1. Preface to "Number 7 in Kural"

Mathematical Miracle in Thirukkural

திருக்குறளில் கணித அதிசயம்

"Those called NUMBERS and LETTERS,
the wise declare, are eyes to live with"
(Kural 392)

CONTENTS	பொருளடக்கம்
FRONT PIECE
1.  Preface	முன்னுறை
2.  Mathematical miracles in other texts	மற்ற நூல்களில் கணித அதிசயம்
3.  Why number 7 for the Kural?	குறளுக்கு ஏன் எண் ஏழு?
4.  Orientation to the analysis	ஆய்வுக்கொரு முன்னோடி
5.  A summary of major findings	கண்டுபிடிப்புகளின் ஒரு தொகுப்பு
MID PIECE
6.   General findings	பொதுவான கண்டுபிடிப்புகள்
7.   'Numbers' and other one called 'Letters'	எண்ணென்ப ஏனை எழுத்தென்ப
8.   A, the letter & God, the primordial	அகரமும் ஆதி பகவனும்
9.   The One beyond compare	தனக்குவமை இல்லாதான்
10.  Soul's link to the Body	உடம்பொடு உயிரிடை நட்பு
11.  Birth is an awakening	விழிப்பது போலும் பிறப்பு
12.  Here and Hereafter	இம்மையும் மறுமையும்
13.  Wisdom grasps the Truth	மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்பதறிவு
14.  Major teachings of Valluvar	வள்ளுவரின் முக்கிய கருத்துக்கள்
15.  Virtue, Wealth and Love	அறம், பொருள், இன்பம்
16.  The magnificent Se7en	அற்புத அத்தியாயங்கள் ஏழு
17.  Miscellaneous mathematical facts	உதிரிகள்
END PIECE
18.  The Signature of Thiruvalluvar	வள்ளுவரின் கையொப்பம்
19.  Are these mere coincidences?	இவையாவும் வெறும் தற்செயல்களா?

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"Do not give up saying: 'It is impossible'. Effort will overcome"
(Kural 611)

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I am neither a scholar in Tamil nor a mathematician by profession. But you will soon appreciate that one need not be a Tamil scholar or a mathematician to carryout the kind of research I have done. Reports of mathematical miracles in scriptures already exist. The most significant and vociferous of these claims come from some Muslim and Christian groups who present some impressive mathematical combinations based on a common denominator. Of course none of these groups, being exclusive minded, agree to each other's findings!

I never had a chance to investigate and verify the claims from the Bible as it is nearly impossible to obtain a Bible containing original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek script. At least I am reasonably well informed of the claim of Muslims from the Qur'an. It is beyond the scope of this article to say anything on the validity of their claims. The next chapter presents only a short review of the mathematical miracles in the Qur'an and Bible.

What caught my attention was some of the proclamations of some Muslim and Christian groups on the uniqueness of their scriptures with respect to the mathematical miracle. For instance, the Submitters proclaim that "the Qur'an is the only book known to be mathematically coded throughout". Similarly, Biblebelievers also mention that "the occurrence of number 7, or an exact multiple of 7, is found throughout the Bible". The most important claim of Submitters is that "the Qur'an is characterized by a unique phenomenon never found in any human authored book". Jeffrey (1996) in his book "The Signature of God" also claims that "attempts to find mathematical patterns could not be found in any Hebrew literature outside the Bible". San Jose in his article Computer Proof challenges non-Christian organizations to "disprove the report and its data OR produce any other text written by men as the scribes, that will contain any of the same phenomena!"

These are significant statements! However, they are not usually supported by any data to substantiate the claims. The authors do not tell us the names of those human authored books that were investigated. Neither the Muslims tell (or even cite) anything about the Christian claims of mathematical miracles in the Bible, nor the Christian web sites which display their mathematical patterns cite the findings of Muslims!

1.1. Why Thirukkural?
 

நிறைமொழி மாந்தர் பெருமை நிலத்து
மறைமொழி காட்டி விடும்.
The scriptures of the world proclaim
The potent utterances of the great. PS
(Kural 28)  

Well, Valluvar himself says Scriptures contain the potent utterances of the great. But is Kural a scripture? No where in the Kural do we see any reference that it is a revelation from God. Other texts in Tamil like Tirumandiram contains statements indicating that the work is a revelation from God: "The Lord made me, my task assigned, in sweetest Tamil to expound His Glory" (81). The very title of certain texts like the Baghavad Gita (Song of the Lord) explicitly indicate that it is a revelation from God. It is therefore not a surprise to see proclamations like this:

இறைவன் மனிதனுக்குச் சொன்னது கீதை,
மனிதன் இறைவனுக்குச் சொன்னது திருவாசகம்,
மனிதன் மனிதனுக்குச் சொன்னது திருக்குறள்.
(S. Jayabarathi)
What God said to man is Baghavad Gita,
What man said to God is Thiruvasagam,
What man said to man is Tirukkural.

