7. A Petition to the Collector

"My old age pension application has been lying dormant in the District Collector's office for the past three months. It has not even been taken up for consideration," said Srinivas, my neighbour.

"Did you go to the Collector's office and inquire? What did they say?" I asked him

"I have gone there many times. I have spent as much as a month's salary by way of conveyance expenses alone. Everyone points to each other. When I enquired at the relevant desk, they directed me to the Tahsildar. When I approached the Tahsildar, he pointed the finger at the Revenue Inspector. The Revenue Inspector is never available in the office. No one knows when he will come and when he will leave."

"Have you met the Collector?"

"Can a commoner like me meet the Collector?" asked Srinivas.

I said, "The office of the collector has been created only to help common people like us. I will come with you tomorrow. Let's meet the Collector."

"Won’t the other officers get annoyed and become alienated?" asked Srinivas, worriedly.

I assured him, "Don't worry. If you go to the higher official, the problem will be solved."

The next day when we went to the District Collector's office, there was a huge crowd waiting to see the collector. 

Visiting hours were said to be between 3 and 4 p.m. But by the time the Collector, who had gone out, reached the office, it was 4.30 am.

A staff member told the people who were waiting "You can't see the collector today. Go home and come tomorrow." 

Most of the people who were waiting began to leave the office, feeling disappointed and helpless. However, about ten people continued to wait still hoping to get a chance to meet the Collector.

At about five o'clock, the collector rang the bell and called the peon. I also entered the room following the peon. The Collector looked tired and bored.

"What?" he asked, looking at me.

"Sir! About a hundred people were waiting to see you. Most of them have gone back after being informed that they can't see you today. Only ten of us are still waiting. You should give us an audience!" I said politely.

The peon turned to me and said in a loud and angry voice, "No way. Who gave you the permission to barge in like this? Get out!" 

The Collector interrupted the peon saying, "Hold on!" and told me, "Sir, just give me five minutes. I will call you one by one. Please wait for a while."

As promised by the Collector, after a few minutes we were asked to go into the collector’s cabin one by one and present our grievances. When it was our turn, I told the collector about the pending application of Srinivas.

The Collector summoned the clerk concerned and inquired. 

"Why haven't you processed his application yet?" he asked the clerk with annoyance.

The clerk murmured some excuse. But the Collector was not impressed.

"This application should be processed immediately and placed before me for orders by tomorrow!" the Collector told the clerk, in a strict tone.

He then turned to his personal assistant and told him, "Make a note of this. Remind me about this tomorrow." 

He then told Srinivas, "Don't worry. If you have given all the details correctly, your pension will be sanctioned within a week." 

We thanked him and left.

As promised by  the Collector, an order sanctioning pension was received by Srinivas in about a week's time.

"How did you make this happen, my friend?" Srinivas asked me, in pleasant disbelief.

I said, "Sir, if a problem is not solved, it can be got solved by approaching the highest authority."

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 7

thanakkuvamai illaathaan thaaL sErnthaarkkallaal
manakkavalai maaRRalarithu.

Meaning:

Unless one surrenders at the feet of the peerless one (God), one can't get over his anxieties.

Verse 8 (soon)

Verse 6

5. Two Incidents

A devotee was distributing food to the people visiting the temple. His family members were standing near him witnessing people receiving and ingesting the food.

One of the persons who received the food murmured, after moving away "It seems the gentleman is seeking some favor from God!" The tone of his voice carried an impression that he was receiving the food in order to help the benefactor to get his wish fulfilled!

Another day, I observed that the temple priest was distributing food to the devotees.

One of the persons receiving the food asked the priest who the benefactor was. The priest said, "A blessed soul arranged for food to be made, offered to God and then distributed to the devotees. He told me not to expect him to be present in the temple today but to offer the food to the Lord at the usual time and then to do the distribution. He is not here. I wonder whether he is a believer at all, but he is doing a commendable deed, indeed."

I narrated these two incidents to an erudite scholar known for his piety and spiritual bent of mind and requested him to critically examine the events from a spiritual perspective.

He said, "There are people who do virtuous deeds like helping the poor, feeding the poor, offering food to the Lord and then distributing it to other people, expecting that virtuous deeds would bring in beneficial results to them. This is like lending money to someone and expecting that after some time, the money would be returned to them with interest. But it may also happen that the loan goes bad and the lender loses his money!

"Those who perform good deeds with the expectation that these deeds would bring in benefits to them may or may not get the benefits they expect. Sometimes, the benefits may be trivial or may have only short term value. 

