Holy Kural - Thirukkural in Tamil with English Translations

by Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvar

Overview

Thirukkural (or the Kural) is a collection of 1330 Tamil couplets organised into 133 chapters. Each chapter has a specific subject ranging from "ploughing a piece of land" to "ruling a country". According to the LIFCO Tamil-Tamil-English dictionary, the Tamil word Kural means Venpa verse with two lines. Thirukkural comes under one of the four categories of Venpas (Tamil verses) called Kural Venpa. The 1330 couplets are arranged into 3 main sections and 133 chapters. Each chapter contains 10 couplets. A couplet consists of seven cirs, with four cirs on the first line and three on the second. A cir is a single or a combination of more than one Tamil word. For example, Thirukkural is a cir formed by combining the two words Thiru and Kural, i.e. Thiru + Kural = Thirukkural. It is has been translated to various other languages.[citation needed]

Most of the Researchers and great Tamil Scholars like George Uglow Pope or G.U. Pope who had spent many years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English, which includes Thirukkural, have recognised Thiruvalluvar as a Paraiyar. Karl Graul (1814–1864) had already by 1855 characterized the Tirukkural as 'a work of Buddhist hue'. In this connection it was then of particular interest that Thiruvalluvar, the author of the Tirukkural was identified as a Paraiyar in Tamil tradition (as, incidentally, were also other famous ancient Tamil writers, e.g., Auvaiyar ; cf. Pope 1886: i–ii, x–xi). Graul might have subsumed the Jains also under the name of the Buddhists (Graul 1865: xi note).

Upon completion, Thiruvalluvar took the work (Thirukkural) to Madurai (Tamil Nadu, India) as per the prevailing practice of reading out new compositions in a public forum where critics and scholars would be present. The conceited scholars at Madurai, insisted on measuring the greatness of the work through a test where the manuscript would be placed with other works on a plank kept afloat in the tank of the Meenakshi temple and it was to be seen if the plank remained afloat. The significance of this is that the greatness of a work is realized on the basis of not the weight of its manuscript (written on Palm leaves) but the divine qualities of the work which forced the plank to stay afloat. It is said that to the amazement of the critics, the Sangam Plank shrunk itself in size to hold only the Kural manuscript and in the process throwing out the rest.

The Thirukkural is divided into three sections. They are (in this order):
Araththuppaal: On law/virtue [see also Dharma]
Porutpaal: On wealth/politics [see also Artha]
Kamaththuppaal: On desire/love [see also Kama]

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012693761
Publisher:	3rdCommerce.com
Publication date:	10/18/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Thiruvalluvar was born at Mylapore. His wife Vasuki was a chaste and devoted lady, an ideal wife, who never disobeyed the orders of her husband, but always carried them out implicitly. Thiruvalluvar showed people that a person could lead the life of a Grihastha or householder, and at the same time, lead a divine life or a life of purity and sanctity. He showed people that there was no necessity to leave the family and become a Sannyasin to lead a divine life of purity and sanctity. All his wise sayings and teachings are now in book form and known as ‘Thirukkural’[1]. The Tamil Calendar is dated from that period and referred as Thiruvalluvar Aandu (Year).[2]
The time period of Thiruvalluvar's existence has been based on mostly linguistic evidences rather than archeological evidences since none such has been determined. His period has been estimated to be between 200 BC and 30BC.[3]

The name Thiruvalluvar (ThiruValluvar) consists of Thiru (a Tamil word meaning honorable, similar to Mr)[4] and Valluvar (a polite name for Valluvan, according to Tamil tradition). The name Valluvan is a common name representing his caste/occupation rather than his proper name. However, the question of whether the author of Thirukkural (Valluvan) is named after his community or vice versa remains unanswered.
There are a few legends about the birth of Thiruvalluvar. The Saiva, Vaishnava, Jaina, Buddhist denominations contend that Thiruvalluvar belongs to their school. There are a few legends about the birth of Thiruvalluvar who could be a Jain samanar Saint or a Hindu. But no evidence is/was available about his religion [Kamatchi Srinivasan "Kural Kuram Samayam", Thirukkural Publications, Madurai Kamaraj University, 1979]. The work does begin with a chapter Saluting the Almightly God. So Thiruvalluvar was a theist. But his God is Almighty, creator of all the worlds, and who delivers those who throw themselves at his feet. The Kural per se does not advocate any specific or sectarian religious faith. One legend associates him to Madurai, the ancient capital of the Pandya rulers who vigorously promoted Tamil literature. According to another he was born and lived in Mylapore, a part of present day Madras city and traveled to Madurai to submit his work, the Thirukural, for approval of the king (Pandian) and his college of poets. His wife is named Vasuki.[5]