namaste shrI samarapungavan and others.
You have done very good work by giving quotes about brahmins, specially with reference to the term 'andhaNar', from the Sangham Literature.
After Nara's original claim in post no.21 that the word andhaNar "has been successfully hijacked to mean Brahmin" fell flat on its face in the light of your quotes (and there are many more of them as you rightly pointed out),
and after I pointed it out to him here (
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/general-discussions/5644-can-brahmins-wealthy-2.html#post66396) that VaLLurvar's use of the term andhaNar can very well be taken to mean brahmins on par with the terms such as 'pArppAn, maRaiyOr', etc. by the grammatical technique of 'Agupeyar'--metonymy/synecdoche,
Nara seems to agree in post no.54 that the term andhaNar is not a 'common noun denoting brahmins like pArppanar' but only an 'Agupeyar'.
But Nara is wrong to say that the term 'pArppanar' is a 'common noun' for brahmins. For, the renowned author K.C.Lakshminarayanan in his serial book 'Tamizhaga andhaNar varalARu' points out thus in page 54, volume 1:
"The meaning of the SaMskRta word darshanam is to know by seeing through. Thus the term pArppAn indicates one who knows the truth by seeing through the facade. PArppanan at first knows the prapancham. Then he knows the paramporuL by seeing through it. The texts that guide him for this gifted sight are the darshanas, which are complementary to the Vedas. Seeing the Truth with the help of these texts, a pArppAn is stationed in jnAnam."
Again, Nara seems to prefer 'one who has a compassionate quality'--azhagiya tatpam, as ParimElazhagar explains KuRaL 30--but this is not the only definition.
As I have pointed out in my post linked above:
the term 'andhaNar' refers to one who does aNavu--approaches, visualizes and sticks to, of the antam--vedAntam, the end of the Vedas. This is the meaning NachchinArkkiniyar gives to the term in his commentary of the 'KaDavuL vAzhtthu' of the sangham literature 'Kalitthogai'. (Ref: 'Tamizhaga andhaNar varalARu' by K.C.Lakshminarayanan).
Just as the term 'brAhmaNar' refers to one who does 'aNavu' of brahmam, and stands for the brahmins, the term 'andhaNar' also stands for them, so there is no hijacking involved in it.
This means that the names of all the four varNas are only 'Agupeyars', their occupation in life standing for their class name. The term 'andhaNar' is the direct equivalent of the SaMkRta term 'brAhmaNa'.
Shri KCL says that in the Sangham Tamizh Literature, the five terms 'andhaNar, brAhmaNar, pArppanar, vediyar and maRaiyavar' were used to refer to the people of the brAhmaNa varna.
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There is (at least) one KuRaL, in which VaLLuvar uses the term 'andhaNar' to refer to the brAhmaNa varNa--kuRaL 543:
அந்தணர் நூற்கும் அறத்திற்கும் ஆதியாய்
நின்றது மன்னவன் கோல்.
543. a~ndhaNar ~nURkum aRattiRkum AdiyAy
~ninRadu mannavan kOl.
My translation:
Even to the Vedas of the brahmins and the dharma ingrained in them,
the King's sceptre stood as the basis.
Whether Nara agrees with it or not, many scholars--notably scholars who are not brahmins--have translated the term andhaNar in this kuRaL as brahmin. Some examples:
Dr.Mu.VaradarAjan:
அந்தணர் போற்றும் மறைநூலுக்கும் அறத்திற்கும் அடிப்படையாய் நின்று
உலகத்தைக் காப்பது அரசனுடைய செங்கோலாகும்.
a~ndhaNar pORRum maRai~nUlukkum aRatthiRkum aDippaDaiyAy ~ninRu
ulakatthaik kAppadu arasanuDaiya se~ggOlAkum.
ParimElazhagar:
அந்தணர்க்கு உரித்தாய வேதத்திற்கும் அதனால் சொல்லப்பட்ட அறத்திற்கும் காரணமாய் நிலைபெற்றது, அரசனால் செலுத்தப்படுகின்ற செங்கோல்.
அரசர், வணிகர் என்னும் ஏனையோர்க்கும் உரித்தாயினும் தலைமை பற்றி ’அந்தணர் நூல்’ என்றார். ’மாதவர் நோன்பும் மடவார் கற்பும், காவலன் காவல்’ (மணிமே.௨௨-௨0௮,௨0௯) அன்றித் தம் காவலான் ஆகலின் ஈண்டு ’அறம்’ என்றது அவை ஒழிந்தவற்றை வேதமும் அறனும் அனாதியாயினும் செங்கோல் இவ்வழி நடவா ஆகலின், அதனை அவற்றிற்கு ’ஆதி’ என்றும் அப்பெற்றியே தனக்கு ஆதியாவது பிறிதில்லை என்பார். "நின்றது’ என்றும் கூறினார்.
a~ndhaNarkku uritthAya vEdatthiRkum adanAl sollappaTTa aRatthiRkum kAraNamAy ~nilaipeRRadu, arasanAl selutthappaDukinRa se~ggOl.
a~ndhaNarkku uritthAya vEdatthiRkum adanAl sollappaTTa aRatthiRkum kAraNamAy ~nilaipeRRadu, arasanAl selutthappaDukinRa se~ggOl.
arasar, vaNikar ennum EnaiyOrkkum uritthAyinum thalaimai paRRi 'a~ndhaNar ~nUl' enRAr. 'mAdavar ~nOnbum maDavAr kaRpum, kAvalan kAval' (maNimE.22-208,209) anRith tham kAvalAn Agalin INDu 'aRam' enRadu avai ozhi~ndavaRRai vEdamum aRanum anAdiyAyinum se~ggOl ivvazhi ~naDavA Agalin, adanai avaRRiRku 'Adi' enRum appeRRiyE tanakku AdiyAvadu piRidillai enbAr. "~ninRadu' enRum kURinAr.
M.KaruNAnidhi
ஓர் அரசின் செங்கோன்மைதான் அறவோர் நூல்களுக்கும் அறவழிச் செயல்களுக்கும் அடிப்படையாக அமையும்.
Or arasin se~ggOnmaidAn aRavOr ~nUlgaLukkum aRavazhich cheyalgaLukkum aDippaDaiyAka amaiyum.
Would anyone be prepared to say that MK means here that VaLLuvar did not include the Vedas in the translated terms 'aRavOr ~nUlgaL'?
Some links to quick-referencing TirukkuRaL
Thirukural in Tamil, English and Transliteration
No.1 Tamil Newspaper - Dinamalar
?ி?ு?்?ு??் (Thirukkural) By ?ி?ு??்?ு??்(Thiruvalluvar): ?ொ?ு?்?ா?் - ???ி??் - ?ெ?்?ோ?்?ை
Browse the text of Tirukkural
*****
shrI Raghy pleads in post no.19:
"Kindly don't equate Manu Smrithi in anyway to Thirukkural, please."
We should understand that TiruvaLLuvar did not compose his work in isolation, sitting in an island. It would not be incorrect to surmise that he was a scholar in SamskRtam too and that he was well versed with the Vedas, UpaniShads and Dharma ShAstra of that language. As he has omitted the last and important puruShArtha which is mokSha, it is clear that VaLLuvar designed is work as a dharma-shAstra--nIdi nUl, rather than intended it be the 'Tamizh MaRai--veda' that should replace the Vedas.
Therefore, there is no surprise that VaLLuvar has used other Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts liberally in his kuRaLs and echo their messages. After all, dharma shAstra originated in the Vedas and all other texts only followed suit.
Here is a link:
The Kural in light of Jaina, Buddhist and Hindu classics
Jaina ideas in Thirukkural
