The Sacred Verses of Tamil Literature

Tirukku?a?
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Tirukkural
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A typical published original Tamil version of the work
Author Valluvar
Original title Muppal
Working title Kural
Translator See list of translations
Country India
Language Old Tamil
Series Eighteen Lesser Texts
Subject Ethics and cosmic order, society, politics, economics and statecraft,
love and pleasure[1][2]
Genre Poetry
Set in Probably Post-Sangam era (c. 500 CE or earlier)
Publication date 1812 (first known printed edition, older palm-leaf manuscripts
exist)[3]
Published in English 1840
Topics in Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Agattiyam Tolkappiyam
Eighteen Greater Texts
Eight Anthologies
Ai?kurunu?u Akana?u?u
Pu?ana?u?u Kalittokai
Ku?untokai Nat?i?ai
Paripa?al Pati??uppattu
Ten Idylls
Tirumuruka??uppa?ai Ku?i�cippa??u
Malaipa?uka?am Maturaikka�ci
Mullaippa??u Ne?unalva?ai
Pa??i?appalai Perumpa?a??uppa?ai
Poru?ara??uppa?ai Ci?upa?a??uppa?ai
Related topics
Sangam Sangam landscape
Tamil history from Sangam literature Ancient Tamil music
Eighteen Lesser Texts
Nala?iyar Na?ma?ikka?ikai
I??a Na?patu I?iyavai Na?patu
Kar Na?patu Ka?ava?i Na?patu
Ainti?ai Aimpatu Ti?aimo?i Aimpatu
Aintinai E?upatu Ti?aimalai Nu??aimpatu
Tirukku?a? Tirika?ukam
Acarakkovai Pa?amo?i Na?u?u
Ci?upa�camulam Mutumo?ikkanci
Elati Kainnilai
edit
Tamil Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Tirukkural
The Tirukkural (???????????, literally Sacred Verses), or shortly the Kural, is a
classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each,
or kurals.[4] The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on
virtue (aram, dharma), wealth (porul, artha) and love (inbam, kama), respectively.
[1][5][6] Considered one of the greatest works on ethics and morality, it is known
for its universality and secular nature.[7] Its authorship is traditionally
attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been
dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe
it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later
date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.[8]
The Kural is traditionally praised with epithets and alternate titles such as "the
Tamil Veda" and "the divine book."[9][10] It emphasizes non-violence and moral
vegetarianism as virtues for an individual.[11][a] In addition, it highlights
truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of wife,
duty, giving, and so forth,[12] besides covering a wide range of social and
political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of
army and soldier's honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education,
abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants.[13][14][15] It also includes chapters on
friendship, love, sexual union, and domestic life.[12][16]
The Kural has been widely admired by scholars and influential leaders across the
ethical, social, political, economical, religious, philosophical, and spiritual
spheres over its history.[17] These include Ilango Adigal, Kambar, Leo Tolstoy,
Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Constantius Joseph Beschi, Karl Graul, George
Uglow Pope, Alexander Piatigorsky, and Yu Hsi. The text has been translated into at
least 40 Indian and non-Indian languages, making it one of the most translated
ancient works. The Kural is considered a masterpiece and one of the most important
texts of the Tamil Literature.[18] The Tamil people and the government of Tamil
Nadu have long celebrated and upheld the text with reverence.[19]
Contents
1 Etymology and nomenclature
2 Date
3 Author
4 Contents
4.1 Structure
4.2 Substance
4.3 Similes and contradictions
5 Commentaries and translations
5.1 Commentaries
5.2 Translations
5.3 Translational difficulties and distortions
6 Publication
7 Comparison with other ancient literature
7.1 World literature
8 Reception
8.1 Popular culture
8.2 Temples and memorials
9 Legacy
10 See also
11 Notes
12 Citations
13 References
13.1 Classical primary sources (Tamil)
13.2 Modern secondary sources
13.2.1 Books
13.2.2 Journals and Magazines
13.2.3 Newspapers
13.2.4 Online
14 Further reading
15 External links
Etymology and nomenclature
Main article: Glossary of names for the Tirukkural
The term Tirukkural is a compound word made of two individual terms, tiru and
kural. Tiru is an honorific Tamil term that corresponds to the universally Indian,
Sanskrit term sri meaning "holy, sacred, excellent, honorable, and beautiful."[1]
The term tiru has as many as 19 different meanings.[20] Kural means something that
is "short, concise, and abridged."[1] Etymologically, kural is the shortened form
of kural paattu, which is derived from kuruvenpaattu, one of the two Tamil poetic
forms explained by Tolkappiyam, the other one being neduvenpaattu.[21] According to
Miron Winslow, kural is used as a literary term to indicate "a metrical line of 2
feet, or a distich or couplet of short lines, the first of 4 and the second of 3
feet."[22] Thus, Tirukkural literally comes to mean "sacred couplets."[1]
The work is highly cherished in the Tamil culture, as reflected by its nine
different traditional titles: Thirukku?a? (the sacred kural), Uttaravedam (the
ultimate Veda), Thiruvalluvar (eponymous with the author), Poyyamoli (the falseless
word), Vayurai valttu (truthful praise), Teyvanul (the divine book), Potumarai (the
common Veda), Muppal (the three-fold path), and Tamilmarai (the Tamil Veda).[9] The
work is traditionally grouped under the Eighteen Lesser Texts series of the late
Sangam works, known in Tamil as Pati?e?ki?ka?akku.
Date
Main article: Dating the Tirukkural
The Kural has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. According to
traditional accounts, it was the last work of the third Sangam, and was subjected
to a divine test (which it passed). The scholars who believe this tradition, such
as Somasundara Bharathiar and M. Rajamanickam, date the text to as early as 300
BCE. Historian K. K. Pillay assigned it to the early 1st century CE.[8] According
to Kamil Zvelebil, a Czech scholar of Tamil literature, these early dates such as
300 BCE to 1 BCE are unacceptable and not supported by evidence within the text.
The diction and grammar of the Kural, and Valluvar's indebtedness to some earlier
Sanskrit sources, suggest that he lived after the "early Tamil bardic poets," but
before Tamil bhakti poets era.[23][24]
In 1959, S. Vaiyapuri Pillai assigned the work to around or after the 6th century
CE. His proposal is based on the evidence that the Kural text contains a large
proportion of Sanskrit loan words, shows awareness and indebtedness to some
Sanskrit texts best dated to the first half of the 1st millennium CE, and the
grammatical innovations in the language of the Kural literature.[24][b] Pillai
published a list of 137 Sanskrit loan words in the Kural text.[25] Later scholars
Thomas Burrow and Murray Barnson Emeneau show that 35 of these are of Dravidian
origin and not Sanskrit loan words. Zvelebil states that an additional few have
uncertain etymology and that future studies may prove those to be Dravidian.[25]
The 102 remaining loan words from Sanskrit are "not negligible", and some of the
teachings in the Kural text, according to Zvelebil, are "undoubtedly" based on the
then extant Sanskrit works such as the Arthashastra and Manusmriti (also called the
Manavadharmasastra).[26]
In his treatise of Tamil literary history published in 1974, Zvelebil states that
the Kural text does not belong to the Sangam period and dates it to somewhere
between 450 and 500 CE.[8] His estimate is based on the language of the text, its
allusions to the earlier works, and its borrowing from some Sanskrit treatises.[23]
Zvelebil notes that the text features several grammatical innovations that are
absent in the older Sangam literature. The text also features a higher number of
Sanskrit loan words compared with these older texts.[27] According to Zvelebil,
besides being part of the ancient Tamil literary tradition, the author was also a
part of the "one great Indian ethical, didactic tradition" as a few of the verses
in the Kural text are "undoubtedly" translations of the verses of earlier Indian
texts.[28]
In the 19th century and the early 20th century, European writers and missionaries
variously dated the text and its author to between 400 and 1000 CE.[29] According
to Blackburn, the "current scholarly consensus" dates the text and the author to
approximately 500 CE.[29]
In 1921, in the face of incessant debate on the precise date, the Tamil Nadu
government officially declared 31 BCE as the year of Valluvar at a conference
presided over by Maraimalai Adigal.[8][30][31] On 18 January 1935, the Valluvar
Year was added to the calendar.[32][c]
Author
Main article: Thiruvalluvar
"The book without a name by an author without a name."
�E. S. Ariel, 1848[33]