"It is also possible that benefits will occur only in the next birth. Thus, people who do good, expecting some benefit to accrue to them, often end up frustrated that good deeds have not given them what they hoped to get. 

"You told me that in the first case, one of the persons receiving the food had a patronizing attitude towards the benefactor as if it was he who was doing a favor to the benefactor by accepting the food offered! This shows that doing good deeds with expectation of benefits may sometimes turn out to be futile! 

"In the second case, the benefactor seems to have acted with no expectations. He was not even keen to let people receiving the food know who the benefactor was. But look at the result! The priest describes him a blessed soul!

"A person who does a good deed without any expectation gets praised! But one who expects something in return for his good deed is treated with condescension and pity, as if that is all he deserved!

"If we commit wrongs, we will reap the consequences by way of sufferings even during our current birth. Alternatively, or additionally, we may go to hell after death or may suffer in our next birth. 

If we do good things for the sake of getting some benefits, we may get some benefits even during the current birth or we may be able to enjoy the benefit only in our next birth.

"But those who do good deeds without any expectation are close to God. In the Gita, the Lord talks about 'action with no attachment.' This means an action without any desire for results.

Those who do good things without any expectation will experience heaven even as they are living in this world. They will feel being close to God. But this can happen only to those who realize the greatness of God and revel in His glory."

I felt I was beginning to comprehend what the saintly man was saying.  

(This is the English version of the Tamil story annadhaanam written by the same author)

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 5

iruLsEr iruvinaiyum sEraaiRaivan 
poruLsEr pukazh purindhaar maattu.

Meaning:

Consequences of either type of action will not touch the one who dwells in the glory of God.

Verse 6 (soon)

Verse 4

4. To which faction do you belong?

"There are two groups in our organisation. To which group do you belong?" asked Gurumurthi. Although both of us have been working for the same company, this was the first time I was interacting with him.

"I am not with any group, but what about you?" I replied. "I am with the Devaraj group. Devaraj commands more influence with the top management of our company. Venkatakrishnan's group is not so strong. I suggest that you also join the Devaraj group. It will be to your advantage" advised Gurumurthi. "Is there any application form?" I asked, somewhat naively. He threw me a contemptuous look and left. Though I am not with either group, I am, in fact, with a third group - the Paranthaman group! Well, there is nothing called the Paranthaman group, in reality! There has always been a competition between two senior executives of our company, M/s Devaraj and Venkatakrishnan. Both would often be involved in some game of one-upmanship to demonstrate one's superiority over the other. Some times, the Devaraj group would appear to have gone up in the ladder of power and influence much higher than the Venkatakrishnan group, while on other occasions, the position would become reversed with Venkatakrishnan gaining the upper hand.

With almost the entire organization split between the two groups, a handful of people like me chose not to identify ourselves with either group. During the times Devaraj was having an upper hand, he would harass people belonging to Venkatakshanan's group. The harassment may take various forms from a minor inconvenience to a severe injustice like scuttling a promotion opportunity. At one point, it appeared that Devaraj was well entrenched, with his influence having increased considerably. This resulted in some people moving from the Venkatakrishnan group to the Devaraj group. But, after some time, the situation changed unexpectedly. With Devaraj falling from grace due to an act of indiscretion on his part, Venkatakrishnan moved up, as if to fill the void. Now, it was Venkatakrishnan's turn to take revenge on Devaraj by harassing his followers in the organization.

Gurumurthi was one of the victims of this revenge. His expected promotion didn't materialize. On the other hand, he was asked to respond to some complaints against him! One day, Gurumurthi ran into me. Talking about his plight, he lamented, "My calculations seem to have gone wrong. I am paying a heavy price for my allegiance to Devaraj. Perhaps, I should cross over to Venkatakrishnan's side!" "But, what if Devaraj becomes powerful again?" I asked. He had no answer to this question. He asked me,"You are not with either group. Has this not affected you in any way?"

"Not at all. In fact, I have authentic information that my name is in the promotion list that is expected to be released shortly." "How could you manage this, with no support from either of these power centres?" asked Gurmurthi, in a tone of surprise. "I am with the Paranthaman group!" I said. "But Paranthaman is the Managing Director!" he said, "he has no group and he is far away, in the head office." "But he knows what's going on here, and he has been watching the tussle between these two groups. If any harm is caused to me, he won't be watching it idly. Maybe that's why Venkatakrishnan did not try to scuttle my promotion." "I have made a serious mistake. If I had been loyal to the organization rather than to one of these power centres, I would have got the support of the dispassionate Managing Director" said Gurumurthi, in a tone of regret. "Nothing is lost, yet," he added, "I am going to keep myself away from these two groups and join the Paranthaman group. Is there any application form?"

