{"id":4329,"date":"2013-07-13T01:55:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=4329"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:55:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:55:14","slug":"25-building-and-destroying-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/02-works-of-the-mother\/01-cwmce\/02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02\/25-building-and-destroying-vol-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-25_Building and Destroying.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

\n
\nEleven <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n


\nBuilding
\nand Destroying <\/font> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n                    C<\/font><\/span>hildren, you all know what it is to build and to destroy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Weapon in hand, the warrior goes forth to
\ndestroy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\nbuilder draws up plans, digs foundations, and the toiling hands of men build a farmhouse
\nfor the peasant or a palace for a prince. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It
\nis better to build than to destroy, and yet destroying is sometimes necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>You, children, who have strong arms and hands,
\ndo you only build? Do you never destroy? And if you do, what do you destroy? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Listen to this account of an Indian legend: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A
\nnew-born baby lay in a grove. You might think that he was sure to die, for his
\nmother had laid him there and gone away never to return. But it so happened
\nthat honey-sweet drops fell from the beautiful flowers of the Illupay tree and
\nnourished the tiny child until a good woman passed on her way to worship great
\nShiva in the temple near the grove. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>At
\nthe sight of the infant, her heart was moved with pity; she took him up and
\ncarried him to her husband who welcomed him gladly, for he had no son of his
\nown. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The
\ncouple adopted the unknown child from the Illupay grove. But very soon the
\nneighbours began to mock them, reproaching them for taking care of a child
\nwithout caste. So, for fear of displeasing them by looking after the baby
\nthemselves, they put him in a hammock hung from the beams of a stable, and
\nentrusted him to an outcaste family. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A
\nfew years later the boy, strong in body and bright in mind, said farewell to
\nthose who had showed him kindness and set out alone to travel. After walking
\nfor some time, he sat down to rest at the foot of a palm-tree. And it happened
\nthat the tree <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 231<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

took care of him and seemed to love him like the woman who had
\nonce taken him up in the Illupay grove. For though it might seem impossible
\nthat a tree with such a tall trunk could shelter someone in the shade of its
\nleaves throughout one whole day, the story tells that the shadow did indeed
\nkeep still and shield the boy with its coolness for as long as he wished to
\nsleep. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now why should it have happened like that?
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Why was the child saved from his very
\nbirth and why did the palm-tree shelter him from the heat of the sun? Because
\nhis life was precious: this child was one day to become the noble Tiruvalluvar<\/span>, the famous Tamil poet and author of the sweet
\nverses of the Kural<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Thus there are things and beings who must be
\nprotected, for they bring messages to the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nus be glad to have strong arms so that we can enfold with their strength what is
\nbeautiful, good, true, and guard it from evil and death. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And
\nit is to guard these things that we must sometimes fight and destroy.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Tiruvalluvar<\/span>, who gave golden words to the people, could
\nalso fight and kill. He slew the demon of Kaveripakam<\/span>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In Kaveripakam<\/span> there lived a farmer who owned a thousand head
\nof cattle and vast fields of corn. But a demon had been terrifying the
\ncountryside; he uprooted the crops from the soil, and slew cattle and men. And
\nthe hearts of the people of Kaveripakam<\/span> were
\ndistressed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI
\nwill give house, land and money to the hero who will rid us of this demon,\u201d
\nsaid the wealthy farmer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>For
\na long time no hero appeared, and the farmer asked the <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 232<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

sages who lived on the mountain what he ought to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cGo
\nto Tiruvalluvar<\/span>,\u201d said the sages of the mountain. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>So
\nhe went to visit the young poet and asked for his help. Then Tiruvalluvar<\/span> took some ashes and spread them on the palm of
\nhis hand and on it wrote five sacred letters, uttered some mantras, then threw
\nthe ashes into the air. And the power of the letters and the mantras fell upon
\nthe demon, so that he died. This filled the people of Kaveripakam<\/span>
\nwith joy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Later, when Tiruvalluvar<\/span>
\ncame to the town of Madura<\/span>, many people gathered
\ntogether to hear him recite lines from his beautiful poem, and they were
\nenchanted by the verses composed by the child from the Illupay grove: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Hard it is to find in this world <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A greater good than kindness. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\non a bench, beside a pool where lotus flowers floated on the tranquil waters,
\nsome very learned poets were sitting in a row. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>These men on the bench had no intention of
\nmaking room for a fellow-poet of low birth, but they tried to confound him with
\ntheir questions and to catch him out in some mistake. At last they said: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cO
\nPariah, put your poem on this bench, and if it is truly a work of beauty, the
\nbench will hold nothing but the Kural<\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Tiruvalluvar<\/span> placed his writings next to them, and the
\nlegend says that the bench at once shrank until it was just large enough to
\nhold only the poem. So the proud and jealous poets of Madura<\/span>
\ntumbled into the water of the pool! Yes, the forty-nine envious men fell into
\nthe pool amid the lotuses. They came out dripping and ashamed. And from that
\nday, all who speak the Tamil language have a great love for the Kural<\/span>.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Children, do you find it sad that the demon of
\nKaveripakam<\/span> was slain? And do you think it was a pity
\nthat the forty-nine <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 233<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