The Kural text was authored by Thiruvalluvar (lit. Saint Valluvar).[34] There is
negligible authentic information available about Valluvar's life.[35] In fact,
neither his actual name nor the original title of his work can be determined with
certainty.[36] The Kural text itself does not name its author.[37] The name
Thiruvalluvar was first mentioned in the later era text Tiruvalluva Maalai, a
Shaivite Hindu text also of unclear date.[34] However, the Tiruvalluva Maalai does
not mention anything about Valluvar's birth, family, caste or background. No other
authentic pre-colonial texts have been found to support any legends about the life
of Valluvar. Starting around early 19th century, numerous inconsistent legends on
Valluvar in various Indian languages and English were published.[38]
The statue of Valluvar, the author of the Kural text, on an island in Kanyakumari
facing towards the Tamil Nadu coastline
Various claims have been made regarding Valluvar's family background and occupation
in the colonial era literature, all inferred from selective sections of his text or
hagiographies published since the colonial era started in Tamil Nadu.[39] One
traditional version claims that he was a Paraiyar weaver.[40] Another theory is
that he must have been from the agricultural caste of Vellalars because he extols
agriculture in his work.[9] Another states he was an outcaste, born to a Pariah
woman and a Brahmin father.[9][39] Mu Raghava Iyengar speculated that "valluva" in
his name is a variation of "vallabha", the designation of a royal officer.[9] S.
Vaiyapuri Pillai derived his name from "valluvan" (a Paraiyar caste of royal
drummers) and theorized that he was "the chief of the proclaiming boys analogous to
a trumpet-major of an army".[9][41] The traditional biographies not only are
inconsistent, but also contain incredulous claims about the author of the Kural
text. Along with various versions of his birth circumstances, many state he went to
a mountain and met the legendary Agastya and other sages.[42] There are also
accounts claiming that, during his return journey, Valluvar sat under a tree whose
shadow sat still over him and did not move the entire day, he killed a demon, and
many more.[42] Scholars consider these and all associated aspects of these
hagiographic stories to be fiction and ahistorical, a feature common to
"international and Indian folklore". The alleged low birth, high birth and being a
pariah in the traditional accounts are also doubtful.[43]
The Kural text is aphoristic and non-denominational in nature and can be

selectively interpreted in many ways. This has led almost every major religious
group in India, including Christianity, to claim the work and its author as one of
their own.[9] In a manner similar to speculations of the author's biography, there
has been much speculation about his religion with no historical evidence. The 19th-
century Christian missionary George Uglow Pope, for example, claimed that Valluvar
must have lived in the 9th century CE, come in contact with Christian teachers such
as Pantaenus of Alexandria, imbibed Christian ideas and peculiarities of
Alexandrian teachers and then wrote the "wonderful Kurral" with an "echo of the
'Sermon of the Mount'."[36] This theory is ahistorical and discredited.[44]
According to Zvelebil, the ethics and ideas in Valluvar's work are not Christian
ethics.[45][d]
Valluvar is thought to have belonged to either Jainism or Hinduism. This can be

observed in his treatment of the concept of ahimsa or non-violence, which is the
principal concept of both the religions.[a] In the 1819 translation, Francis Whyte
Ellis mentions that the Tamil community debates whether Valluvar was a Jain or
Hindu.[46] According to Zvelebil, Valluvar's treatment of the chapters on moral
vegetarianism and non-killing reflects the Jain precepts.[19][a] Certain epithets
for God and ascetic values found in the text are found in Jainism, states Zvelebil.
He theorizes that Valluvar was probably "a learned Jain with eclectic leanings",
who was well acquainted with the earlier Tamil literature and also had knowledge of
the Sanskrit texts.[35] Nevertheless, early Digambara or Svetambara Jaina texts do
not mention Valluvar or the Kural text. The first claim of Valluvar as an authority
appears in a 16th-century Jain text.[47]
According to other scholars, Valluvar's writings suggest that he belonged to

Hinduism. Hindu teachers have mapped his teachings in the Kural literature to the
teachings found in Hindu texts.[48][49] The three parts that the Kural is divided
into, namely, a?am (virtue), poru? (wealth) and inbam (love), aiming at attaining
veedu (ultimate salvation), follow, respectively, the four foundations of Hinduism,
namely, dharma, artha, kama and moksha.[1] While the text extols the virtue of non-
violence, it also dedicates many of 700 poru? couplets to various aspects of
statecraft and warfare in a manner similar to the Hindu text Arthasastra.[50] An
army has a duty to kill in battle, and a king must execute criminals for justice.
[51][e] His mentioning of God Vishnu in couplets 610 and 1103 and Goddess Lakshmi
in couplets 167, 408, 519, 565, 568, 616, and 617 suggests the Vaishnavite beliefs
of Valluvar.[52] According to Purnalingam Pillai, who is known for his critique of
Brahminism, a rational analysis of the Kural text suggests that Valluvar was a
Hindu, and not a Jain.[53]
The author is remembered and cherished for his universal secular values, and his
treatise has been called Ulaga Podhu Marai (the universal scripture).[54][55][56]
Contents
The Kural is structured into 133 chapters, each containing 10 couplets (or kurals),
for a total of 1,330 couplets.[57][f] All the couplets are in kural venba metre,
and all the 133 chapters have an ethical theme and are grouped into three parts, or
"books":[57][58]
Tirukku?a?
A?am (28.6%)
Poru? (52.6%)
Inbam (18.8%)
Book I � A?am (????): Book of Virtue (Dharma), dealing with moral values of an
individual[57] and essentials of yoga philosophy[58] (Chapters 1-38)
Book II � Poru? (??????): Book of Polity (Artha), dealing with socio-economic
values,[57] polity, society and administration[58] (Chapters 39-108)
Book III � Inbam (??????): Book of Love (Kama), dealing with psychological
values[57] and love[58] (Chapters 109-133)
"Virtue will confer heaven and wealth; what greater source of happiness can man
possess?"
(Kural 31; Drew, 1840).[59]
The book on a?am (virtue) contains 380 verses, that of poru? (wealth) has 700 and
that of inbam or kamam (love) has 250. Each kural or couplet contains exactly seven
words, known as cirs, with four cirs on the first line and three on the second,
following the kural metre. A cir is a single or a combination of more than one
Tamil word. For example, the term Thirukkural is a cir formed by combining the two
words thiru and ku?a?.[57]
Of the 1,330 couplets in the text, 40 couplets relate to god, rain, ascetics, and
virtue; 200 on domestic virtue; 140 on higher yet most fundamental virtue based on
grace, benevolence and compassion; 250 on royalty; 100 on ministers of state; 220
on essential requirements of administration; 130 on social morality, both positive
and negative; and 250 on human love and passion.[16]
The work largely reflects the first three of the four ancient Indian aims in life,
known as purushaarthas, viz., virtue (dharma), wealth (artha) and love (kama).[1]
[60][61] The fourth aim, namely, salvation (moksha) is implicit in the last five
chapters of Book I.[62][g] The components of a?am, poru? and inbam encompasses both
the agam and puram genres of the Tamil literary tradition as explained in the
Tolkappiyam.[63] According to Sharma, dharma (a?am) refers to ethical values for
the holistic pursuit of life, artha (poru?) refers to wealth obtained in ethical
manner guided by dharma, and kama (Inbam) refers to pleasure and fulfilment of
one's desires, also guided by dharma.[64] The corresponding goals of poru? and
inbam are desirable, yet both need to be regulated by a?am, according to Kovaimani
and Nagarajan.[65] According to Indian philosophical tradition, one must remain
unattached to wealth and possessions, which can either be transcended or sought
with detachment and awareness, and pleasure needs to be fulfilled consciously and
without harming anyone.[64] The Indian tradition also holds that there exists an
inherent tension between artha and kama.[64] Thus, wealth and pleasure must be
pursued with an "action with renunciation" (Nishkam Karma), that is, one must act
without craving in order to resolve this tension.[64][h]
Outline of the Kural

