Importance Of Thirukkural In English

[Najla Ondik]

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Thirukkural is a classic Tamil text written by Thiruvalluvar, believed to have lived sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE. It is a collection of 1,330 couplets (kurals) that offer timeless wisdom on various aspects of life, including ethics, governance, love, and spirituality.

Understanding the problem: Thirukkural emphasizes the importance of understanding a problem before attempting to solve it. For example, in Kural 453, Thiruvalluvar writes, "Whoever understands a problem thoroughly, will find a solution easily." This principle is also at the heart of design thinking, which emphasizes empathy and understanding the user's needs before designing a solution. Iteration and refinement: Thirukkural also emphasizes the importance of iteration and refinement. In Kural 478, Thiruvalluvar writes, "Revising the work of yesterday is better than replying upon tomorrow's uncertain success." This principle is also important in design thinking, which involves multiple iterations and feedback loops to refine and improve the solution. Focus on the user: Thirukkural emphasizes the importance of focusing on the user or the customer. In Kural 417, Thiruvalluvar writes, "The wealth of a trader lies in the patronage of his customers." This principle is also central to design thinking, which emphasizes empathy and understanding the user's needs and preferences. Embrace constraints: Thirukkural also emphasizes the importance of embracing constraints. In Kural 499, Thiruvalluvar writes, "Wealth can be won even with a staff in hand, by one who is skilful, resolute, and knows his trade." This principle is also important in design thinking, which often involves working within constraints such as limited resources or time.

Sages have repeatedly spoken of the unreal nature of this world. Can you name anything that will remain exactly the same after a million years? That is why we are told not to place our faith in the objects of this world. They can never give us true happiness. Valluvar says:

He roundly condemns accumulation of material wealth, but praises it if such wealth is acquired by honest means and used for the common good of society. In the same breath he encourages the growth of intellectual and spiritual development. He wants people to acquire learning and, having learnt, practise it. Yet, spirituality is superior to all else. As early as in the second verse of the Tirukkural, he says:

While the road to perfection is a long, slippery and very difficult one, the mastery of a few virtues will take one there by leaps and bounds. Do not kill any being or creature. Even loftier than this is not to injure anyone in thought, word and deed. Ahimsa is one of the highest of virtues. Give up the detestable faultfinding habit. Always return good for evil.

What is the use of money if it is not used for the common good? Imagine a fruit tree in a busy market place. If it bears tasty fruit, it brings joy to people, but if it bears poisonous fruit, it is of no use; its presence is a source of great pain. A wealthy miser is like such a tree. He has everything, but is in greater need than others, for he is not really happy and peaceful.

If you desire to attain perfection, you must not be afraid to have a genuine feeling of shame whenever you commit any mistakes. Those who have no feelings of guilt are usually unaware of their faults. Some people consider it a weakness to blush. On the contrary, blushing is not at all a weakness, but a virtue. It reveals a sense of shame and is a sign of modesty and humility.

Business Ethics are a part of general ethics. Ethical business values are part of the bigger topic of business values in general (Holme, 2008). Business ethics as a field of study examine the ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment . Business ethics are a set of moral principles for arriving at a decision within the values of the organisation, covering all aspects of business conduct and management functions. relevant to the conduct of business organisations as a whole .Business ethics are becoming increasingly necessary because, if unchecked due to lack of awareness, business can go unethical as there are plenty of evidences today on unethical business practices. Therefore, increasing number of organisations are trying to design and implement business ethics programmes to address the legal, ethical, social responsibility and environmental issues they face , and by addressing these issues in a systematic way, organisations can improve their own business performances, expand opportunities for growth, and contribute to the development of social capital in their countries and realise specific business benefits, such as:

Looking at ethics from an Indian perspective, it is about time Indians regardless of whatever communities they are, should start to explore their own literature and contribute its knowledge to the world not only in the field of ethics and leadership but also in other fields. The Indian civilisation is more than 5,000 years and the contribution of India and Indians to this world is enormous in various fields of knowledge. There is abundance of Indian literature on ethics from numerous perspectives in contemporary business leadership. There are also several ancient wisdoms on ethics from ancient India in the Vedic literature written in Sanskrit and in various other Indian languages. The ancient Indian classics such as the Valrniki Ramavana , the Mahabharata , the Upanishadas also offer several lessons on ethics, which are useful in contemporary business leadership, although many of these literatures were written in Sanskrit more than 50 centuries ago. From the Bhagavad-Gila, for example, we learn that lust or desire of the leaders as the root cause of unethical practices. Sri Krishna said that it is the lust or desire of the leaders, latter transformed into wrath, which compels them to commit such unethical practices (karma esa krodha esa, raja guns samuclbhavak mahasana maha-paprna, vidcihv enam iha raririnarn: Bhagavad-Gita 3.37).. As the fire is covered by smoke, as the mirror is covered by dust or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the leaders are covered by different degrees of lust or desire (dhumenavriyate vahnir, yathadarso malena ca; yathotbenavrto garblias,tatha tenedam avrtam: Bhagavad-Gita 3.38). Therefore, anyone who takes up a leadership position must from the very beginning curb this great lust or desire by regulating their senses (tasmat tram indriyanay adau, niyamya bharatarsabha; papmanam prajahi by enam, jnam vijnana nasanam: Bhagavad-Gita 3.41).

Ancient literature is always a source of wisdom. It inspires those who are open to it all the time and it is never exhausted by any one generation of interpreters, no one has said the last word on it. Thirukkural is an example of one such ancient literature . The Thirukkural is pregnant with lessons in several fields related to wealth, economics, politics, duty, pleasure, etc., besides ethics. Therefore, it is imperative that the principles of ethics from ancient text like the Thirukkural need to be reinforced to the Indian business leaders to be aware of code of business and to deal effectively with ethical dilemmas (dharma sankatarn) in making their daily business decision. This might look like a sermon but the lessons are likely to have a deep impact on business leadership and on those in the leadership position.

The Thirukkural also highlights the importance of transparency and truthfulness in all business transactions as it will bring respectable position in business. The business leaders are required not to do anything in your business which is of health hazard, environmental hazard, highly toxin, causing pollution problem or affecting the nature and harmony or likely to cause temporary or permanent problems to others.

Business leaders today are considered to be fortunate to obtain good education with many business leaders with at least a Bachelors Degree or with Masters Degree or PhDs, but what is the use of that learning if they are not ethical in their undertaking, and that learning does not lead to the blessed feet of pure intelligence?

Being ethical should not only be just acting or setting examples but also the ethical conduct should originate from the heart, otherwise it cannot be considered ethical.Similar to the other Vedic literature, Thirukkural recommends intrinsic or inside out perspectives to ethical conduct. The propensity to behave ethically must come from heart and not by force or by any rules or regulations. Thirukkural says a blemishless mind is the basis of all virtue; everything else is just an empty show:

The leader should not postpone an ethical behaviour, it is now or never. They should not wait for a conducive or favourable time because there is no guarantee that such favourable and conducive time will ever occur. If they miss the opportunity, the opportunity may not come back. Therefore, leaders should not postpone ethical deeds as these alone will befriend them to the full, until they die and even afterwards:

It is imperative for leaders to be in the companion of pure and ethical people, as Thiruvalluvar beautifully described that as water changes according to the soil through which it flows, so a man assimilates the character of his associates :

On self-leadership and to live and practise ethical principles, Thiruvalluvar asserted that the leaders must avoid four unethical characters and behaviours, such as envy, greed,anger, harsh or violent words and flawless ethical life rests in avoiding the above-said four enemies:

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