bad poets of Madura<\/span> fell into the water?
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>In this
\nworld there are both good and evil things; and we should cherish and defend
\nonly the good, fight and undermine the evil. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>All
\nwise men, like Tiruvalluvar<\/span> the noble poet, know and
\nare able to do this. And the wiser they are, the better they do it. But even
\nlittle children who are not yet very wise or very strong can emulate them and
\nthus grow in valour<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>This is how Avvai, the sister of Tiruvalluvar<\/span>, emulated her brother. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>One
\nday as she was sitting on the ground in a narrow street of Urayur<\/span>,
\nthree men passed by: one was a king and the other two were poets. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As
\nthe king approached, she drew up one of her feet as a mark of respect. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When the first poet came, out of regard for
\nhim, Avvai drew back her other foot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nwhen the second poet came near, however, she suddenly stretched out both her
\nlegs, barring his way. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>This behaviour<\/span>
\nseemed rude, but Avvai knew very well what she was doing, for the second poet
\nwas a pretentious man who claimed talent though he had none. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And
\nsince he seemed irritated and asked why she had treated him so, she replied: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThen make me a couplet in which the word
\n`wit’ occurs thrice!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Seeing that people had gathered round, the
\npoet wanted to show his skill, but he was quite unable to make the prescribed
\nword fit into the lines more than twice. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhat have you done then,\u201d laughed Avvai,
\n\u201cwith the last wit you have left, which cannot find a place in your lines?\u201d And
\nso she put the pretentious man to shame. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Do
\nyou think that she took pleasure in being rude? Certainly not. But to her,
\npretension did not seem worthy of respect. She knew how to distinguish between
\nwhat should be <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 234<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

respected and what should not. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cGood people,\u201d she would say, \u201cgo towards what
\nis good, just as the swan goes towards the lake where the lotus blooms. But the
\nwicked seek what is bad, just as the vulture, attracted by the smell, swoops
\ndown upon its dreadful food.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

So, brave children of every land, what are
\nthe evil things that you should learn to fight? What are the things that man
\nmust master or destroy? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>All
\nthat threatens his life and is harmful to his progress, all that weakens or
\ndegrades him, all that makes him unhappy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim harness the power of the flood by bridging the raging torrents and building
\ndykes along the swelling rivers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim build strong ships able to withstand the fury of the wind and waves. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim drain and dry the fatal swamps where the demon of fever hides in the damp. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim make war on wild beasts wherever they are a danger to him. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim train skilful doctors to drive out pain and sickness everywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim strive to conquer poverty, the cause of hunger, which makes so many mothers
\ngrieve because their children have no bread. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim abolish wickedness, envy, injustice, which make life miserable for all.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And what are the things that man should
\ncherish and defend? All those that give him life and make him better, stronger
\nand more joyful. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>So
\nlet him watch over every child that comes into the world, for its life is
\nprecious. <\/span>
\n
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 235<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim protect the friendly trees and grow plants and flowers for his food and his
\ndelight. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim build dwellings that are strong, clean and spacious. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let
\nhim preserve with care the holy temples, statues, pictures, vases, embroidery,
\nas well as beautiful songs and poems, and all that increases his happiness with
\nits beauty. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>But
\nabove all, children of India and other lands, let men cherish the heart that loves,
\nthe mind that thinks honest thoughts and the hand that accomplishes loyal
\ndeeds. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage – 236<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eleven   Building and Destroying                       Children, you all know what it is to build and to destroy. \u00a0Weapon in hand, the warrior goes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-words-of-long-ago-volume-02","wpcat-123-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}