Structure
The Kural text is the work of a single author because it has a consistent
"language, formal structure and content-structure", states Zvelebil.[67] Neither is
the Kural an anthology nor is there any later additions to the text.[67] The
division into three parts (muppal) is probably the author's work. However, the
subdivisions beyond these three, known as iyals, as found in some surviving
manuscripts and commentaries, are likely later additions because there are
variations between these subtitles found in manuscripts and those in historical
commentaries.[68][69] For example, the following subdivisions or iyals are found in
Parimelalhagar's version, which greatly varies from that of Manakkudavar's:[70]
Tamil Wisdom, by Edward Jewitt Robinson, 1873,[71] with the traditional portrait of
Valluvar
Chapters 1�4: Introduction
Chapters 5�24: Domestic virtue
Chapters 25�38: Ascetic virtue
Chapters 39�63: Royalty, the qualities of the leader of men
Chapters 64�73: The subject and the ruler
Chapters 74�96: Essential parts of state, shrewdness in public life
Chapters 97�108: Reaching perfection in social life
Chapters 109�115: Concealed love
Chapters 116�133: Wedded love
Such subdivisions are likely later additions, but the couplets themselves have been
preserved in the original form and there is no evidence of later revisions or
insertions into the couplets.[67][70] Thus, in spite of these later subdivisions by
the medieval commentators, both the domestic and ascetic virtues in Book I are
addressed to the householder or commoner.[72] According to A. Gopalakrishnan,
ascetic virtues in the Kural does not mean renunciation of household life or
pursuing of the conventional ascetic life, but only refers to giving up immoderate
desires and having self-control that is expected of every individual.[72]
Like the three-part division, and unlike the iyal subdivisions, the grouping of the
couplets into chapters is the author's. Every topic that Valluvar handles in his
work are presented in ten couplets forming a chapter, and the chapter is usually
named using a keyword found in the couplets in it.[73] Exceptions to this
convention are found in all the three books of the Kural text as in Chapter 1 in
the Book of Aram, Chapter 78 in the Book of Porul, and Chapter 117 in the Book of
Inbam, where the words used in title of the chapters are not found anywhere in the
chapter's couplets.[73] Here again, the titles of all the chapters of the Kural
text are given by Valluvar himself.[74] According to Kandasamy, the naming of the
first chapter of the Kural text is in accord with the convention used in the
Tolkappiyam.[75]
According to Zvelebil, the content of the Kural text is "undoubtedly patterned" and
"very carefully structured."[76] There are no structural gaps in the text, with
every couplet indispensable for the structured whole.[68] There are two distinct
meanings for every couplet, namely, a structural one and a proverbial one.[68] In
their isolated form, that is, when removed from the context of the 10-couplet
chapter, the couplets lose their structural meaning but retain the "wise saying,
moral maxim" sense.[68] In isolation, a couplet is "a perfect form, possessing, in
varying degree, the prosodic and rhetoric qualities of gnomic poetry."[68] Within
the chapter-structure, the couplets acquire their structural meaning and reveal the
more complete teaching of the author.[68] This, Zvelebil states, is the higher
pattern in the Kural text, and finally, in relation to the entire work, they
acquire perfection in the totality of their structure.[68] In terms of structural
flow, the text journeys the reader from "the imperfect, incomplete" state of man
implicit in the early chapters to the "physically, morally, intellectually and
emotionally perfect" state of man living as a husband and citizen, states Zvelebil.
[77]
In poetic terms, it fuses verse and aphoristic form in diction in a "pithy,

vigorous, forceful and terse" manner. It is an ethics text that expounds a
universal, moral and practical approach to life. Throughout the work, Valluvar is
more considerate about the substance than the linguistic appeal of his writing.[78]
Substance
The Kural text is marked by pragmatic idealism,[79] focused on "man in the totality
of his relationships".[80] According to Zvelebil, the text does not feature "true
and great poetry" throughout the work, except, notably, in the third book, which
deals with love and pleasure.[81] This emphasis on substance rather than poetry
suggests that Valluvar's main aim was not to produce a work of art, but rather an
instructive text focused on wisdom, justice, and ethics.[81]
The Kural text begins with an invocation of God and then praises the rain for being
the vitalizer of all life forms on earth. It proceeds to describe the qualities of
a righteous person, before concluding the introduction by emphasizing the value of
a?am or virtue.[82] Valluvar extols rain next only to God for it provides food and
serves as the basis of a stable economic life by aiding in agriculture, which
Valluvar asserts as the most important economic activity later in Book II of the
Kural text.[82][83]
"The greatest virtue of all is non-killing; truthfulness cometh only next."

(Kural 323; Aiyar, 1916).[84]
The three books of the Kural base a?am or dharma (virtue) as its cornerstone,[85]
[86] which resulted in the Kural being referred to simply as A?am.[73][87][88][89]
Contrary to what other contemporary works say, Valluvar holds that a?am is common
for all, irrespective of whether the person is a bearer of palanquin or the rider
in it.[90][91] According to Albert Schweitzer, the idea that good must be done for
its own sake comes from various couplets across the Kural text.[92] The text is a
comprehensive pragmatic work that presents philosophy in the first part, political
science in the second and poetics in the third.[93][94] Of the three books of the
Kural literature, the second one on politics and kingdom (poru?) is about twice the
size of the first, and three times that of the third.[95] In the 700 couplets on
poru? (53 percent of the text), Valluvar mostly discusses statecraft and warfare.
[96]
According to Schweitzer, the Kural "stands for the commandment not to kill and not
to damage."[92] The greatest of personal virtues according to the Kural text is
non-killing, followed by veracity,[97][98][99] and the two greatest sins that
Valluvar feels very strongly are ingratitude and meat-eating.[98][100][101] As
observed by P. S. Sundaram in the introduction to his work, while "all other sins
may be redeemed, but never ingratitude," Valluvar couldn't understand "how anyone
could wish to fatten himself by feeding on the fat of others."[102] The Kural
differs from every other work on morality in that it follows ethics, surprisingly a
divine one, even in its Book of Love.[103] In the words of Gopalkrishna Gandhi,
Valluvar maintains his views on personal morality even in the Book of Love, where
one can normally expect greater poetic leniency, by describing the hero as "a one-
woman man" without concubines.[104] In a social and political context, the Kural
text glorifies valour and victory during war and recommends a death sentence for
the wicked only as a means of justice.[11][105][106]
According to Kaushik Roy, the Kural text in substance is a classic on realism and
pragmatism, and it is not a mystic, purely philosophical document.[96] Valluvar
presents his theory of state using six elements: army (patai), subjects (kuti),
treasure (kul), ministers (amaiccu), allies (natpu), and forts (aran).[96] Valluvar
also recommends forts and other infrastructure, supplies and food storage in
preparation for siege.[96][107] A king and his army must always be ready for war,
and should launch a violent offensive, at the right place and right time, when the
situation so demands and particularly against weak and corrupt kingdoms. A good and
strong kingdom must be protected with forts made of thick, high and impenetrable
walls. The text recommends a hierarchical military organization staffed with
fearless soldiers who are willing to die in war.[108]
"The sceptre of the king is the firm support of the Vedas of the Brahmin, and of
all virtues therein described."
(Kural 543; John Lazarus 1885,[109] & A. K. Ananthanathan 1994).[110]
The Kural text does not recommend democracy; rather it accepts a royalty with
ministers bound to a code of ethics and a system of justice.[111] The king in the
text, states K. V. Nagarajan, is assigned the "role of producing, acquiring,
conserving, and dispensing wealth".[96][111] The king's duty is to provide a just
rule, be impartial and have courage in protecting his subjects and in meting out
justice and punishment. The text supports death penalty for the wicked in the book
of poru?, but does so only after emphasizing non-killing as every individual's
personal virtue in the book of a?am.[111] The Kural cautions against tyranny,
appeasement and oppression, with the suggestion that such royal behavior causes
natural disasters, depletes the state's wealth and ultimately results in the loss
of power and prosperity.[112]
Valluvar remained a generalist rather than a specialist in any particular field.

