| 词条 | Porul (Kural book) |
| 释义 |
The Book of Poruḷ, in full Poruṭpāl (Tamil: பொருட்பால், literally, “division of wealth or polity”), also known as the Book of Wealth, Book of Polity, the Second Book or Book Two in translated versions, is the second of the three books or parts of the Kural literature, authored by the ancient Indian philosopher Valluvar. Written in High Tamil distich form, it has 70 chapters each containing 10 kurals or couplets, making a total of 700 couplets all dealing with statecraft. Poruḷ, which means both 'wealth' and 'meaning', correlates with the second of the four ancient Indian values of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. The Book of Poruḷ deals with polity, or virtues of an individual with respect to the surroundings, including the stately qualities of administration, wisdom, prudence, nobility, diplomacy, citizenship, geniality, industry, chastity, sobriety and teetotalism, that is expected of every individual, keeping aṟam or dharma as the base.{{sfn| R. Kumaravelan (Ed.) |2008|pp=4–17}}{{sfn|Mohan Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334}} EtymologyPoruḷ is the Tamil word that corresponds to the Sanskrit term 'artha', and pāl refers to 'division'. Similar to its cousins aṟam (dharma), inbam (kama), and veedu (moksha), poruḷ as a concept includes multiple meanings, rendering it almost impossible to capture its meaning in a single word in any non-Indian language.{{sfn| Gavin Flood |1996|pp=11–13}} The term artha, however, is common to all Indian languages. As one of the four mutually non-exclusive aims of human life in Indian philosophy called the Puruṣārtha,{{sfn| James Lochtefeld |2002|pp=55–56}}{{sfn| Bruce Sullivan |1997|pp=29–30}}{{sfn| Encyclopædia Britannica|1992|p=601}}[1] poruḷ literally translates as "meaning, sense, goal, purpose or essence" depending on the context.[2] Poruḷ is also a broader concept in the scriptures of Hinduism. As a concept, it has multiple meanings, all implying "means of life", activities and resources that enable one to be in a state one wants to be in.[3] Poruḷ applies to both an individual and a government. In an individual's context, poruḷ includes wealth, career, activity to make a living, financial security and economic prosperity. At government level, poruḷ includes social, legal, economic and worldly affairs. Proper pursuit of it is considered an important and necessary objective of both the individual and the government.{{sfn| Bruce Sullivan |1997|pp=29–30}}{{sfn| Constance Jones and James Ryan|2007|p=45}} John Lochtefeld describes artha as the means of life, and includes material prosperity.{{sfn| James Lochtefeld |2002|pp=55–56}} Karl Potter explains it as an attitude and capability that enables one to make a living, to remain alive, to thrive as a free person.{{sfn| Karl H. Potter|2002|pp=1–29}} It includes economic prosperity, security and health of oneself and those one feels responsible for.[4] Artha includes everything in one's environment that allows one to live. It is neither an end state nor an endless goal of aimlessly amassing money, claims Karl Potter, rather it is an attitude and necessary requirement of human life.{{sfn| Karl H. Potter|2002|pp=1–29}} In a different viewpoint, John Koller suggests artha is not an attitude, rather it is one of the necessities of human life.[3] A central premise of Hindu philosophy, claims Koller, is that every person should live a joyous and pleasurable life, that such fulfilling life requires every person's needs and desires be acknowledged and fulfilled, that needs can only be satisfied through activity and when sufficient means for those activities are available. Artha, then, is best described as pursuit of activities and means necessary for a joyous and pleasurable life.[3] Daya Krishna views artha as a subset of kama and karma.{{sfn| Daya Krishna|2000|pp=11–24}} Vatsyayana in Kama Sutra defines artha as the acquisition of arts, land, cattle, wealth, equipages and friends. He explains, artha is also protection of what is already acquired, and the increase of what is protected.[5] Gavin Flood explains artha as "worldly success" without violating dharma (moral responsibility), kama (love) and one's journey towards moksha (spiritual liberation).{{sfn| Gavin Flood |1996|pp=11–13}} Flood clarifies that artha in ancient Hindu literature, as well as purushartha, is better understood as a goal of Man (not a man). In other words, it is one of the four purposes of human life. The survival and the thriving of humans requires artha—that is, economic activity, wealth and its creation, worldly success, profit, political success and all that is necessary for human existence.