Yaathum Oorey Yaavarum Kelir

Every place my living space... Everyone my kin...

The background:
Ancient Tamil, the mother of all Dravidian Languages (Including present day Tamil) has very rich literary tradition. Life was broadly perceived to have two aspects
Agam (Inner Self) and Puram (The outside world) and literary contributions were made, based on these two aspects.
Among many books written in Classical Tamil, PuraNaanooru (PuranAnUru- a collection of 400 songs) deals with the aspects of Puram... the outside world, our
interactions with it, perceptions, ethos and pathos of material life, Royalty and philanthropy.
Likewise AgaNaanooru (AganAnUru- a collection of 400 songs) deals with the aspects of Agam... the inner self, Love and Family.
Ancient Tamil Country (Tamilakam- Tamilaka) (Damerica or Damilaka for outsiders) was the peninsular region in Ancient South India below the Godavari river.
Brisk maritime trade was carried out with the outside world by Tamil/ Dravidian people using the sea coasts of the peninsular India viz the western coast (Malabar
Coast) and the Eastern Coast (Coramandal Coast). The people of the region were rubbing shoulders typically with the people of Arabia, Northern Africa, Persia,
China, Greece, Rome and the far east. The interactions going beyond the realms of trade brought about a very broad view (cosmopolitanism) about the universal
communities.
In Tamil philosophy, there were always views on Self as a diminutive and humble entity when compared to the vastness and mightiness of the universe. The regular
interactions with the people of the far-off worlds, only emphasized the universal and secular views and got depicted regularly in various literature.

The Poet
Kaniyan Poonkundran (Kaniyan pUnkunRan) is the contributor of the song number 192 of Puranaanooru He was one of the bards living in ancient Tamilakam and
was obviously driven by the universal thinking of his times to make the observation Every place my living space, Everyone my kin in his song.
He goes on to assert that our joys and sorrows need not be attributed to others and we are responsible for the same. For Poonkundran, the individuals birth, life and
death are no big events. Like a raft fighting through the boulders and moving downstream, our life moves through several hardships and end.

The Book... PuraNaanooru

Puranaanooru = Puram (Outside World) + Naanooru (Four hundred)
Puaranaanooru in a collection of 400 songs dealing about our interactions with our outside world. The book itself is classified under Ettuththokai (Ettu+Thokai ) a
collection of eight books (Eight Anthologies). The secular songs of Purananuru exhibit unique realism and spontaneity not commonly found in ancient literature.
The four hundred songs of PuranAnUru are written written by around 150 Poets and might have been compiled during the Sangam period (broadly between 7 th
Century BCE to 2nd century BCE. We have only a deduced age assigned for the anthology and never have scientifically established (beyond doubt) the age of each
these great Poems. Also there exists in the poems, so much of genuine emotions, immediacy, and direct sense, we are forced to believe that the individual authors
have composed them in actual situations. In a particular poem, (Song number 2), there are mentions of a particular Tamil king (Uthiyan Cheralathan) fighting
alongside Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war, at the same time providing food to both the sides. Since we see mentions of Tamil Kings participating in Kurukshetra
war in the great epic Mahabharata itself, the incidences mentioned in Song no.2 might have been recorded after Mahabharata war. In another case, there is mention
of King Chandra Gupta Maurya in Poem No.175.

Translations:

To us all towns are one, all men our kin,

Life's good comes not from others' gifts, nor ill,

Man's pains and pain's relief are from within,

Death's no new thing, nor do our bosoms thrill

When joyous life seems like a luscious draught.

When grieved, we patient suffer; for, we deem
This much-praised life of ours a fragile raft
Borne down the waters of some mountain stream
That o'er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain

Every place my living space, Everyone my kin

Ills and fortunes come not from others
Pains, Reliefs and all those deaths
Are not ...new threats
Will not revel at Life as a Gain...
Neither assume it as an endless pain
Like Cool drops descending from the thunderous sky
And fighting through the boulders that pass by
We travel downstream ...like a raft
And precious life will end ...is a fact

Tho' storms with lightning's flash from darkened skies.

Descend, the raft goes on as fates ordain.

Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !

We marvel not at the greatness of the great;

Still less despise we men of low estate.

We neither wonder at the greatness of the great

Even more Will not despise the men of low estate

(: 192)

Purananuru 192

Purananuru 192

Original Tamil version

As translated by G.U.Pope, 1906

As translated by R.Govardhan 2016

Since we are enlightened by the Wise's Vision