40.2 Learning

 40.2 Learning

Question:

What are the benefits of learning?

 

 Answer:

             Learning is supreme and everlasting wealth.

No other wealth is real wealth.                                                                (Couplet – 400)

 

Why should a man fail to learn till he dies, when to the

learned man, every country is his own and every town is his own?              (Couplet – 397)

 

The learning acquired in one birth helps a man in seven births.              (Couplet – 398)

 

கேடில் விழுச்செல்வம் கல்வி யொருவற்கு

மாடல்ல மற்றை யவை.                                                               (குறள் – 400)

யாதானும் நாடாமால் ஊராமால் என்னொருவன்

சாந்துணையுங் கல்லாத வாறு.                                                    (குறள் – 397)

ஒருமைக்கண் தான் கற்ற கல்வி ஒருவற்கு

எழுமையும் ஏமாப் புடைத்து.                                                       (குறள் – 398)

Explanation:

The wealth of learning that one has acquired is indestructible, and it cannot be taken away by others. Unlike some other forms of wealth, it does not lose its value over time. It cannot be destroyed even by acts of nature. Therefore, the benefit of learning is that the learner is in possession of a precious asset. In addition to possessing a valuable asset, the learner is welcome in many countries of the world. This is evident because millions of people who have acquired knowledge through learning migrate to other towns and countries of their choice and are welcomed wherever they go. Valluvar wonders that despite learning being an extraordinary asset, how come many people failed to gain knowledge through proper learning.

Valluvar believes that what one has learnt will be useful to him in seven successive births. The eastern religions posit that the soul is permanent and it takes many reincarnations. Valluvar’s reference to the number seven does not really mean exactly seven. When someone says he has a million questions, he does not mean that he actually has one million questions. He simply means that he has many questions. Likewise, valluvar’s reference to seven births is a reference to many births. The idea that the soul takes multiple births is questionable. Although the eastern religions believe in multiple reincarnations of the soul, the western religions do not do so. We can ignore the contradictions between the eastern and the western religions and simply interpret the term ‘seven births’ as a ‘very long time.’ This interpretation is meaningful because what one has learnt stays with him forever, perhaps except for occasional memory lapses.