I opted for Thirukkural not only because it is a non-religious work but also because it is written in a language which I am familiar with.  The Kural is no doubt a human authored book. At least no one has recognized the claims of some sects that the Kural is their holy book. It is a truly secular work taught in schools and colleges in India, widely regarded as a book of universal application.

Numerous commentaries have been written on the Kural, and several research studies have been carried out and are still being done on it. The kind of work I have done is obviously radically different from what `real scholars' have done.

The Kural does not require any mathematical proof to substantiate its worth. Nor do I expect more people to begin appreciating the merit of the Kural merely because of my mathematical findings. This work began as a challenge to answer those who proclaim astonishing mathematical combinations in scriptures like Bible and the Qur'an as a poof for their divine authorships. My work has gone beyond this objective as more and more intricate mathematical relationship based on number se7en began to emerge from the Kural.  Those who regard the presence of mathematical combinations in a Book as a proof for its divine authorship will have to answer for the combinations unearthed from Thirukkural here.

1.2. Background
 

அருவினை யென்ப வுளவோ கருவியாற்

கால மறிந்து செயின்.

What is impossible
            If right means are adopted at the right time? * PS
            (Kural 483)

It was on the 9th of January, 2000, exactly 2030 years after Thiruvalluvar was born [1], that I found the first mathematical miracle in Thirukkural. Incidentally that day was Idul Fitr (the Festival after RamaLaan for Muslims) in India. I was there at a gathering of people from various faiths at the house of my spiritual friend Prof. O.P. Vidyagar. Soon after completing my lecture on the significance of the month of RamaLaan for Muslims, I caught hold of a piece of paper and wrote down the number of chapters in Thirukkural (133) to try dividing it by 7. You may ask why I chose 7 as the denominator. In fact that was the only decision I took the moment I thought of investigating the Kural for any hidden mathematical combinations. The reason for choosing number 7 as the denominator for Kural has been described briefly in section 4 on "Why number 7 for Kural?".

I have been thinking of doing this "first test" for any possible evidence of a mathematical miracle in Thirukkural for 4 to 5 months. I never had the confidence to believe that 133 could be divisible by 7.

Surprisingly (!) the "first test" was a great success. The number 133 is indeed divisible by 7, but interestingly 19 times!! (note: 1+3+3 is also 7)! Does this convey any message to both Muslims and Christians who claim mathematical miracles in Qur'an and Bible interwoven with number 19 and 7 respectively?

This finding was like an incentive for me to proceed further and discover more astonishing mathematical combinations based on number 7 in Kural.

1.3. Final presentation

After more than a year of intensive investigation, I am convinced that Thirukkural has numerous mathematical facts for it to be recognized as a mathematically organized work. Here I humbly submit my findings for your kind perusal and comments.

I do not depend on miracles to convince me of whatever truth the book may be talking about for I consider miracles as stumbling blocks for truth. God has given us the knowledge and wisdom to understand things by ourselves and come to a conclusion. Valluvar himself says:

எப்பொருள் யார்யார்வாய்க் கேட்பினு மப்பொருள்
மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு.
The mark of wisdom is to discern the truth
From whatever source it is heard.      NV

(Kural 423) 

With this I began my investigation. I had no clue or whatsoever if my venture will be a successful. Before taking this massive exercise, I could only remember what Valluvar had said..... 

ஒல்வ தறிவ தறிந்ததன் கட்டங்கிச்

செல்வார்க்குச் செல்லாத தில்.
Nothing is impossible for him
Who knows his task and strength, and is well set.    PS
(Kural 472)

 

            And what if I fail? Will that then prove that mathematical patterns can only be there in divinely inspired texts? What can be considered a success or failure? I had no answers for these. I could only recollect what Valluvar had stated …

உள்ளுவ தெல்லா முயர்வுள்ளல் மற்றது

தள்ளினுந் தள்ளாமை நீர்த்து.

Let all thy aims be high.
            Failure then is as good as success. *   PS

(Kural, 596)

Notes & References: 
 
[1]. Submitters are a subsect of Muslims who follow Rashad Khalifa, the discoverer of mathematical miracles in Qur'an. Most Muslims agree with his findings but not his claim of messengership of God's convent. He was assassinated in 1990 perhaps following his remarks on the invalidity of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and some of the alternations he did to the Qur'anic text based on mathematical justifications.
[2]. Jeffrey, G.R. 1996. The Signature of God. Frontier Research Publications, Inc. p. 230-237
[3]. In 1890, Ivan Panin discovered the alleged mathematical designs underlying both the Greek text of the New Testament and the Hebrew text of the Old testament. His first discovery was apparently from John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".
[4]. The Thirukkural is believed to have been written in the 1st century B.C. The year 31 B.C. is the one accepted by the Tamil Academy of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India [*],[*], [*].