[113] He never indulged in specifics but always stressed on the basic principles of
morality.[113] This can be seen across the Kural text: while Valluvar talks about
worshipping God, he refrains from mentioning the way of worshipping; he refers to
God as an "ultimate reality" without calling him by any name; he talks about land,
village, country, kingdom, and king but never refers them by any name; though he
mentions about the value of reading and reciting scriptures, he never names them;
he talks about the values of charity without laying down the rules for it; though
he repeatedly emphasizes about the importance of learning, he never says what is to
be learnt; he recommends taxation in governance but does not suggesting any
proportion of collection.[113]
Similes and contradictions

The author seldom shows any concern as to what similes and superlatives he used
earlier while writing on other subjects, purposely allowing for some repetition and
mild contradictions in ideas one can find in the Kural text.[114] Despite knowing
its seemingly contradictory nature from a purist point of view, Valluvar employs
this method to emphasise the importance of the given code of ethic.[114][115]
Following are some of the instances where Valluvar employs contradictions to
expound the virtues.[116]
While in Chapter 93 Valluvar writes on the evils of intoxication,[117] in Chapter

109 he uses the same to show the sweetness of love by saying love is sweeter than
wine.[118]
To the question "What is wealth of all wealth?" Valluvar points out to two
different things, namely, grace (Kural 241) and hearing (Kural 411).[114]
In regard to the virtues one should follow dearly even at the expense of other
virtues, Valluvar points to veracity (Kural 297), not coveting another's wife
(Kural 150), and not being called a slanderer (Kural 181). In essence, however, in
Chapter 33 he crowns non-killing as the foremost of all virtues, pushing even the
virtue of veracity to the second place (Kural 323).[119]
Whereas he says that one can eject what is natural or inborn in him (Kural 376),
[120][121] he indicates that one can overcome the inherent natural flaws by getting
rid of laziness (Kural 609).[122]
While in Chapter 7 he asserts that the greatest gain men can obtain is by their
learned children (Kural 61),[123][124] in Chapter 13 he says that it is that which
is obtained by self-control (Kural 122).[125]
The ethical connections between these apparent contradictions are widely elucidated
ever since the medieval commentaries. For example, Parimelalhagar cogently explains
the ethical connections between couplets 380 and 620, 481 and 1028, 373 and 396,
and 383 and 672.[126]
Commentaries and translations

Main articles: Translations of Tirukkural, List of Tirukkural translations by
language, and Tirukkural translations into English
Commentaries
Palm leaf manuscript of the Tirukkural

The Kural is one of the most reviewed of all works in Tamil literature, and almost
every notable scholar has written exegesis or commentaries (explanation in prose or
verse), known in Tamil as urai, on it.[127][i] Some of the Tamil literature that
was composed after the Kural quote or borrow its couplets in their own texts.[128]
According to Aravindan, these texts may be considered as the early commentaries to
the Kural text.[127]
Dedicated commentaries on the Kural text appear about and after the 10th century
CE. There were at least ten medieval commentaries of which only six have survived
into the modern era. The ten medieval commentators include Manakkudavar, Dharumar,
Dhamatthar, Nacchar, Paridhiyar, Thirumalaiyar, Mallar, Pari Perumal, Kaalingar,
and Parimelalhagar, all of whom lived between the 10th and the 13th centuries CE.
Of these, only the works of Manakkudavar, Paridhi, Kaalingar, Pari Perumal, and
Parimelalhagar are available today. The works of Dharumar, Dhaamatthar, and Nacchar
are only partially available. The commentaries by Thirumalaiyar and Mallar are lost
completely. The best known among these are the commentaries by Parimelalhagar,
Kaalingar, and Manakkudavar.[16][127][129] Among the ten medieval commentaries,
scholars have found spelling, homophonic, and other minor textual variations in a
total of 900 couplets, including 217 couplets in Book I, 487 couplets in Book II,
and 196 couplets in Book III.[130]
The best known and influential historic commentary on the Kural text is the
Parimelalhakiyar virutti. It was written by Parimelalhagar � a Vaishnava Brahmin,
likely based in Kanchipuram, who lived about or before 1272 CE.[131] Along with the
Kural text, this commentary has been widely published and is in itself a Tamil
classic.[132] Parimelalhagar's commentary has survived over the centuries in many
folk and scholarly versions. A more scholarly version of this commentary was
published by Krisnamachariyar in 1965.[131] According to Norman Cutler,
Parimelalhagar's commentary interprets and maneuvers the Kural text within his own
context, grounded in the concepts and theological premises of Hinduism. His
commentary closely follows the Kural's teachings, while reflecting both the
cultural values and textual values of the 13th- and 14th-century Tamil Nadu.
Valluvar's text can be interpreted and maneuvered in other ways, states Cutler.
[132]
Besides the ten medieval commentaries, there are at least three more commentaries
written by unknown medieval authors.[133] One of them was published under the title
"Palhaiya Urai" (meaning ancient commentary), while the second one was based on
Paridhiyar's commentary.[133] The third one was published in 1991 under the title
"Jaina Urai" (meaning Jaina commentary) by Saraswathi Mahal Library in Thanjavur.
[134] Following these medieval commentaries, there are at least 21 venpa
commentaries to the Kural, including Somesar Mudumoli Venba, Murugesar Muduneri
Venba, Sivasiva Venba, Irangesa Venba, Vadamalai Venba, Dhinakara Venba, and
Jinendra Venba, all of which are considered commentaries in verse form.[135][136]
Several modern commentaries started appearing in the 19th and 20th centuries. Of
these, the commentaries by Kaviraja Pandithar and U. V. Swaminatha Iyer are
considered classic by modern scholars.[3] Some of the commentaries of the 20th
century include those by Thirumeni Rathina Kavirayar,[137] Ramanuja Kavirayar,[137]
K. Vadivelu Chettiar,[138] Krishnampet K. Kuppusamy Mudaliar,[139] Iyothee Thass,
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Thiru Vi Ka, Bharathidasan, M. Varadarajan, Namakkal
Kavignar, Thirukkuralar V. Munusamy, Devaneya Pavanar, M. Karunanithi, and Solomon
Pappaiah, besides several hundred others. The commentary by M. Varadarajan entitled
Tirukkural Thelivurai (lit. Lucid commentary of the Kural), first published in
1949, remains the most published modern commentary, with more than 200 editions by
the same publisher.[140]
According to K. Mohanraj, as of 2013, there were at least 497 Tamil language

commentaries written by 382 scholars beginning with Manakkudavar from the Medieval
era. Of these at least 277 scholars have written commentaries for the entire work.
[141]
Translations
1856 CE Latin translation of Tirukkural by Karl Graul, with English notes by

William Germann. Graul also published the first German translation.[142]
The Kural has been the most frequently translated ancient Tamil text. By 1975, its
translations in at least 20 major languages had been published:[143]
Indian languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi,

