Morality (Dharma) - தர்மம் (from Sanskrit)
Original Tamil word - அறம்
The word Dharma is used to convey various meanings like righteousness, ethics, virtue and morality depending on its context of usage. தர்மம் comes from the Vedic culture and is a word that is used extensively in epics like Mahabharata/The Gita to impress upon what is right and what is wrong.
Tamil, however, has different words for each of these meanings: ethics (நெறி), virtue (நல்லொழுக்கம்); அறம் is closely related to morality, and அறநெறி (அறம் + நெறி - a combination of ethics and morality) is the word for righteousness.
Yet, அறம் is much more meaningful than just morality. It means a way of life. Thirukkural preaches on what is அறம் quite elaborately. Valluvar defines அறம் as:
"அழுக்காறு அவாவெகுளி இன்னாச்சொல் நான்கும்
இழுக்கா இயன்றது அறம்" - (குறள் 35)
Jealousy, Desire, Anger and Bitter speech, without these four comes what is called அறம்.
So essentially அறம் is the Tamil world for a disciplined, simplistic way of life without bitterness.
It is clear, அறம் and தர்மம் have different definitions going by the texts that prescribes them. Essentially these are cultural words, and hence they have deeply ingrained asymmetrical meanings. So, we cannot use them interchangeably. This reiterates the need to use the word அறம் and more importantly follow its values, in the right sense as it was meant to be.
Original Tamil word - அறம்
The word Dharma is used to convey various meanings like righteousness, ethics, virtue and morality depending on its context of usage. தர்மம் comes from the Vedic culture and is a word that is used extensively in epics like Mahabharata/The Gita to impress upon what is right and what is wrong.
Tamil, however, has different words for each of these meanings: ethics (நெறி), virtue (நல்லொழுக்கம்); அறம் is closely related to morality, and அறநெறி (அறம் + நெறி - a combination of ethics and morality) is the word for righteousness.
Yet, அறம் is much more meaningful than just morality. It means a way of life. Thirukkural preaches on what is அறம் quite elaborately. Valluvar defines அறம் as:
"அழுக்காறு அவாவெகுளி இன்னாச்சொல் நான்கும்
இழுக்கா இயன்றது அறம்" - (குறள் 35)
Jealousy, Desire, Anger and Bitter speech, without these four comes what is called அறம்.
So essentially அறம் is the Tamil world for a disciplined, simplistic way of life without bitterness.
It is clear, அறம் and தர்மம் have different definitions going by the texts that prescribes them. Essentially these are cultural words, and hence they have deeply ingrained asymmetrical meanings. So, we cannot use them interchangeably. This reiterates the need to use the word அறம் and more importantly follow its values, in the right sense as it was meant to be.
அண. நாகப்பன்
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