(This is the English version of the story 'neengal enrthakkatchi?" written by the same author)

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 4

VENduthal vENDaamai ilaanati sErnthaarukku

Yaandum idumbai ila.

Meaning:

A person seeking refuge at the feet of the Lord who has no likes and dislikes will never be afflicted by sufferings.

Verse 5

Verse 3

3. The Priest’s Prayer

It was an old temple. It would have a deserted look most of the time. The temple was served by an old priest befitting the antiquity of the temple.

When I visited the temple that day, there was no one in the temple save the priest. I felt like asking him a question.

People who come to a temple pray for myriad things. Their requests may range from early settlement of the marriage of their daughter to a convenient riddance of a business partner.

I was curious to know what  the priest would pray for. Taking advantage of the privacy provided by my being the only devotee present in the temple at that time, I asked the priest “Sir! What will you seek from God?”

For a moment, he cast a strange look on me. Then, probably feeling free to share his prayers with me, he said, “I pray to God asking for a long life for me!”

Floored by the unexpected answer, I asked him, “Sir! Don’t consider me inquisitive or impudent. My understanding is that  people who have a spiritual bent of mind generally pray to God that they reach the lotus feet of the God sooner than later. Perhaps some may desire to go to Heaven. I have heard many people say that this is what the scriptures advise us, I am not well versed in the scriptures, though! How is that your prayer is different?”

“You are right. But I have already attained the feet of God!” said the priest.

I was taken aback by his answer. The priest’s answer momentarily created doubts in me about his mortal status! Being alone with the priest in the dark atmosphere of the sanctum-sanctorum made me feel a little apprehensive. I looked at his feet to confirm that they were touching the floor! So, I have not been talking to a ghost or a spirit, after all!

“What do you mean, sir? You say you have attained the feet of God! Well, is it not something that can happen only after a person leaves this world?” I asked in a feeble voice that betrayed my apprehension.

“The scriptures say that we should aim to attain the feet of God after we depart from this world. But I used the expression in a slightly different sense. I have been standing near the idol of God and looking at the image of God many times a day. Every time, a devotee performs an Archana, I offer flowers at the Lord’s feet 108 times on behalf of the devotee. So, I get a chance to look at His feet hundreds of times every day. Over the years, I would have offered flowers at His feet several million times. I spend most of my day in front of this idol. So, the vision of the feet of God is ingrained in my mind. Even when I am not in the temple, the image of God stays with me. When I sleep, my mind’s eye sees God’s feet. What can be more enchanting, more satisfying and more rewarding than this divine experience? I crave for this experience to continue indefinitely. I pray for a long life so that I can keep experiencing this bliss.”

As if by reflex, I prostrated before him, a person who had attained the rare state of being with God most of the time.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'archchakarin aasai' by the same author)

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 3

Malarmisai Ekinaan maaNadi sErnthaar

Nilamisai needu vaazhvaar

Meaning:

One who seeks refuge at the feet of the Lord residing in one’s heart, will live long in this world. (Parimelazhagar, the leading commentator of ThirukkuRaL has interpreted this verse to mean that those who meditate on the feet of God will reside in the Heaven for a long time.)

Verse 4

Verse 2

2. An Engineer called God

Meeting a friend after a long gap is always a pleasure. Meeting him at an unexpected place will add a surprise element to that pleasure. I experienced this feeling when I met Ilango in a temple. Ilango had been my classmate in the school. But we parted ways after completing the schooling. He went on to study Engineering. I chose to study accounting and became a chartered accountant.

During our school days, Ilango was a non-believer. In fact, he was a rabid atheist. He would often enter into fierce arguments with us, the believers, over the existence of God. Ironically, both his parents were pious people with a deep and abiding faith in God. Perhaps, the obsessive devoutness of his parents made him move in the opposite direction!

Encountering him in a temple was, therefore an unexpected event. We saw each other while being inside the temple, recognized each other and silently exchanged greetings through inconspicuous gestures. We didn’t want to talk while we were inside the temple.

When I came out of the temple, I saw Ilango waiting for me near the entrance. Even before asking about his career and family, I couldn’t resist the curiosity to ask him how he became a believer.

