Inbam (Kural book)

The Book of Inbam, in full Iṉbattuppāl (Tamil: இன்பத்துப்பால், literally, “division of love”), or in a more sanskritized term Kāmattuppāl (Tamil: காமத்துப்பால்), also known as the Book of Love or Book Three in translated versions, is the third 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 25 chapters each containing 10 kurals or couplets, making a total of 250 couplets all dealing with human love. The term inbam or kamam, which means 'pleasure', correlates with the third of the four ancient Indian values of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. However, unlike Kamasutra, which deals with different methods of lovemaking, the Book of Inbam expounds the virtues and emotions involved in conjugal love between a man and a woman, or virtues of an individual within the walls of intimacy, keeping aṟam or dharma as the base.[1][2]

Etymology

Inbam is the Tamil word that corresponds to the Sanskrit term 'kama', and pāl refers to 'division'. It is one of the four mutually non-exclusive aims of human life in the Indian philosophy called the Puruṣārthas, the other three being aṟam (dharma), poruḷ (artha), and veedu (moksha).[3][4][5][6] The concept of inbam is found in some of the earliest known verses in the Vedas,[7][8] Upanishads,[9] and epics such as the Mahabaratha.[10] Although inbam sometimes connotes sexual desire and longing in contemporary literature,[11] the concept more broadly refers to any desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations.[12][13][14] The term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature.[15][16] Inbam in its sanskritized form kama is common to all Indian languages.

Inbam is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing the other three goals of aram or dharma (virtuous, proper, moral life), poruḷ or artha (material prosperity, income security, means of life) and veedu or moksha (liberation, release, self-actualization).[6][10][17][18]

The book and its chapters

The Book of Inbam talks about the emotions gone through by a man and a woman when they fall in love with each other.[2][19] It covers the emotions of love both in the pre-marital and the post-marital states.[20][21] With 25 chapters, the Book of Inbam is the smallest of the three books of the Kural text.

Outline of the Book of Inbam
Book Three—Book of Love (25 chapters)
  • Chapter 109. Mental Disturbance Caused by the Beauty of the Princess (தகையணங்குறுத்தல் takaiyaṇaṅkuṟuttal): 1081–1090
  • Chapter 110. Recognition of the Signs (of Mutual Love) (குறிப்பறிதல் kuṟippaṟital): 1091–1100
  • Chapter 111. Rejoicing in the Embrace (புணர்ச்சி மகிழ்தல் puṇarccimakiḻtal): 1101–1110
  • Chapter 112. The Praise of Her Beauty (நலம் புனைந்துரைத்தல் nalampuṉainturaittal): 1111–1120
  • Chapter 113. Declaration of Love's Special Excellence (காதற் சிறப்புரைத்தல் kātaṟciṟappuraittal): 1121–1130
  • Chapter 114. The Abandonment of Reserve (நாணுத் துறவுரைத்தல் nāṇuttuṟavuraittal): 1131–1140
  • Chapter 115. The Announcement of the Rumour (அலரறிவுறுத்தல் alaraṟivuṟuttal): 1141–1150
  • Chapter 116. Separation Unendurable (பிரிவாற்றாமை pirivāṟṟāmai): 1151–1160
  • Chapter 117. Complainings (படர் மெலிந்திரங்கல் paṭarmelintiraṅkal): 1161–1170
  • Chapter 118. Eyes Consumed with Grief (கண்விதுப்பழிதல் kaṇvituppaḻital): 1171–1180
  • Chapter 119. The Pallid Hue (பசப்பறு பருவரல் pacappaṟuparuvaral): 1181–1190
  • Chapter 120. The Solitary Anguish (தனிப்படர் மிகுதி taṉippaṭarmikuti): 1191–1200
  • Chapter 121. Sad Memories (நினைந்தவர் புலம்பல் niṉaintavarpulampal): 1201–1210
  • Chapter 122. The Visions of the Night (கனவுநிலையுரைத்தல் kaṉavunilaiyuraittal): 1211–1220
  • Chapter 123. Lamentations at Eventide (பொழுதுகண்டிரங்கல் poḻutukaṇṭiraṅkal): 1221–1230
  • Chapter 124. Wasting Away (உறுப்பு நலனழிதல் uṟuppunalaṉaḻital): 1231–1240
  • Chapter 125. Soliloquy (நெஞ்சொடு கிளத்தல் neñcoṭukiḷattal): 1241–1250
  • Chapter 126. Reserve Overcome (நிறையழிதல் niṟaiyaḻital): 1251–1260
  • Chapter 127. Mutual Desire (அவர்வயின் விதும்பல் avarvayiṉvitumpal): 1261–1270
  • Chapter 128. The Reading of the Signs (குறிப்பறிவுறுத்தல் kuṟippaṟivuṟuttal): 1271–1280
  • Chapter 129. Desire for Reunion (புணர்ச்சி விதும்பல் puṇarccivitumpal): 1281–1290
  • Chapter 130. Expostulation with Oneself (நெஞ்சொடு புலத்தல் neñcoṭupulattal): 1291–1300
  • Chapter 131. Pouting (புலவி pulavi): 1301–1310
  • Chapter 132. Feigned Anger (புலவி நுணுக்கம் pulavi nuṇukkam): 1311–1320
  • Chapter 133. The Pleasures of 'Temporary Variance' (ஊடலுவகை ūṭaluvakai): 1321–1330