{{sfn| Gavin Flood |1996|pp=11–13}} The book and its chaptersThe Book of Poruḷ talks about the interpersonal skills of an individual that are essential to lead a meaningful life in the society. It covers both political and economic matters.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=155}}{{sfn|Sujit Mukherjee|1999|pp=392–393}} With 70 chapters, the Book of Poruḷ is the largest of the three books of the Kural text. The chapters chiefly deal with polity and administration, including citizenship and social relations.{{sfn|Mohan Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334}}{{sfn|SSP|2012|pp=vii–xvi}} As with Books I and III of the Kural text, the author did not group the chapters under any subdivisions.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=158}} However, the ten medieval commentators, who were the first to write commentaries about the Tirukkural, divided the Book of Poruḷ variously between three and six portions.{{sfn| R. Kumaravelan (Ed.) |2008|pp=4–17}}{{sfn|M. V. Aravindan|1968|p=105}} For example, while Parimelalhagar's division consists of three parts, other medieval scholiasts have divided the Book of Poruḷ into five or even six portions.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=158}} {{hidden begin|title = Outline of the Book of Poruḷ |titlestyle = background:lightblue;width:60% }}
In the Book of Poruḷ, the Kural literature appears not only as a book of lofty wisdom, but also as a book of "shrewd cunning," according to Czech Indologist Kamil Zvelebil, still keeping the moral very empirical and pragmatic as with the rest of the work.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=164}} The book is less virtuous than the Book of Aram and more diplomatic since it deals with various people in the society. Morals are presented only incidentally and sporadically except in the appendix consisting of the final 13 chapters.{{sfn|Manavalan, 2009|p=27}} The initial chapters on royalty define the ideal sovereign, such as being well informed; keeping befitting company; not letting opportunities slide; using discretion in the choice of civil and military servants; holding a benign sceptre of gold firm yet popular, rather than of iron; and being ever active without any despair in affliction. The chapters on ministers of state deal with the qualifications of ministers, their conduct in the royal court, and their diplomacy. The chapters on the essentials of the state deal with the necessaries of a kingdom, handling international relationships, and virtuous tactics of warfare. There are also chapters that forbid evil conducts such as uxoriousness, harlotry, intoxication and gambling and a chapter on healthy living. The "appendix" chapters deal with both affirmative morality, such as honour, greatness, perfection, courtesy and self-reprobation, and negative morality, such as dread of poverty, mendicancy, dread of mendicancy and vileness.{{sfn|Manavalan, 2009|pp=27–28}} Structural plan of the bookThe Kural literature has a very distinct and a well-thought-out structural plan, giving the Kural couplets two different meaning, namely, a structural meaning (when read in relation to the whole) and a proverbial meaning (when read in isolation).{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=163}} This is more pronounced in the Book of Poruḷ, where the couplets, when read in relation to the whole, reveal that the Kural's ethics is entirely different from that of Chanakya or Machiavelli.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=165}} The very order of the Book of Poruḷ within the Kural literature indicates that the public life of a person, which the Book of Poruḷ expounds, is discussed only after his or her inner, moral growth has been ensured by the Book of Aṟam preceding it. In short, the entire structural meaning of the Book of Poruḷ emphasizes that only a cultured, civilized man, who is morally and spiritually ripe, is fit to enter public or political life.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=165}} Comparison with other ancient textsThe statecraft dealt with in the Book of Poruḷ has semblance with several ancient texts in the pan-Indian expanse such as the Manusmriti, Kautilya's Arthashastra, and Kamandaka's Nitisara, to name a few.