Gujarati, and Urdu
Non-Indian languages: Burmese, Malay, Chinese, Fijian, Latin, French, German,
Russian, Polish, Swedish, Thai, and English
The text was likely translated into Indian languages by Indian scholars over the
centuries, but the palm leaf manuscripts of such translations have been rare. For
example, S. R. Ranganathan, a librarian of University of Madras during the British
rule, discovered a Malayalam translation copied in year 777 of the Malayalam
calendar, a manuscript that Zvelebil dates to late 16th century.[144] The text was
translated into several European languages during the colonial era, particularly by
the Christian missionaries.[145]
The first European language translation (Latin) was published by Constantius Joseph
Beschi in 1730. However, he translated only the first two books, viz., virtue and
wealth, leaving out the book on love because its erotic and sexual nature was
deemed by him to be inappropriate for a Christian missionary. The first French
translation was brought about by an unknown author by about 1767 that went
unnoticed. The first available French version was by E. S. Ariel in 1848. Again, he
did not translate the whole work but only parts of it. The first German translation
was made by Karl Graul, who published it in 1856 both at London and Leipzig.[142]
[146]
The first, and incomplete, English translations were made by N. E. Kindersley in

1794 and then by Francis Whyte Ellis in 1812. While Kindersley translated a
selection of the Kural text, Ellis translated 120 couplets in all�69 of them in
verse and 51 in prose.[147][148] E. J. Robinson's translations of part of the Kural
into English were the first to be published in 1873 in his book The Tamil Wisdom.
[149] W. H. Drew translated the first two parts in prose in 1840 and 1852,
respectively. It contained the original Tamil text of the Kural, Parimelalhagar's
commentary, Ramanuja Kavirayar's amplification of the commentary and Drew's English
prose translation. However, Drew translated only 630 couplets, and the remaining
were translated by John Lazarus, a native missionary. Like Beschi, Drew did not
translate the third book on love.[150] The first complete English translation of
the Kural was the one by the Christian missionary George Uglow Pope in 1886, which
introduced the complete Kural to the western world.[151]
The translations of the Kural in Southeast Asian and East Asian languages were
published in the 20th century. A few of these relied on re-translating the earlier
English translations of the work.[144]
By the end of the 20th century, there were about 24 translations of the Kural in
English alone, by both native and non-native scholars, including those by V. V. S.
Aiyar, K. M. Balasubramaniam, Shuddhananda Bharati, A. Chakravarti, M. S.
Purnalingam Pillai, C. Rajagopalachari, P. S. Sundaram, V. R. Ramachandra
Dikshitar, G. Vanmikanathan, Kasturi Srinivasan, S. N. Sriramadesikan, and K. R.
Srinivasa Iyengar.[152] The work has also been translated into Vaagri Booli, the
language of the Narikuravas, a tribal community in Tamil Nadu, by Kittu Sironmani.
[153]
Translational difficulties and distortions
The largest book of the Tirukkural on display

With a highly compressed prosodic form, the Kural text employs the intricately
complex Kural venba metre, known for its eminent suitability to gnomic poetry.[154]
This form, which Zvelebil calls "a marvel of brevity and condensation," is closely
connected with the structural properties of the Tamil language and has historically
presented extreme difficulties to its translators.[155] Talking about translating
the Kural into other languages, Herbert Arthur Popley observes, "it is impossible
in any translation to do justice to the beauty and force of the original."[156]
Zvelebil claims that it is impossible to truly appreciate the maxims found in the
Kural couplets through a translation but rather that the Kural has to be read and
understood in its original Tamil form.[27]
Besides these inherent difficulties in translating the Kural, some scholars have
attempted to either read their own ideas into the Kural couplets or deliberately
misinterpret the message to make it conform to their preconceived notions. The
Latin translation by the Christian missionary Father Beshi, for instance, contains
several such mistranslations. According to V. Ramasamy, "Beschi is purposely
distorting the message of the original when he renders ??????? as 'the sea of
miserable life' and the phrase ????????????????? as 'sea of this birth' which has
been translated by others as 'the sea of many births'. Beschi means thus 'those who
swim the vast sea of miseries'. The concept of rebirth or many births for the same
soul is contrary to Christian principle and belief."[157]
According to Norman Cutler, both in the past and in the contemporary era, the Kural
has been reinterpreted and fit to reflect the textual values in the text as well as
the cultural values of the author(s).[158] About 1300 CE, the Tamil scholar
Parimelalhagar interpreted the text in Brahmanical premises and terms.[158] Just
like Christian missionaries during the colonial era cast the work in their own
Christian premises, phrases and concepts, some Dravidianists of the contemporary
era reinterpret and cast the work to further their own goals and socio-political
values. This has produced highly divergent interpretations of the original.[158]
[159]
Publication
First known edition of the Kural, published in Tamil, in 1812.

The Thirukkural remained largely unknown outside India for over a millennium. In
addition to palm-leaf manuscripts, it had been passed on as word of mouth from
parents to their children and from preceptors to their students for generations
within the Tamil-speaking regions of South India. According to Sanjeevi, the first
translation of the work appeared in Malayalam (Kerala) in 1595.[160] The first
paper print of the Tirukkural is traceable to 1812, credited to the efforts of
�anapirakacar who used wooden blocks embossed from palm-leaf scripts to produce
copies of the Tirukkural along with those of Nalatiyar.[161] It was only in 1835
that Indians were permitted to establish printing press. The Kural was the first
book to be published in Tamil,[162] followed by the Naladiyar.[163] When Francis
Whyte Ellis, a British civil servant in the Madras Presidency and a scholar of
Tamil and Sanskrit who had established a Tamil sangam (academy) in Madras in 1825
and asked Tamil enthusiasts to "bring to him ancient Tamil manuscripts for
publication,"[164] Kandappan, the butler of George Harrington, a European civil
servant possibly in the Madurai district, handed in handwritten palm-leaf
manuscripts of the Kural text as well as the Tiruvalluva Maalai and the Naladiyar
which he found in a pile of leaves used for cooking between 1825 and 1831. The
books were finally printed in 1831 by Ellis with the help of his manager Muthusamy
Pillai and Tamil scholar Tandavaraya Mudaliar.[164] Subsequent editions of the
Tirukkural appeared in 1833, 1838, 1840, and 1842.[165] Soon many commentaries
followed, including those by Mahalinga Iyer, who published only the first 24
chapters.[166] The work has been continuously in print ever since.[165] By 1925,
the Kural literature has already appeared in more than 65 editions[165] and by the
turn of the 21st century, it has crossed 500 editions.[167]
The first critical edition of the Tirukkaral based on manuscripts discovered in

Hindu monasteries and private collections was published in 1861 by Arumuka Navalar
� the Jaffna born Tamil scholar and Shaivism activist.[168][169] Navalar, states
Zvelebil, was "probably the greatest and most influential among the forerunners" in
studying numerous versions and bringing out an edited split-sandhi version for the
scholarship of the Kurral and many other historic Tamil texts in the 19th century.
[169]
Parimelalhagar's commentary on the Thirukkural was published for the first time in
1840 and became the most widely published commentary ever since.[170] In 1850, the
Kural was published with commentaries by Vedagiri Mudaliar, who published a revised
version later in 1853.[166] This is the first time that the entire Kural text was
published with commentaries.[166] In 1917, Manakkudavar's commentary for the first
book of the Kural text was published by V. O. Chidambaram Pillai.[171][172]
Manakkudavar commentary for the entire Kural text was first published in 1925 by K.
Ponnusami Nadar.[citation needed] As of 2013, Perimelalhagar's commentary appeared
in more than 200 editions by as many as 30 publishers.[140]
Since the 1970s, the Kural text has been transliterated into ancient Tamil scripts
such as the Tamil-Brahmi script, Pallava script, Vatteluttu script and others by
Gift Siromoney of the International Institute of Tamil Studies (IITS, Madras
Christian College).[173][174]
Comparison with other ancient literature
A 1960 commemorative stamp of Valluvar

