relays to us living in the year 2010.
With regards
Sivajayakumar
