The War of Enlightenment: What is it?

ArutkuRal devotes more than five chapters to explain the intricacies of the war of Enlightenment. It is the war  all civilized societies must wage  continuously and tirelessly to maintain the civilized way of life.  But it may be asked: No civilization known to history has managed to maintain itself at the high level; civilizations rise and fall and some disappear into the thin air. The great moments in the history of a nation is only  a fine blossom of creative forces that blooms and withers only to reappear, if at all, several centuries later. There are ups and downs  over which man has no control.  The rise  and decline are beyond the powers of the mortal individuals to regulate and control. But  all these because we never UNDERSTOOD why nations fall.  Once we understand the hidden forces that bring about DECLINE and there is collective awareness of these forces, it is possible to arrest if not delay the decline of nations. The present historical situation where communication technology has brought about a revolution  in the spread of information may enable us to be COLLECTIVELY AWARE of the forces of decline and hence collectively wage battles against it.   The war of enlightenment seeks to ENLIGHTEN MAN  so that he is freed from the bondage that exists in the form of prejudices  in the psychic interiority.  A collective awareness of this and a vigilance against such forces may help us to arrest the decline  so that the nation continues to be productive and creative.

                                        arutkaNNee kaNNaay anaivarukkum viduthitharum
                                        porutkOLu daiyappukaril pOr

                                 «Õð¸ñ§½ ¸ñ½¡ö «¨ÉÅÕìÌõ Ţξ¢¾Õõ
                                 ¦À¡Õ𧸡٠¨¼ÂôҸâø §À¡÷

                                          izithakamai  ceRRu  iRavaa meynjaanam
                                          uzitharaveng  kumoongkum pOr

                                          ­Æ¢¾¸¨Á ¦ºüÚ ­ÈÅ¡ ¦ÁöﻡÉõ
                                   ¯Æ¢¾Ã¦Åí ̧Á¡íÌõ §À¡÷

What is the primary motivation?

Unlike the wars of greed and protests and revolts  against injustice where there can be killing, in this  war  of enlightenement,  killing is not only avoided but never aimed at.  If there is killing in such wars then it defeats its own purpose.  However there is destruction but what it  seeks to destroy is the METAPHYSICAL IGNORANCE the root cause of which is ANAVAM , a metaphysical reality that is ALREADY THERE in the psychic interiority of every individual  and make him an ANU, a finite individual who thrives only with limited understanding. Ordinary understanding is characterized by finitude and it is only because the Anavam blocks off and disfigures,  distorts visions that  there are prejudices of various kinds. The SEEING is delimited by the presence of ANAVAM and because of  which exists DARKNESS in understanding that we recognize as IGNORANCE.  Man is mean and miserable only because his SEEING is delimited and once the delimitation  is destroyed and overcome, he  begins to SEE more and through that become  more enlightened  and illuminated.

                                          kuRRanjcey  vaanin kuun aRuththup pOkki
                                          naRRanjceya  vUkkunal larutpOr

                                        ÌüÈï ¦ºö Å¡É¢ýÜý «ÚòÐô §À¡ì¸¢
                                ¿üÈ了 çìÌõ¿ø ÄÕð§À¡÷
 

                                           kollung karuththinRi  kodaiyaa meynjaanam
                                          vellavee viLangkum viirapOr

                                        ¦¸¡øÖí ¸Õò¾¢ýÈ¢ ¦¸¡¨¼Â¡ ¦ÁöﻡÉõ
                                ¦ÅøħŠŢÇíÌõ Å£Ãô§À¡÷

                                          uNmai uNarththi uyarniithi viLakkiyuLam
                                          vellum vizuppa mudaiya

                                        ¯ñ¨Á ¯½÷ò¾¢ ¯Â÷¿£¾¢ Å¢Ç츢ÔÇõ
                                ¦ÅøÖõ Å¢ØôÀ Ó¨¼Â

The war is waged against UNTRUTH, against FALSITY and HYPOCRACY,  against any  PRETENSES  to genuine wisdom  so that TRUTH stands firm and well established  as the beacon  of LIGHT  that keeps on showing  the RIGHT FORM of existence to everyone in the community.