“Studying Engineering has been a revelation to me,” explained Ilango. "Scientists and Engineers have invented a number of machines, devices and systems using the power of electricity, hydraulics and other sources of energy. I was amazed at the intricate and thoughtful design of systems.

"This made me wonder about Nature. How many wonders we have in nature! Look at the earth, oceans, trees, mountains, rivers and other elements of our ecosystems. What an excellent system a plant has to draw in water and nutritional elements needed for its growth! Then we have various living things ranging from the tiny bacteria to the mighty human beings.

“Consider the human body. What an amazing structure we have in our physique! There is a pump that works non-stop (with no electricity to power it!) pumping in and pumping out blood from our heart. Air is sucked in as if by vacuum, oxygen in the air is used up by the blood and the waste air is pushed out. 

"We have an incredibly amazing network -our nervous system - comprising millions of nerves, each wired to to the brain and with each nerve assigned a specific function. There are innumerable blood vessels supplying blood needed for the functioning of the body parts. We have a digestive system, immune system, purification system, decontamination system, draining system and what not!

“I began to wonder how such an amazing system could have come into being without someone designing and structuring it. The person who has accomplished this should be a Master Engineer and a Craftsman par excellence, with skills surpassing the combined skills of all the engineers and scientists in the world.

"So, how can I fail to recognize the existence of such a Great Engineer and accepting Him as God? Call Him by whatever name you want but you are not being rational if you refuse to accept that there is a cause behind all these creations.”

I realized that my friend Ilango, the rational thinker he is,  had made use of his rationality to think logically and perceive the existence of a Superior Being as the cause of all creations.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'KadavuL ennum poRiyaaLar' by the author)

Thirukkural

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 2:

kaRRathanaalaaya payan en kol vaalaRivan

naRRaaL thozhaarenin?

Meaning: 
What is the use of education if it doesn’t make us bow to the Supreme Being?

Verse 3 

Verse 1

1. Alpha

Thiruvalluvar was sitting on the pial of his small home at Mylapre¹, deeply contemplating. A few palm leaves were lying near him waiting for getting inscribed with his wisdom. The feather with a blunt tip that has been serving as his pen, while being moved over his face, was wondering why people had to touch different parts of their face with the tip of a pen when they were thinking!

Thiruvalluvar’s wife Vasuki who was inside the house came to him and observing that her husband was in deep thought, asked him in a gentle voice, “May I help you with your problem, dear?”

“It’s not a problem. It’s a project I have been conceiving” replied Thiruvalluvar. “I want to write a book encompassing all aspects of our life in this world,” he continued.

“Oh, it should be a challenging work. Please make your work stand out from the rest of its kind. After all, there is no dearth of books on Ethics and Morals, though only a few people read them.”

“And very few of those who read them even think of following them! I am planning to write my book with a different structure. I want to write two-line verses, with the second line a little shorter than the first.”

“Good idea,” commended Vasuki “People are more likely to read a short verse. What will be the title of your work?”

“I have been thinking of the title. I have tentatively chosen ‘Kural,' which in Tamil means ‘a short verse.’ But somehow the title seems inadequate to me.”

“Just add the auspicious prefix ‘Thiru’ to ‘Kural' and make it ‘Thirukkural,” suggested Vasuki.

"That’s a wonderful idea. The title ‘Thirukkural’ sounds very nice. This short title is in consonance with the short verses that my work will be made of. Each of my short verses should have a  profound meaning. That’s my ambition.”

“Don’t call it an ambition. Have it as your goal and you will achieve it! Have I not been observing how you convey a lot through the few words that you speak to me?”

“Are you conveying something subtle to me through your short message, Vasuki? Are you suggesting that I don’t speak to you much or that my words have a hidden meaning that could be deemed pejorative?” asked a somewhat upset Thiruvalluvar.

“No, dear. How can I imply such a thing about you, a person who is overly careful about not hurting anyone through the use of words even inadvertently? Did you not once tell me that choosing harsh words over benign words is like choosing to eat an unripe fruit when ripe fruit is available in plenty?”

“Did I? That seems to be a good line. I will make a note to use this in one of my kurals.”

“Your idea of packing a powerful idea in a small verse reminds me of  Vamana², the tiny figure that contained the gigantic Trivikrama in him! Incidentally, the Vaishnavite saint Nammazhvar calls Vamana ‘Thirukkural Appan (The Great Little Man)’. Just as Vamana covered the terrestrial world with his one tiny foot and the Celestial world with his other, the two verses of your Kural will also contain a world of wisdom in them.”

