A Shaivite Perspective: An Enquiry into Vaḷḷalār’s Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam
Dr. Yesu Karunanidhi
When a year of spiritual orientation was introduced prior to theological studies as part of our priestly formation, and when we were initiated into it through various types of meditation, quite a few of our batch-mates were agitated saying, ‘What is the use of sitting idle in an isolated place when the people outside are struggling for their livelihood?’ ‘Are not spiritual traditions blind to the world here and now?’ ‘Have the spiritual traditions of our soil ever contributed to the secular well-being of our people?’ When a serious probe is done it is very vivid that the Bhakti traditions of our soil have a lot to enlighten us in our understanding of the preferential option for the poor. Here, let us take Vaḷḷalār’s Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam as the sample text and establish jīvakāruṇyam (‘compassion or mercy to all souls or lives’) as the option for the poor.
Imperatives for the Option for the Poor
Vaḷḷalār’s Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam places before us three imperatives for the option for the poor:
(i) We are related to one another physically. “All souls are alike, because they are all brought to their physical body by the Lord. So, they are all equal and related to each other. When one sees, hears, knows that one of his brothers is suffering from some trouble he too suffers. This is because of the bodily relationship that exists between the two.” (Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 1).
(ii) We are bound to each other in a spiritual relationship. “Likewise, when one soul reflects the suffering of another soul, knowing the spiritual relationship existing between them, we should understand this is a right exercised by the souls.” (Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 1).
(iii) We have shared emotional connection vertically with God and horizontally with one another. “When one soul is happy another soul rejoices in it; when one is unhappy the other suffers with it … Grace is God’s compassion (‘tayavu’); mercy is a human person’s compassion.” (Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 1).
Characteristics of a Vulnerable Person
Vaḷḷalār goes a step ahead when he expands poverty to eight vulnerabilities that a human person suffers from: “hunger (physical and intellectual), thirst (physical and emotional), ailment (disorder in physical harmony), craving (not being satisfied with anything), emptiness (lack of education and wealth), peril (that befalls on account of pride, forgetfulness, change of actions), fear (a tremor between body and mind), and extermination (letting a soul forcefully out of the body).” (Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 1, 3). A person who suffers from any one of the aforementioned vulnerabilities needs compassion from other persons.
Option for the Poor as the Worship of God
Vaḷḷalār parallels jīvakāruṇyam to the worship of God, and asserts that all the religious practices, rites, and rituals without compassion for the souls are mere magical actions (Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 1, 2). Tirumūlar in Tirumantiram 270 also strikes the same string when he says that he lifts love for one another equal to the place of God. To bring this concept to action he enumerates: “It is for all to offer in worship a green leaf to the Lord; it is for all to give mouthful to the cow; it is for all to give a handful of food to others before sitting down to eat; it is for all, good, kind words on others to bestow” (cf. Tirumantiram 252). Here, in the four steps, the first step instructs one to love and worship God; the second exhorts one to love all creatures; the third instructs to feed the other human persons; and the fourth step refers to speaking good and kind words.
Review of Jīvakāruṇyam
It is very strange to note that Vaḷḷalār asserts that one is born a vulnerable person (cf. eight vulnerabilities mentioned above) on account of his lack of jīvakāruṇyam in his previous birth (cf. Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 2). This understanding not only dehumanises a person, as it sheds him of his responsibility and discernment, but also justifies structural poverty or vulnerability.
Prerequisite of Jīvakāruṇyam
Vaḷḷalār proposes that only an enlightened person can embrace the vulnerable persons and practice jīvakāruṇya oḻukkam. That enlightenment is the light that is within him. When that light is bright everything within him shines, and when that light is dismal his entire house suffers from darkness (cf. Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, Part 3). Tirukkuraḷ, no. 315, calls this light as intelligence.
In sum, Vaḷḷalār’s Jīvakāruṇya Oḻukkam, a sample text of Śaivite Bhakti Literature, expands the horizon of the poor by including different vulnerable persons, and invites us to embrace jīvakāruṇyam as the preferential option for the poor in action. Hence, in Vaḷḷalār’s writings, the option for the poor, does not remain a mere sentiment but becomes a sheer commitment.
About the Author
Dr. Yesu Karunanidhi, a priest of the Archdiocese of Madurai, currently facilitates formation and instructs at St. Paul’s Seminary, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. His circle of influence consists of cross-cultural studies and inter-textual readings.