{{sfn|Mohan Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334}} The codes of kingship, diplomacy, and citizenship found in the Book of Poruḷ share a common ground with these texts.{{sfn|SSP|2012|pp=vii–xvi}} However, the Book of Poruḷ remains unique in its attitudes and approaches.{{sfn|K. V. Balasubramanian|2016|pp=}} For example, as against the subtle statecraft found in Arthashastra, the ideas of governance and polity found in the Book of Poruḷ are based on a "moralistic and benevolent bedrock".{{sfn|Mohan Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334}} By opposing Manusmriti's social order given in the form of a complex web of hierarchies and discriminations, the Book of Poruḷ suggests human brotherhood and oneness of humanity.{{sfn|Mohan Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334}} Comparison with the ArthashastraDespite several scholars trying to draw parallels between the economic concepts of Kautilya found in Arthashastra and those found in the Book of Porul, there seems to be no resemblance between the two.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|pp=901–902}}{{sfn|K. V. Balasubramanian|2016|pp=69–87}} While Valluvar gives primary importance to agriculture in the Book of Porul, this is not the case in Arthashastra.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|pp=901–902}} While Kautilya suggests various taxes to raise the revenue of a government, including by means of intimidation and persuation, Valluvar does not entertain this. Rather, he believes in taxation by consent.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|pp=901–902}} Kautilya's economic system is primarily based on caste, which is virtually absent in Valluvar's thought. Valluvar's economic system, on the other hand, is based on ethical principles, which are not found in the Arthashastra.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|pp=901–902}} While Kautilya allows exploiting the gullibility and religious beliefs of the subject, and even drinking and prostitution, as means to enriching the state's coffers, Valluvar denounces these as sins.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|pp=901–902}} While Kautilya writes about arts and artists, Valluvar strangely doesn’t touch upon the subject of arts and performance arts anywhere in the Kural text.{{sfn|Sivagnanam, 1974|pp=6–7}} InfluenceValluvar's thoughts on agriculture found in the Book of Poruḷ is said to have influenced the Chola emperor Karikala of the 1st century CE to undertake massive developmental measures for land reclamation, colonisation, construction of dams, and other agrarian reforms.{{sfn|T. N. Hajela |2008|p=899}} See also{{Portal|India|Literature|Poetry}}
Citations1. ^See* A. Sharma (1982), The Puruṣārthas: a study in Hindu axiology, Michigan State University, {{ISBN|978-99936-24-31-8}}, pp 9–12; See review by Frank Whaling in Numen, Vol. 31, 1 (Jul., 1984), pp. 140–142;* A. Sharma (1999), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/40018229 The Puruṣārthas: An Axiological Exploration of Hinduism], The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 223–256;* Chris Bartley (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Editor: Oliver Learman, {{ISBN|0-415-17281-0}}, Routledge, Article on Purushartha, pp 443 2. ^See* Sanskrit English Dictionary University of Kloen, Germany (2009)* Karl Potter (1998), Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 3, {{ISBN|81-208-0310-8}}, Motilal Banarsidass, pp 610 (note 17) 3. ^1 2 {{cite journal | last = Koller | first = John | author-link = | title = Puruṣārtha as Human Aims | journal = Philosophy East and West | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 315–319 | publisher = | location = | date = October 1968 | language = | url = | jstor = | issn = | doi = | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | access-date = }} 4. ^Scott Walsworth and Suresh Kalagnanam (2013), Applying the Hindu four stage life cycle model to human resource management, International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, Volume 6, Number 4, pp. 507–519 5. ^The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), [https://archive.org/stream/kamasutraofvatsy00vatsuoft#page/8/mode/2up The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana], University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8 ReferencesPrimary sources (Tamil){{Refbegin|30em}}
Secondary sources{{ref begin|30em}}
1 : Tirukkural |
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