5. Languages to reach the Lord

Teachings to treasure, teachings that transform. 

Thirumoolar Thavamozhi

Motivation

 

5. Languages to reach the Lord

For the devotees who are hesitantly waiting undecided which path to choose among those that can take one to the lord, our Saint Thirumoolar restates firmly what the Lord has said in the Bhagavat Geeta -- that all paths lead one to the lord. Now, our Saint talks about the different languages.

He emphatically says that there is no text greater than the vedas.

வேதத்தை விட்ட அறமில்லை வேதத்தின்
ஓதத் தகும்அறம் எல்லாம் உள தர்க்க
வாதத்தை விட்டு மதிஞர் வளமுற்ற
வேதத்தை ஓதியே வீடுபெற் றார்களே.  1

He says "have no doubt" (உள).  He also goes on to show evidence that saints and scholars (மதிஞர்) reached the lord with this firm conviction.

After saying this about the vedas, our Saint talks about the languages. 

All languages are the words of the lord. Among the languages, the arguments such as one is  greater than the other or lower than the other are all foolish, are his strong words.

During the time that Saint Thirumoolar lived, we come to understand that India had 18 languages in use.

 

பண்டிதர் ஆவார் பதினெட்டும் பாடையும்
கண்டவர் கூறும் கருத்தறி வார்என்க
பண்டிதர் தங்கள் பதினெட்டுப் பாடையும்
அண்ட முதலான் அறஞ்சொன்ன வாறே.  3 

 Our Saint was fluent in all these 18 languages. Let us see what he says regarding these. scholars are those who have studied these 18 languages and can follow the conversations in each of those languages. All these 18 languages are blessed and inspired by the Lord Siva.

How a language is born, how it grows, and how flows among the people's tongues are all indeed amazing ! For several thousand years the divine life principle flows among the people's tongue and manifests as words and sentences and creates colorful expressions. this life principle is not different from the divine. The eternal principle divine who is doing this work is the truth inside the truth that we see around us. If we appreciate this truth and remind ourselves of this when we read this poem we will get the insight expounded by our Saint.

"Lord, you became the sound and songs", "lord, you became the words and the objects they signify", and in many ways  realised saints praise the lord. We should read this poem from that angle. 

These are the words of our Saint Thirumoolar who was flawlessly fluent in all the 18 languages.

To read other translated pages in these posts, see: Thirumoolar