Ramalinga Adigalar honorifically called ‘Vallalar’ all over Tamil Nadu was a sage, saint and a great humanist. He was a lover of Nature and
Advocate of kindness to animals. In one of his lyrical compositions he wrote once as an advice to the world – “Awaken the dead!” In another lyric he stated “the
dead have risen up”. What did he imply? How can we bring back the dead to life? A rationalist scholar Sami Chidambaranar says Vallalar did not refer to those who are literally dead. He said it in a metaphoric sense. He meant to say that people who do not empathise with the suffering of others are dead. Cowards, superstitious people, the vice and the wicked, the indisciplined, the insensitive morons, the merciless and all those soaked in idiocy are like the dead, though they are alive. Such people should be brought back to life. According to Chidambaranar, this should be the right interpretation
of what Vallalar said. Any other inference would certainly be wrong.
Chidambaranar explains further that Vallalar detested people who work hard like machines, missing much in life. Their life is meaningless. Without learning about what is going around the world, some people lead an inactive life like a painted ship. Such people do not really live. They merely exist and simply exhaust. Such people must be awakened, vitalised and invigorated because they are the living dead. Science and technology have advanced incredibly.
Vallalar Thiruvalluvar
Organ transplantations have become very common. Various parts of a body are assembled, replaced and planted like linking compartments
with an engine. People who are abandoned as dead are brought back to life by medical practitioners. Long ago, it was thought man has no control
over birth. Today, the birth of a human being is decided by science, technology and the doctors of the new era. The time of death alone remains unknown. Perhaps, it may be possible to know in the world to come. Almost everything Periyar wrote in his article ‘The World to Come’ has become a reality.
Death can be prevented today but dead men cannot be brought back to life. Fake Godmen and charlatans may take people for a ride by
ridiculous promises, but it is a blind belief. Nature is invincible. Human body is like a machine.
Tiny parts and accessories could be replaced to keep it running, but if the entire machine turns non-functional, it has to be discarded. This truth
applies to human body too. There are some people who misinterpret Vallalar and say that he believed in making the dead come back to life.
Chidambaranar had meticulously studied and dissected each word of Vallalar. Hence he clarifies that Vallalar referred to the people who lead a meaningless life.
The Couplet No.214 in Thirukkural says that people who do not just sympathise but also empathise, are the truly living people. Those who are insensitive towards the pain of others are the living dead according to the renowned sage Thiruvalluvar. We find a striking similarity between the thought of Valluvar and Vallalar, don’t we dear readers?
Translated by : M. R. Manohar