“That is the idea.”

“How are you going to organize the content of your work?”

“I plan to structure my work by dividing it into three sections corresponding to the three major pursuits of human beings namely Dharma or Virtue, Artha or Materialism and Kama or Love. These divisions, as you know, are as per our traditions.”

“But dear, I understand that our traditions mention four pursuits. Why are you leaving out the fourth pursuit Moksha or Salvation?”

“I consider the fourth pursuit Moksha or Salvation as the objective and the other three pursuits as the means for attaining the fourth pursuit. From another perspective, the first three pursuits relate to our way of life. Everything we do comes under one of the three pursuits.”

“It is true. But don’t you feel that leaving out Moksha will make your work inadequate?”

“I don’t think so. If one follows the right way in one's approach towards the first three pursuits, the fourth pursuit Moksha will come to him or her without his or her seeking it. This is the secret of life which people who pursue Moksha without striving to adopt the right approach towards the other three pursuits, fail to realize!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize this. Tell me more about the book.”

“I will name my work ‘Thirukkural’ as per your suggestion. The book will have three sections  Aram, Porul and Inbam, the Tamil names for Dharma (Virtue), Artha (Material Possessions) and Kama (Love). The book will have 133 chapters with 10 verses in each chapter. I have decided on the chapter headings and jotted them down.”

“Oh! Did it not occur to you to get some inputs from me when you were thinking of topics to be covered under Love?”

“Don’t be upset, Vasuki. I will seek your advice not only on Love but also on the other two sections, when I am writing the verses. What I have prepared is only an outline. You will find it interesting  to know that I am also covering the misunderstandings and rifts between lovers!”

“You definitely know how to pacify an aggrieved spouse! Do you want me to believe that you are going to invite suggestions from me for the content of the verses?”

“Vasuki, I really mean it. In fact, I want your suggestion even about the first verse."

“Well, is it not the convention to sing the praise of God in the first verse?"

Yes it is. In fact, my first chapter is titled ‘In praise of God’ and I will be writing 10 verses talking about the glory of God. but there is another convention. Tamil works have the word ‘world’ in their first verse. In fact, often the verses start with this word. Even if it is not the first word, the word ‘world’ should find a place in the first verse. I am breaking my head as to how to relate the world to God.”

“Last evening, I was listening to a religious discourse at the Kapaleeswara temple. The speaker narrated an interesting story. Lord Siva had a mango. Each of his two sons Vinayaka and Skanda wanted the fruit for himself. So Siva and His concert Parvati held a contest. Both their sons should go around the world. Whoever completed the assignment first would get the fruit. While the second son Skanda went around the world flying on the Peacock, his vehicle, Vinayaka traversed a circle around his parents and claimed to have completed the assignment first. Siva gave the fruit to Vinayaka, accepting his claim. He explained to his infuriated son Skanda that for a child, its parents constitute the world.  I think you will be able to derive some ideas from this story.”

“Yes, you have led me to a wonderful idea. This story suggests that parents constitute the world. Since the world was created by God, we can say that God has a relationship with the world, a relationship similar to the one parents have with their child. I can write ‘The world begins with God.' I can make this the second line of my first verse. What shall I put in the first line?”

“Can’t you use the analogy of alphabets beginning with the first letter Alpha?”

“Wonderful Vasuki. You have created the first verse for me. ‘Just as Alphabets begin with Alpha, the World has God as its origin.’ This sounds very appropriate I don’t know how I should thank you for your great help.”

“Remember my help when you are writing about the greatness of a wife!” quipped Vasuki.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'akara mudhala' by the same author)

Thirukkural

Virtue

Chapter 1

In Praise of God

Verse 1:

Akara mudhala ezhuththellaam aadhi
Bhagavan mudhaRRe ulaku.

Meaning: The alphabets begin with the letter Alpha. The world originates from God.

1. Thiruvalluvar is said to have lived in Mylapore, Chennai.

2. Vamana is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Vamana, a Brahmin lad with a puny figure asked King Mahabhali to give him land to the extent of three times the size of his feet. Once Mahabhali granted Vamana what he had asked for, Vamana transformed himself into a giant figure called Trivikrama. He covered the entire world with his one foot and measured out the entire celestial kingdom with his other foot. With no more land available, Mahabhali asked Vamana to place his third foot on his head.

Verse 2