Some of the teachings in the Tirukku?a?, states Zvelebil, are "undoubtedly" based
on the then extant Sanskrit works such as the more ancient Arthashastra and
Manusmriti (also called the Manavadharmasastra).[175] The text is a part of the
ancient Tamil literary tradition, yet it is also a part of the "one great Indian
ethical, didactic tradition", as a few of his verses are "undoubtedly" translations
of the verses in Sanskrit classics.[176] The themes and ideas in Tirukkural �
sometimes with close similarities and sometimes with significant differences � are
also found in Manu's Manusmriti, Kautilya's Arthashastra, Kamandaka's Nitisara, and
Vatsyayana's Kamasutra.[1]
According to Zvelebil, the Tirukkural borrows "a great number of lines" and phrases
from earlier Tamil texts. For example, phrases found in Kuruntokai (lit. "The
Collection of Short [Poems]") and many lines in Narrinai (lit. "The Excellent Love
Settings") which starts with an invocation to Vishnu, appear in the later
Tirukkural.[177] Authors who came after the composition of the Tirukkural similarly
extensively quoted and borrowed from the Tirukkural. For example, the Prabandhas
such as the Tiruvalluvamalai probably from the 10th century CE are anthologies on
Tirukkural, and these extensively quote and embed it verses written in meters
ascribed to gods, goddesses, and revered Tamil scholars.[178] Similarly, the love
story Perunkatai (lit. "The Great Story") probably composed in the 9th century
quotes from the Tirukkural and embeds similar teachings and morals.[179] Verse
22.59�61 of the Manimekalai � a Buddhist-princess and later nun based love story
epic, likely written about the 6th century CE, also quotes the Tirukkural. This
Buddhist epic ridicules Jainism while embedding morals and ideals similar to those
in the Kural.[180]
The Thirukkural teachings are similar to those found in Arthasastra but differ in
some important aspects. In Valluvar's theory of state, unlike Kautilya, the army
(patai) is the most important element. Valluvar recommends that a well kept and
well-trained army (patai) led by an able commander and ready to go to war is
necessary for a state.[96]
According to Hajela, the Porul of the Kural text is based on morality and
benevolence as its cornerstones.[181] The Tirukkural teaches that the ministers and
people who work in public office should lead an ethical and moral life.[93] Unlike
Manusmriti, the Tirukurral does not give importance to castes or any dynasty of
rulers and ministers. The text states that one should call anyone with virtue and
kindness a Brahmin.[182]
According to Thomas Manninezhath � a theology scholar who grew up in South India,

the Tirukkural is believed by the natives to reflect Advaita Vedanta philosophy and
teaches an "Advaitic way of life".[183]
World literature
Scholars compare the teachings in the Tirukkural with those in other ancient
thoughts such as the Confucian sayings in Lun Yu, Hitopadesa, Panchatantra,
Manusmriti, Tirumandiram, Book of Proverbs in the Bible, sayings of the Buddha in
Dhammapada, and the ethical works of Persian origin such as Gulistan and Bustan, in
addition to the holy books of various religions.[184]
The Kural text and the Confucian sayings recorded in the classic Analects of
Chinese (called Lun Yu, meaning "Sacred Sayings") share some similarities. Both
Valluvar and Confucius focused on the behaviors and moral conducts of a common
person. Similar to Valluvar, Confucius advocated legal justice embracing human
principles, courtesy, and filial piety, besides the virtues of benevolence,
righteousness, loyalty and trustworthiness as foundations of life.[185] While
ahimsa remains the fundamental virtue of the Valluvarean tradition, Zen remains the
central theme in Confucian tradition.[186] Incidentally, Valluvar differed from
Confucius in two respects. Firstly, unlike Confucius, Valluvar was also a poet.
Secondly, Confucius did not deal with the subject of conjugal love, for which
Valluvar devoted an entire division in his work.[187] Child-rearing is central to
the Confucian thought of procreation of humanity and the benevolence of society.
The Lun Yu says, "Therefore an enlightened ruler will regulate his people�s
livelihood so as to ensure that, above they have enough to serve their parents and
below they have enough to support their wives and children."[188][j]
Reception
Main article: Impact of Tirukkural
Statue of Valluvar within the SOAS, University of London campus.

The Kural has been widely praised within and outside India for its universal, non-
denominational values.[189] The Russian philosopher Alexander Piatigorsky called it
chef d'oeuvre of both Indian and world literature "due not only to the great
artistic merits of the work but also to the lofty humane ideas permeating it which
are equally precious to the people all over the world, of all periods and
countries."[190] G. U. Pope called its author "a bard of universal man" for being a
generalist and universal.[113][191] According to Albert Schweitzer, "there hardly
exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims in which we find so
much of lofty wisdom."[189] Leo Tolstoy called it "the Hindu Kural,"[192] and
Mahatma Gandhi called it "a textbook of indispensable authority on moral life" and
went on to say, "The maxims of Valluvar have touched my soul. There is none who has
given such a treasure of wisdom like him."[189]
Sand sculpture of Valluvar at the Chennai Book Fair 2020

