Thirukkural 948…
Chapter: Medicine.
nōyutal nāṭi atutaṇikkum nōymutal
vāyppac ceyal vāināṭi.
Noy naḍi…
The word “noy” can also mean “fear” and “illness.” Thus, if a disturbance or deficiency that occurs in the body becomes a source of fear, it begins to take the form of an illness in one’s experience. That sickness may then become a cause for the arising of another sickness.
So, the question is, before fear occurs in the mind, what is the nature of fear, and how does it begin?
Noy mudhal naḍi…
One must go back to the root of the fear that arises in the mind, to the first cause of the sensation of bodily disturbance, which is taken for disease.
Adhu thanikkum vay naḍi…
One has to find the true word and its inner voice, which can dissolve that fear and recognize it as the supreme medicine.
Vayppach seyal…
Take this supreme medicine without fail in a way suitable to the body and the inner being, continuously, and remove fear from the mind completely. This may be described as the greatest opportunity ever offered to a man.
The same truth is conveyed in the saying attributed to Avvaiyar also.
“Health is the best wealth.
That is, a life without the fear that becomes the first cause for perceiving something as illness becomes the greatest and most complete wealth one can have.
Thus viewed from this inner and spiritual angle, the teaching of Valluvar on “medicine” need not be taken as merely a medicine for the physical body. It is also the supreme medicine that shows the root of the disease, takes away the fear at its source, and brings back the natural peace of the inner being.
Long live Tamil 🙏.
May the wisdom of Valluvar grow.🙏
Aadesh 