As with Books I and II of the Kural text, the author did not group the chapters under any subdivisions.[22] However, the ten medieval commentators, who were the first to write commentaries about the Tirukkural, divided the Book of Inbam variously between two and three portions.[1] For example, while Parimelalhagar's division consists of two parts, other medieval scholiasts have divided the Book of Inbam into three portions.[22]

Poetic aspects

It is generally accepted by scholars that of all the three books of the Kural, the Book of Inbam is where the poetic genius of Valluvar attains its greatest height.[23] This is possibly because the traditions of early classical literature of the Sangam poetry continue to remain strong in the domain of "pleasure." According to T. P. Meenakshisundaram, every couplet of the Book of Inbam may be considered a "dramatic monologue of the agam variety."[24] According to Czech Indologist Kamil Zvelebil, true poetry in the Tirukkural appears in the Book of Inbam, where "the teacher, the preacher in Valluvar has stepped aside, and Valluvar speaks here almost the language of the superb love-poetry of the classical age"[25]:

"Shall I draw back, or yield myself, or shall both mingled be,
When he returns, my spouse, dear as these eyes to me." (Kural 1267)[26]
"Withdraw, it burns; approach, it soothes the pain;
Whence did the maid this wondrous fire obtain?" (Kural 1104)[27]
"A double witchery have glances of her liquid eyes;
One glance is glance that brings me pain; the other heals again." (Kural 1091)[28]

Comparison with other ancient texts

The subject of pleasure that the Book of Inbam deals with is often compared by scholars chiefly with the Kamasutra. However, the Kural's approach of the subject differs entirely from the Kamasutra, which is all about eros and techniques of sexual fulfillment. With a virtuous attitude, the Book of Inbam remains unique as a poetic appreciation of flowering human love as explicated by the Sangam period's concept of intimacy, known as agam in the Tamil literary tradition.[2][19] In the words of Zvelebil, while Kamasutra and all later Sanskrit erotology are sastras, that is, objective and scientific analyses of sex, the Book of Inbam is "a poetic picture of eros, of ideal love, of its dramatic situations."[25] According to Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Book of Inbam helps date the Kural literature since it "describes the hero as a one-woman man and concubines are absent. This is in conformity with Valluvar's views on personal morality."[29]

While the work of Confucius shares many of its philosophies with the first two books of the Kural text, the subject of conjugal love expounded by the Book of Inbam is entirely absent in the work of Confucius.[30][31]

Translations

Of the three books of the Kural, the Book of Inbam has the least number of translations available.[32] The chief reason behind this was that many translators, particularly non-Indian translators, had long mistook the content of the book for something similar to Vatsyayana's Kamasutra and considered it inappropriate to translate after studying the two previous Kural books on virtue and polity.[33] Many of the early European translators, including Constantius Joseph Beschi, Francis Whyte Ellis, William Henry Drew, and Edward Jewitt Robinson had this misconception.[33] Later Western translators such as Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya Swami, too, avoided translating Book Three of the Kural.[34]

Nevertheless, several later scholars of the nineteenth century realized that the Book of Inbam is only a poetic expression of the emotions involved in conjugal human love and started translating it too. For example, Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, a twentieth-century Marathi translator of the Kural, said, "The translation of this book is available in Hindi with the name of 'Tamil Veda', but it includes only two sections: 'Dharma' (Arattuppal) and 'Artha' (Porutpal). The third section discussing 'Kama' (Kamattuppal) has been dropped. Actually in this section there is nothing which can be said to be obscene or vulgar. It is a very fine section. I have translated that section in full."[35]