Jesuit, Catholic and Protestant missionaries in colonial-era South India have
highly praised the text, many of whom went on to translate the text into European
languages. The Protestant missionary Edward Jewitt Robinson said that the Kural
contains all things and there is nothing which it does not contain.[189] The
Anglican missionary John Lazarus said, "No Tamil work can ever approach the purity
of the Kural. It is a standing repute to modern Tamil."[189] According to the
American Christian missionary Emmons E. White, "Thirukkural is a synthesis of the
best moral teachings of the world."[189]
The Kural has historically been exalted by leaders of political, spiritual, social
and virtually every other domain. Rajaji commented, "It is the gospel of love and a
code of soul-luminous life. The whole of human aspiration is epitomized in this
immortal book, a book for all ages."[189] According to K. M. Munshi, "Thirukkural
is a treatise par excellence on the art of living."[189] The Indian nationalist and
Yoga guru Sri Aurobindo stated, "Thirukkural is gnomic poetry, the greatest in
planned conception and force of execution ever written in this kind."[189] E. S.
Ariel, who translated and published the third part of the Kural to French in 1848,
called it "a masterpiece of Tamil literature, one of the highest and purest
expressions of human thought."[33] Zakir Hussain, former President of India, said,
"Thirukkural is a treasure house of worldly knowledge, ethical guidance and
spiritual wisdom."[189]
Popular culture
A Kural couplet on display inside a Chennai Metro train
The portrait of Tirukkural author with matted hair and a flowing beard, as drawn by
artist K. R. Venugopal Sharma in 1960, was accepted by the state and central
governments as the standardised version.[193] It soon became a popular and the
standard portrait of the poet.[104] In 1964, the image was unveiled in the Indian
Parliament by the then President of India Zakir Hussain. In 1967, the Tamil Nadu
government passed an order stating that the image of Valluvar should be present in
all government offices across the state of Tamil Nadu.[194][k]
The Kural does not appear to have been set in music by Valluvar. However, a number
of musicians have set it to tune and several singers have rendered it in their
concerts. Modern composers who have tuned the Kural couplets include Mayuram
Viswanatha Sastri and Ramani Bharadwaj. Singers who have performed full-fledged
Tirukkural concerts include M. M. Dandapani Desikar and Chidambaram C. S.
Jayaraman.[195] Madurai Somasundaram and Sanjay Subramanian are other people who
have given musical rendering of the Kural. Mayuram Vishwanatha Shastri set all the
verses to music in the early 20th century.[196] In January 2016, Chitravina N.
Ravikiran set the entire 1330 verses to music in a record time of 16 hours.[195]
[197]
The Kural is part of Tamil people's everyday life and is used in all walks of life.
K. Balachander's Kavithalayaa Productions opened its films with the very first
couplet of the Kural sung in the background.[195] Kural's couplets are found in
numerous songs of Tamil movies.[198] Several Tirukkural conferences were conducted
in the twentieth century, such as those by Tirukkural V. Munusamy in 1941[199] and
by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in 1949.[200] These were attended by several scholars,
celebrities and politicians.[201] The Kural's couplets are also found in music,
[195] dance,[202] street shows,[203] recitals,[204] activities,[205] and puzzles
and riddles.[206]
In 1818, the then Collector of Madras Francis Whyte Ellis issued a gold coin
bearing Valluvar's image.[207][l][m] In the late 19th century, the South Indian
saint Vallalar taught the Kural's message.[166] In 1968, the Tamil Nadu government
made it mandatory to display a Kural couplet in all government buses. The train
running a distance of 2,921 kilometers between Kanyakumari and New Delhi is named
by the Indian Railways as the Thirukural Express.[208]
Temples and memorials
Valluvar shrines and monuments styled after Hindu temples are found in various
parts of Tamil Nadu. The Valluvar Kottam in Chennai (left) is modeled as a Hindu
temple ceremonial chariot, with Valluvar sitting inside.[209] It is connected to a
kalyana mandapa (wedding hall), and features all 1330 Thirukkural couplets
inscribed on perimeter pillar walls (right).[209]
The Kural text and its author have been highly venerated over the centuries. In the
early 16th century, the Shaiva Hindu community built a temple within the
Ekambareeswara-Kamakshi (Shiva-Parvati) temple complex in Mylapore, Chennai, in
honor of Tirukku?a?'s author, Valluvar.[210] The locals believe that this is where
Valluvar was born, underneath a tree within the shrines complex. A Valluvar statue
in yoga position holding a palm leaf manuscript of Tirukurral sits under the tree.
[210] In the shrine dedicated to him, Valluvar's wife Vasukiamma is patterned after
the Hindu deity Kamakshi inside the sanctum. The temple shikhara (spire) above the
sanctum shows scenes of Hindu life and deities, along with Valluvar reading his
couplets to his wife.[210] The sthala vriksham (holy tree of the temple) at the
temple is the oil-nut or iluppai tree under which Valluvar is believed to have been
born.[211] The temple was extensively renovated in the 1970s.[212]
Additional Valluvar shrines in South India are found at Tiruchuli,[213] Periya
Kalayamputhur, Thondi, Kanjoor Thattanpady, Senapathy, and Vilvarani.[214] Many of
these communities, including those in Mylapore and Tiruchuli, consider Valluvar as
the 64th Nayanmar of the Saivite tradition and worship him as god and saint.[213]
In 1976, Valluvar Kottam, a monument to honor the Kural literature and its author,
was constructed in Chennai.[209] The chief element of the monument includes a 39-
metre-high (128 ft) chariot, a replica of the chariot in the temple town of
Thiruvarur, and it contains a life-size statue of Valluvar. Around the chariot's
perimeter are marble plates inscribed with Tirukkural couplets.[209] All the 1,330
verses of the Kural text are inscribed on bas-relief in the corridors in the main
hall.[215]
Statues of Valluvar have been erected across the globe, including the ones at
Kanyakumari, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pondicherry, Haridwar, Puttalam, Singapore, London
and Taiwan.[216][217] The tallest of these is the 41-metre (133 ft) stone statue of
Valluvar erected in 2000 atop a small island in the town of Kanyakumari on the
southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula, at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal,
the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean.[218] This statue is currently India's 25th
tallest. A life-size statue of Valluvar is one among an array of statues installed
by the Tamil Nadu government on the stretch of the Marina.[219]
Legacy
Statue of Valluvar, along with the Vivekananda memorial, off the coast of
Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.
The Kural remains one of the most influential Tamil texts admired by generations of
scholars.[160] The work has inspired Tamil culture and people from all walks of
lives, with parallels in the literature of various languages within the Indian
subcontinent.[220] Its translations into European languages starting from the early
18th century brought it global fame.[221] Authors influenced by the Kural include
Ilango Adigal, Seethalai Satthanar, Sekkilar, Kambar, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi,
Albert Schweitzer, Vallalar, Monsieur Ariel, Constantius Joseph Beschi, Karl Graul,
August Friedrich Caemmerer, Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, Francis Whyte Ellis,
Charles E. Gover, George Uglow Pope, Vinoba Bhave, Alexander Piatigorsky, A. P. J.
Abdul Kalam, and Yu Hsi. Many of these authors have translated the work into their
languages.[222][221]
A Kural discourse in Chennai in January 2019.

The Kural remains the only work that has been honored with an exclusive work of
compiled paeans in the Tamil literary corpus, attributed to 55 different poets,
including legendary ones.[16] The Kural is also an oft-quoted Tamil work. Classical
works such as the Purananuru, Manimekalai, Silappathikaram, Periya Puranam, and
Kamba Ramayanam all cite the Kural by various names, bestowing numerous titles to
the work that was originally untitled by its author.[223] In Kamba Ramayanam, poet
Kambar has used Kural thoughts in as many as 600 instances.[224][225] Kural
couplets and thoughts are cited in 32 instances in the Purananuru, 35 in Purapporul
Venba Maalai, 1 each in Pathittrupatthu and the Ten Idylls, 13 in the
Silappathikaram, 91 in the Manimekalai, 20 in Jivaka Chinthamani, 12 in Villi
Bharatham, 7 in Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam, and 4 in Kanda Puranam.[226] The work is
commonly quoted in vegetarian conferences, both in India and abroad.[227]
The Kural text was first included in the school syllabus by the colonial era
British government.[228] However, only select 275 couplets have been taught to the
schoolchildren from Standards III to XII.[229] Attempts to include the Kural
literature as a compulsory subject in schools were ineffective in the decades
following Independence.[230] On 26 April 2016, the Madras High Court directed the
state government to include all the 108 chapters of the Books of Aram and Porul of
the Kural text in school syllabus for classes VI through XII from the academic year
2017�2018 "to build a nation with moral values."[230][231] The court observed, "No
other philosophical or religious work has such moral and intellectual approach to
problems of life."[232]
The Kural has inspired many to pursue the path of ahimsa or non-violence. Leo
Tolstoy was inspired by the concept of non-violence found in the Kural when he read
a German version of the book, who in turn instilled the concept in Mahatma Gandhi
through his A Letter to a Hindu when young Gandhi sought his guidance.[189][192]
Gandhi then took to studying the Kural in prison, which eventually culminated in
his starting the non-violence movement to fight against the British.[16] Vallalar
was inspired by the Kural at a young age, who then spent his life promoting
compassion and non-violence, emphasizing on non-killing and meatless way of life.
[222][233]
See also
Eastern philosophy
List of historic Indian texts
A Letter to a Hindu by Leo Tolstoy
Tao Te Ching
Manu Smriti
Vedas
Philosophy Series Sidebar
Notes
a. ^ The Kural strictly insists on "moral vegetarianism",[19][102] the doctrine
that humans are morally obligated to refrain from eating meat or harming sentient
beings.[234][235] The concept of ahimsa or ????? ????????, which remains the moral
foundation of vegetarianism and veganism, is described in the Kural chapter on non-
violence (Chapter 32).[236]
b. ^ For examples of Sanskrit loan words, see Zvelebil's The Smile of Murugan.[237]
c. ^ The Valluvar Year is obtained by adding 31 years to the present Gregorian

year.[32][238]
d. ^ Zvelebil compares the Kural's chapter on compassion virtues (e.g., Chapters

