யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெறுக இவ்வையகம்.
LET ME SHARE
THE BLISS I ATTAINED WITH THE WHOLE WORLD.
THE SPORT OF JELLI-KATTU
This sport of catching and subsequently keeping a bull
under control for a small period of time has remained in the ethos and culture
of Tamil Nadu for the past many millenniums, right from the period of reign of
the legendary Monarch, Saundara Paandiyan, who is also hailed as Lord
Somasundara or Sundareshwara, the presiding deity, in the world-renowned
Madurai Meenaakshi Temple. It has
remained as one of the forms of Martial Art prevalent in Tamil Nadu from those
good old times. There are references of
this sport in some Puranas of the Hindus (Mythological Collections) as
well. In Sreemad-Bhaagavata
Puraana there is a brief reference of an episode involving Lord Krishna
taming, through an extraordinarily brave act of nose-stringing, seven terribly
hostile and as such, thitherto unbridled bulls in a sporting arena in the
kingdom of Ayodhya, ruled by King Nagnajit who fixed this heroic feat of taming
the bulls as the appropriate dowry (vide - Sreemad-Bhaagavata, Skandha
10, Chapter 58, verse 33) to earn the rightful claim to wed his daughter,
princess Satya.
There has been an
unbroken succession of self-realised preceptors (Gurus) adorning some of
the illustrious Peethams or pontificates in this land of Tamils and none
of them have ever spoken a word against this sport which is actually a form of
martial art. In a bull fight conducted
in Spain or elsewhere in the American continents, we all know that the bull is
mercilessly killed at the end of the show by the matador, whom the so called
civilised Western World glorify for his rare courage and peerless valour. When the bull would get tired gradually, on
account of charging at the matador repeatedly with its full force, the matador
would remain unscathed, holding the red silken cloth in front of the bull to
deceive it and swerving from the bull's path dexterously. Finally, when he would bring it to total
submission through his clever maneuverings of the reddish silken cloth, over a
period of thirty or forty minutes, and when he would pierce the readily kept
sword into its neck, the heavily paying spectators assembled in the sporting
arena would feel they were actually over the moon at that time. No one sees anything wrong in this sport in
the West. But when it comes to the sport
of Jelly-Kattu where actually no violence is involved, it is interpreted
as a violent and cruel sport, which is to be forbidden by all means. This is the conclusion of the judicial
community which is supposed to grant justice to the people of India. The present judicial community in India is
nurtured and brought up through the western system of education. So anything originated in the West or
connected with the West would look grand in their opinion and as such it would
be considered welcome and anything connected with Indian culture or convention
would be interpreted as uncivilised and outdated.
If the present judicial community in India considers itself
wiser and more knowledgeable than the great preceptors and nobles of Tamil Nadu
who never decried Jelly-Kattu, they should be living in a world of
ignorance, totally unconnected with the social evolution that has taken place
through a protracted period of time.
Actually, to become a great judge in the judicial system, one should
possess a thorough knowledge of ancient and modern history. Erudition in Hindu Mythology could be
considered an additional and valuable feather to the cap of a judge which would
enhance the glow and excellence of the cap considerably, as mythology is
nothing but a narrative form of history presented symbolically. Mythology should never be looked at as a
bundle of fictions as many rationalists consider and proclaim it to be. Possessing costly and hard-earned law-degrees
without acquiring these intuitive and inspiring prerequisites, will only
produce such class of judges whose judgments would never pass the scrutiny and
approval of the class of nobles, who are supposed to be men of true wisdom and
objective thinking.
This sport was basically intended to maintain the fighting
spirit of the warrior class of people during peace time. They should never have the slightest thought
of fear of getting injured or meeting with death in the course of a
battle. To achieve this particular
objective, they were made to take part in this sport, competing with one another,
demonstrating their individual bravery and skills to the public at large. This would amount to a recreation of the
highest order for everybody in the land in addition to sport and pastime for
the youth of the warrior class. By
taking part in this martial art with vigour the warrior community earned great
respect from the society in addition to material gains in the form of awards in
cash and kind. Any parent belonging to
the warrior class, in olden days, would voluntarily come forward to marry his or
her daughter to such a fearless hero. So
much was at stake, for everyone among the warrior class of people, from this
Spartan Sport. Through this act of
bravery of a very high order, they could infuse the feeling of security and
confidence into the hearts of the inhabitants of the entire country by
remaining ever focused towards fulfilling their duty to their motherland which
is safeguarding its territorial integrity and remaining ever vigilant and
faithful to their basic occupation of fighting, maintaining their morale ever
high. There has been no reference of any
mother, among the warrior class of people, having ever wept over the accidental
death or loss of limbs of her son after participating in this Spartan Sport of Jelli-Kattu. We all know that a small percentage of
casualty is permissible in military exercises of the infantry and artillery
battalions. In Jelly-Kattu the
casualty percentage would not be in any way different from the modern military
exercises.
If we closely study the sport of Jelly-Kattu
further, we can see that the bulls also remain amused, enjoying the sport, by
showing their skills in swerving and hoodwinking from the clutches of the young
heroic catchers. The owners of the bulls used to provide energetic food and
special training to the bulls to remain valorous and totally unscathed. When a bull runs away unscathed and
unconquered from the narrow entry point (வாடிவாசல்), displaying an indomitable spirit, the owners become
eligible to receive the awards in cash and kind, for their sustained hard work
of rearing the bulls.
The so-called showing of cruelty to the bulls claimed by
the activists and confirmed by the present judicial community makes me laugh
and to put a counter question to these people. "Then in that case, are
these bulls meant to be kept in AC rooms tasting ice cream and gazing at the TV
programmes?" To be born as an
animal itself is to spiritually evolve through various hardships and
sufferings. The suffering of the bulls
in a sport of Jelli-Kattu is not definitely greater than subjecting them
to castration and fixing their neck to the yoke to pull a cart or to pull a
plough or sending them finally to a butchery after extracting so much of hard
work from them. The activists are
shedding crocodile tears for the bulls at the time of Jelli-Kattu alone,
turning a blind eye to their castration, their subjection to hard labour and
their final fate in a butchery. In their
opinion, no cruelty is shown to the bulls during these occasions. Only during Jelly-Kattu they are
treated ruthlessly. This compels me to
believe, that there should be some hidden selfish-agenda behind their tears and
the hue and cry they have been making since AD 2000 and the judiciary's
magnanimous and total approval of their demands banning Jelly-Kattu. My logic is fully transparent. It is based on
an objective and painstaking study. As
such, the subsequent conclusion that I have arrived at, should definitely stand
the test of true objectivity and eternal time.
(This essay was written before the Sport of Jelli-Kattu
got legalized through constitution amendment, towards the end of January,
2017.)
யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெறுக இவ்வையகம்.
LET ME SHARE
THE BLISS I ATTAINED WITH THE WHOLE WORLD.
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