Kaniyan Pungundranar


Kaniyan Poongunranar, also Poongundranar or Pungundranar, was an influential Tamil Just World philosopher from the Sangam age from around 6th century BCE. His name Kaniyan implies that he was an Kaala Kanithar . Kaniyan was born and brought up in Mahibalanpatti, a village panchayat in Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga district. He composed two poems in Purananuru and Natrinai.

Purananuru (Verse 192)

Themes

Cosmopolitanism

Poongundranar rejected division of mankind into various categories and emphasised the universality of all humans. The Tamil bards and intellectuals of the time of Poongundranar and those preceding his age considered that all humans, whatever their rank or station in life, were alike.

Natural law

Poongundranar states that the wooden log is carried by the water in its direction and similarly postulates that everything in life will also follow karma. This he calls 'Way of Order'.

Principles of the Way of Order

Throughout his poem, Poongundranar lays down the principles of his version of natural law. The first part of the poem deals with the basic principles of the 'Way of Order' which is his term for natural law.
  • Every human of every town is of the same value because they are கேளிர். Hence, all people should be bound by one, same moral and legal code.
  • நன்று and தீது do not come from others. Hence, humans are liable for both the pleasure and suffering they feel.
  • Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, it is not new. Hence, this life must be made use of to its full potential.

Allegory of the raft

Poongundranar further goes onto explain these principles with an example of a raft.
  • He compares birth to lightning, suggesting it can happen spontaneously anywhere.
  • He gives an example of a raft which is allegorical to human life going downstream a steep hill, having a perilous journey through boulders and faces its climax just as in திறவோர் காட்சியில் which is death.
  • He concludes that since everyone's life is like the raft's journey, it is irrational to magnify the பெரியோ and even worse to diminish சிறியோ, because everyone goes through similar tribulations whatever their social estate might be.

Influence

Poongundranar was extremely influential in the revivalist Self-respect movement. The sentence "Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir" has been adopted as the motto of the World Thamizh Confederation to represent Tamil people.
The quote "Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir" is at present depicted in the United Nations Organisation. G. G. Ponnambalam concluded his 1966 address to the 21st session of the United Nations General Assembly by invoking this quote. A. P. J Abdul Kalam was the first one to quote this famous quote in European Union, another one is Narendra Modi who quoted it in .
The first musical form of Yaadhum Oore poem was composed by composer Raleigh Rajan and was chosen as the theme song of 10th World Tamil Conference. It has been sung by Academy nominated singer Bombay Jayashri and Karthik (singer) among other international artists. It was part of the album Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil and became commercially successful, featuring in Amazon's Top#10 International Music albums.