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 R. Kumaravelan (Ed.) 2008, pp. 4–17.
  2. 1 2 3 Mohan Lal 1992, pp. 4333–4334.
  3. ↑ James Lochtefeld 2002, pp. 55–56.
  4. ↑ Bruce Sullivan 1997, pp. 29–30.
  5. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica 1992, p. 601.
  6. 1 2 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), 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
  7. ↑ Rig Veda Book 10 Hymn 129 Verse 4
  8. ↑ Ralph Griffith (Translator, 1895), The Hymns of the Rig veda, Book X, Hymn CXXIX, Verse 4, pp 575
  9. ↑ Klaus Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 3rd Edition, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4, pp. 173-174
  10. 1 2 R. Prasad 2008, pp. 252–255.
  11. ↑ James Lochtefeld 2002, p. 340.
  12. ↑ James Lochtefeld 2002.
  13. ↑ Macy, Joanna (1975). "The Dialectics of Desire". Numen. BRILL. 22 (2): 145–60. JSTOR 3269765.
  14. ↑ Lorin Roche. "Love-Kama". Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  15. ↑ See:
    • Kate Morris (2011), The Illustrated Dictionary of History, ISBN 978-8189093372, pp 124;
    • Robert E. Van Voorst, RELG: World, Wadsworth, ISBN 978-1-111-72620-1, pp 78
  16. ↑ R. Prasad 2008, pp. 249–270.
  17. ↑ The Hindu Kama Shastra Society (1925), The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, University of Toronto Archives, pp. 8
  18. ↑ Gavin Flood (1996), The meaning and context of the Purusarthas, in Julius Lipner (Editor) - The Fruits of Our Desiring, ISBN 978-1896209302, pp 11-13
  19. 1 2 SSP 2012, pp. vii–xvi.
  20. ↑ Kamil Zvelebil 1973, pp. 155.
  21. ↑ Sujit Mukherjee 1999, pp. 392–393.
  22. 1 2 Kamil Zvelebil 1973, p. 158.
  23. ↑ N. Sanjeevi (Ed.) 1973, p. 12.
  24. ↑ Kamil Zvelebil 1973, p. 165.
  25. 1 2 Kamil Zvelebil 1973, p. 166.
  26. ↑ George Uglow Pope 1886, p. 173.
  27. ↑ George Uglow Pope 1886, p. 152.
  28. ↑ George Uglow Pope 1886, p. 151.
  29. ↑ Parthasarathy, The Hindu, 12 December 2015.
  30. ↑ Anonymous 1999, p. vii.
  31. ↑ K.V. Balasubramanian 2016, pp. 104-111.
  32. ↑ N. Sanjeevi (Ed.) 1973.
  33. 1 2 V. Ramasamy 2001, pp. 28–47.
  34. ↑ Subramuniyaswami, Sivaya (1979). "Thirukural" (PDF). Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  35. ↑ Sane Guruji 1960, p. 21.

Primary sources (Tamil)

Secondary sources

  • Anonymous (1999). Confucius: A Biography (Trans. Lun Yu, in English). Confucius Publishing Co. Ltd.
  • Encyclopædia Britannica (1992). "Kama" in Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (15th ed.). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  • A. A. Manavalan (2010). A Compendium of Tirukkural Translations in English (4 vols.). Chennai: Central Institute of Classical Tamil. ISBN 978-81-90800-02-0.
  • Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 90-04-03591-5. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  • Sane Guruji (1960). Kural, Teen (Three) Purushartha (in Marathi) (2nd ed.). Poona: Continental Prakashan.
  • R. Kumaravelan (Ed.) (2008). திருக்குறள் வ.உ.சிதம்பரனார் உரை (Tirukkural: Va. Voo. Chidhambaranaar Urai) (in Tamil) (1st ed.). Chennai: Pari Nilayam.
  • Mohan Lal (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. V. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-1221-3. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  • James Lochtefeld (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism. 1. New York: Rosen Publishing. ISBN 0-8239-2287-1.
  • Sujit Mukherjee (1999). A Dictionary of Indian Literature: One: Beginnings–1850. 1 (1st ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. ISBN 81-250-1453-5. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  • R. Prasad (2008). History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Volume 12, Part 1. ISBN 978-8180695445.
  • N. Sanjeevi (Ed.) (1973). First All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers (2nd ed.). Chennai: University of Madras.
  • SSP (2012). Thirukkural: Couplets with English Transliteration and Meaning (1st ed.). Chennai: Shree Shenbaga Pathippagam.
  • Bruce Sullivan (1997). Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-8108-3327-2.
  • George Uglow Pope (1886). The Sacred Kurral of Tiruvalluva Nayanar (First ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 8120600223.
  • V. Ramasamy (2001). On Translating Tirukkural (1st ed.). Chennai: International Institute of Tamil Studies.
  • Parthasarathy, Indira (12 December 2015). "Couplets for modern times". The Hindu. Kasturi & Sons. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  • K.V. Balasubramanian (2016). திருக்குறள் பேரொளி (1 ed.). Chennai: New Century Book House. ISBN 978-81-2343-061-4.
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