Both Ramayan and Thirupugazh are abundant with management concepts and scenarios. I believe it was Rajadithan during thirumunaipadi camp reused manpower to construct canals over kollidam. It may be difficult to get that kind of support in today's world (given the labor laws and unions and skill specializations etc), but it was a smart move by the king that time for water harvesting.
It will be an interesting study to analyze the war tactics (strictly RJC and RRC alone) and their central admin system. I am sure there are a lot of individuals here who manage teams and this can be of great value.
I can write a bit on derivations from Thirupugazh. We can also look at Ramayan.
On RJC / RRC : I was only interested in their management techniques pertaining to central administration and in lieu of that the corresponding war strategies. To be precise, the reason for them to war on any state and how they managed the state for 30 - 60 years.
kalki mentions about the tirukural suvadi in PK, which the chola kign entrusts to his wife for safekeeping, wonder from where kalki got the idea from - along with karikalan's sword...remember reading about a chera red jewel which figures in RJC inscriptions in mannan magal...
I am not sure but if my memory goes correct, there were quite a few discussion on Tiruvallur being Jain or Hindu during early 2005. I am not so good like SPS to pick and post the relevant mails...I really wonder how he does that :)
But I think, its Priya Vaishnava (?) who gave very good argument on Tiruvalluvar being a hindu.
Regarding place of birth or period, I dont think there were any discussions.
I remember a conversation I had with Natarajan sir and Sathyamurthy sir during the cave men trip, in which Nataranjan mentioning Thiruvaluvar being a jain because of no reference to a God in the thirukural. Considering that age in which all the arts being centered around a religion thirukural is odd without any direct reference to god isn't?
The debate about Thiruvalluvar's religious affiliation can and will go on for ever; there is no Q.E.D. He could have been a born hindu, converted to Jainism or vice versa. Jainism is an old religion with an unbroken tradition like Hinduism; there are many jains who, though well-to-do, shrewd in finance and modern, are very devout and follow traditions and personal discipline in an orthodox manner. I personnaly have come across these instances:
1. Middle and old ladies leave home and undertake yatra, walk all the way, visiting/ staying in temples, and eating only food offered in the temples and by devotees. 2. My friend's father left home on a yatra, leaving a note, and till date the family doesn't know where he is. 3. My colleague's mother, when she realised that her end was near, refused tratment and medicines and food, and spent the balance of her life in prayer and meditation.
In all such cases, the family members accept the elder's decision and quietly help him/her.
Everytime i look at this page and the image inside - i am always reminded of tiruvalluvar. check the narration - is the Statue of "The Sage" or King Parakramabahu 1.
Vanavanmadevi Isvaram Temple During the 70 years the Cholas ruled Sri Lanka and it is interesting that they built a temple to their gods not between or on the nearby Buddhist temples but discreetly beside them. According to the inscription on the walls of this temple it says it was built by Rajendra Cola and named after one of his queens. It is an excellent example of Chola architecture and almost perfectly preserved. The positioning of this temple says a lot about the Cohlas religious policy in Sri Lanka. Their rule was undoubtedly harsh but they were tolerant as far as religion was concerned. They could have built this temple to their god on top of the nearby Buddhist temples but instead they chose to place it discreetly near them. It is also interesting that when the Sinhalese finally succeeded in driving the Cholas out and regained their capital they did not destroy this temple.
Just a doubt, has Thirukural or Thiruvalluar been mentioned in any other ancient work. There should some history available with each of the work right, like Raja Rajan bringing out Devaram from the Chidambaram, is there any history associated with Thirukural. How it came in to being, how it survived 2000 years, in whose reign it was famous???
good question shiva, also in what form was it handed down - meaning, while some of the similarly dated texts hv been losts - how come the kural alone has been handed down in its entirety..
Hi Vk its a fashion in the world book industry to churn out books on management based on ancient texts,.
other than thirukkural, bagawad gita and The Art of War written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. the last is very important with napoleanic and some battles of ww2 planned with it. in corporate culture its very important as with sports coaching. the brazilian team was coached based on this for a world cup.