What is the Outcome?

What is destroyed is the metaphysical ignorance which is the source of all the evils of man. And with its destruction what we have is the augmentation of GRACE in the bosom of man; inhumanity is destroyed and in its place humanness with its attendant  LOVE comes to prevail. There is SYMPATHY for the downtrodden and needy ; more CARE and CONCERN for the poor and  ignorant. The people  in the lower rungs of development- and there are always such people in every society-  are not hated despised and scorned. Despite all the problems they create for society as a whole,  appropriate steps are taken and national wealth is spend to improve their lot.

                                          arutkathirai adaviisi aRaththaaRu akalaathu
                                          irutkadiya viYarrum pOr

                                       «Õ𸾢¨Ã «¼Å£º¢ «Èò¾¡Ú «¸Ä¡Ð
                                ­Õð¸Ê ŢÂüÚõ §À¡÷

                                          arutpOrin vaakaikaL athikarikkum punitham
                                          vizuppaaRRin meelaakkum viththai

                                «Õð§À¡Ã¢ý Å¡¨¸¸û «¾¢¸Ã¢ìÌõ ÒÉ¢¾õ
                                Å¢ØôÀ¡üÈ¢ý §ÁÄ¡Ìõ Å¢ò¨¾

There is now more of PUNITHAM, honesty purity and such other divine qualities all because the inner darkness of evil is destroyed without however deviating ethical norms. The methods  are just as important as the intentions and the methods always remain  ethically acceptable. Furthermore, more specifically it deals with the Unconscious and hence necessarily the war is Depth Psychological.  It seeks to OPEN UP THE EYES so that the hidden and unconscious, that which remains covered-up  do not remain so.

                                      aziccinthai pOkki arutsinthai thaakkinuthal
                                      vizithirakkum viththaip pOr

                                      «Æ¢îº¢ó¨¾ §À¡ì¸¢ «Õðº¢ó¨¾ ¾¡ì¸¢Ñ¾ø
                              ŢƢ¾¢ÈìÌõ Å¢ò¨¾ô §À¡÷

The nuthalvizi is a metaphor for the seeing of the Unconscious and hidden., that which is the substance of metaphysical ignorance. It is this eye that is opened up in the war of enlightenment and hence it is a battle waged in the metaphysical realms, the realms of culture  that is sustained by religions , philosophies and ideologies.

The Genuine Political Leader.

 Now we can see that  it is he who wages this kind of war  who deserves to be called the LEADER  for it is he who keeps the whole society highly civilized, safeguards the whole community from falling into the clutches of evil, ignorance and general decay.  What is much more important  for human happiness is the  ETHICAL  QUALITY of the general public,: purity honesty truthfulness and genuine sympathy. A wealthy nation of  unethical  individuals will never make anyone happy. Happiness is not simply  that which results as a byproduct of economic prosperity ; it depends much more on humane qualities that are available among the general public.

                                          arasaruL eeRunal larutOr vallaan
                                          porutpOr puuriyar pOr

                                         «ÃºÕû ²Ú¿ø ÄÕð§À¡÷ ÅøÄ¡ý
                                  ¦À¡Õð§À¡÷ ââÂ÷ô §À¡÷
 

                                          amaiccark  kaavathu  arutpOr  alavenin
                                          kumaicca looduLang kuRUukum

                                       «¨Áîº÷ì ¸¡ÅÐ «Õð§À¡÷ «Ä¦ÅÉ¢ý
                                ̨Áîº §Ä¡ÎÇí Ìê¯Ìõ

Where the political  leaders do not attend to the processes of human development , particularly the ethical as such , people tend to be mean and miserable with petty jealousies destructive selfishness and narrow mindedness. There will be no individuals with the LARGER VISION that sustains the whole society at the high level of civilization. The politics that fails to produce such individuals and accord a place of honor for them if they exist,   is already digging its own grave.