25, 26, 32, 33) with the chapters of the Abrahamic texts such as Deuteronomy
14:3�14:29 and Quran 5:1�5.[45]
e. ^ Quote: "Non-killing is an absolute virtue (aram) in the Arattuppal (the glory

of virtue section), but the army's duty is to kill in battle and the king has to
execute a number of criminals in the process of justice. In these cases, the
violations of the aram [in the earlier section] are justified [by Thiruvalluvar] in
virtue of the special duties cast on the king and the justification is that 'a few
wicked must be weeded out to save the general public' (TK 550)."[51]
f. ^ The couplets are generally numbered in a linear fashion across the three
books, covering all the 1,330 couplets. They can also be denoted by their chapter
number and couplet number within the chapter. Thus, the third couplet in Chapter
104 (Agriculture), for instance, can be numbered either as 1033 or, less commonly,
as 104:3.
g. ^ Avvaiyar's Gnanakural and Umapathi Shivachariyar's Tiruvarutpayan, both of

which appeared centuries later, further the ideas of the Kural's chapters on veedu
or moksha and are considered as Veettuppal (Books of Salvation).[239]
h. ^ The doctrine of nishkam karma in Hinduism states that the dharmic householder
can achieve the same goals as the renouncing monk through "inner renunciation",
that is "motiveless action."[240][241][242] Cf. Kural 629: "He who never exulted in
joy will not be depressed by sorrow."[243] This is recommended by the Bhagavad Gita
as well, which discusses and synthesizes the three dominant trends in Hinduism,
namely, enlightenment-based renunciation, dharma-based householder life, and
devotion-based theism, and this synthetic answer of the Gita recommends that one
must resist the "either-or" view, and consider a "both-and" view.[244][245][246]
i. ^ Commentary � sometimes referred to as bhasya in the Indian tradition � refers

to explanations and interpretations of aphoristic texts. These are written by
various scholars to develop, comment on and expound the terse ideas such as a kural
or a sutra or any text of significant significance (e.g. Jain, Hindu and Buddhist
scriptures).[247][248][249]
j. ^ Compare this with Chapter 7 of the Tirukkural�the Kural chapter on bearing

children.[250]
k. ^ Government of Tamil Nadu, G. O. Ms. 1193, dated 1967.[194]
l. ^ A stone inscription found on the walls of a well at the Periya Palayathamman

temple at Royapettai indicates Ellis' regard for Valluvar. It is one of the 27
wells dug on the orders of Ellis in 1818, when Madras suffered a severe drinking
water shortage. In the long inscription Ellis praises Valluvar and uses a couplet
from the Tirukkural to explain his actions during the drought. When he was in
charge of the Madras treasury and mint, he also issued a gold coin bearing
Valluvar's image. The Tamil inscription on his grave makes note of his commentary
of Tirukkural.[251]
m. ^ The original inscription in Tamil written in the asiriyapa metre and first-
person perspective: (The kural couplet he quotes is in italics)[252]
????????? ??????? ?????? ???????? | ??????? ?????? ?????? ?????
| ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? | ????????? ??? ???????????? ???????
| ????????? ???????? ??????? ???? | ??????????? ????? ???????????
| ????????? ???????? ???????? ??????? | ??????? ??????? ??????????????
| ??????????? ??????? ????????? ??????? | ?????????? ??????? ??????? ??????????
| ????????? ???????? ???????? | ???????? ?????? ??????? ???????
| ??????????? ???????? ?????? ??? | ..???? ?????? ????? | ????????? ???
1818?? ??????? | ???????? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? | ???????? ??? ?????? ??? ????
| ????????? ??? ????? ???????? | ??? ??????? ????? ???????????
| ????? ????? ??????????????? | ?????????????.
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Further reading
Stuart Blackburn (2000). "Corruption and Redemption: The Legend of Valluvar and
Tamil Literary History". Modern Asian Studies. 34 (2): 449�482.
doi:10.1017/S0026749X00003632.
Diaz, S. M. (2000). Tirukkural with English Translation and Explanation.
(Mahalingam, N., General Editor; 2 volumes), Coimbatore, India: Ramanandha Adigalar
Foundation.
John Lazarus (1885). Thirukkural (Original in Tamil with English Translation). W.P.
Chettiar. ISBN 81-206-0400-8.
Gnanasambandan, A. S. (1994). Kural Kanda Vaazhvu. Chennai: Gangai Puthaga Nilayam.
Udaiyar Koil Guna. (n.d.). ??????????? ??? ????? ???? [Tirukkural: A National Book]
(Pub. No. 772). Chennai: International Institute of Tamil Studies.
Hikosaka, Shu; Samuel, G. John (1990). Encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature. Institute
of Asian Studies. OCLC 58586438.
Karunanidhi, M. (1996). Kuraloviam. Chennai: Thirumagal Nilayam.
Klimkeit, Hans-Joachim. (1971). Anti-religious Movement in Modern South India (in
German). Bonn, Germany: Ludwig Roehrscheid Publication, pp. 128�133.
Kuppusamy, R. (n.d.). Tirkkural: Thatthuva, Yoga, Gnyana Urai [Hardbound]. Salem:
Leela Padhippagam. 1067 pp. https://vallalars.blogspot.in/2017/05/thirukkural-
thathuva-yoga-gnayna-urai.html
Nagaswamy, R. Tirukkural: An Abridgement of Sastras. Mumbai: Giri, ISBN 978-81-
7950-787-2.
Nehring, Andreas. (2003). Orientalism and Mission (in German). Wiesbaden, Germany:
Harrasowitz Publication.
M. S. Purnalingam Pillai. (n.d.). Critical Studies in Kural. Chennai: International
Subramaniyam, Ka Naa. (1987). Tiruvalluvar and his Tirukkural. New Delhi: Bharatiya
Jnanpith.
Thirukkural with English Couplets L'Auberson, Switzerland: Editions ASSA, ISBN 978-
2-940393-17-6.
Thirunavukkarasu, K. D. (1973). Tributes to Tirukkural: A compilation. In: First
All India Tirukkural Seminar Papers. Madras: University of Madras Press. Pp 124.
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Nilayam.
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Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 278 pp. ISBN 978-8-1727-6448-7
Yogi Shuddhananda Bharati (Trans.). (15 May 1995). Thirukkural with English
Couplets. Chennai: Tamil Chandror Peravai.
Kaushik Roy (2012). Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From
Antiquity to the Present. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01736-8.
Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India.
BRILL. ISBN 90-04-03591-5.
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Zvelebil, K. (1962). Foreword. In: Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar (Translated by K. M.
Balasubramaniam). Madras: Manali Lakshmana Mudaliar Specific Endowments. 327 pages.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tirukkural.
Tirukkural: Work by Tiruvalluvar from Encyclopaedia Britannica
G. U. Pope's English Translation of the Tirukkural
Thirukkural in various languages
Tirukkural and Psychology
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The Sacred Verses of Tamil Literature

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Tirukku?a?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

�E. S. Ariel, 1848[33]

The Kural text is aphoristic and non-denominational in nature and can be

Valluvar is thought to have belonged to either Jainism or Hinduism. This can be

According to other scholars, Valluvar's writings suggest that he belonged to

Outline of the Kural

In poetic terms, it fuses verse and aphoristic form in diction in a "pithy,

"The greatest virtue of all is non-killing; truthfulness cometh only next."

Valluvar remained a generalist rather than a specialist in any particular field.

Similes and contradictions

While in Chapter 93 Valluvar writes on the evils of intoxication,[117] in Chapter

Commentaries and translations

Palm leaf manuscript of the Tirukkural

According to K. Mohanraj, as of 2013, there were at least 497 Tamil language

1856 CE Latin translation of Tirukkural by Karl Graul, with English notes by

Indian languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi,

The first, and incomplete, English translations were made by N. E. Kindersley in

Translational difficulties and distortions

The largest book of the Tirukkural on display

First known edition of the Kural, published in Tamil, in 1812.

The first critical edition of the Tirukkaral based on manuscripts discovered in

Comparison with other ancient literature

A 1960 commemorative stamp of Valluvar

According to Thomas Manninezhath � a theology scholar who grew up in South India,

Statue of Valluvar within the SOAS, University of London campus.

Sand sculpture of Valluvar at the Chennai Book Fair 2020

Temples and memorials

A Kural discourse in Chennai in January 2019.

c. ^ The Valluvar Year is obtained by adding 31 years to the present Gregorian

d. ^ Zvelebil compares the Kural's chapter on compassion virtues (e.g., Chapters

e. ^ Quote: "Non-killing is an absolute virtue (aram) in the Arattuppal (the glory

g. ^ Avvaiyar's Gnanakural and Umapathi Shivachariyar's Tiruvarutpayan, both of

i. ^ Commentary � sometimes referred to as bhasya in the Indian tradition � refers

j. ^ Compare this with Chapter 7 of the Tirukkural�the Kural chapter on bearing

k. ^ Government of Tamil Nadu, G. O. Ms. 1193, dated 1967.[194]

l. ^ A stone inscription found on the walls of a well at the Periya Palayathamman

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