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Thirukkural ([திருக்குறள் also known as the Kural] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a classic of couplets or Kurals (1330 rhyming Tamil couplets) or aphorisms [1] celebrated by Tamils.[2] It was authored by Thiruvalluvar, and is considered to be the first work to focus on ethics in Dravidian literature. Although the exact period of its composition is still disputed, scholars agree that it was produced before the 2nd century BC. The Thirukkural expounds on various aspects of life and is one of the most important works in the Tamil language. This is reflected in some of the other names by which the text is known: Tamil marai (Tamil [[Vedas]); poyyamozhi (words that never fail); and teyva nul or dheiva nool (divine text).[3] The book is considered to precede Manimekalai and Silapathikaram since they both acknowledge the Kural text.[4]

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 has been translated to various other languages. [citation needed]

There are claims and counter claims as to the authorship of the book and to the exact number of couplets written by Thiruvalluvar. The first instance of the author's name mentioned as Thiruvalluvar is found to be several centuries later in a song of praise called Garland of Thiruvalluvar in Thiruvalluva Malai.[5]

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).

Other names

Thirukural is praised with many names such as:[6]

  1. Uttravedam - the ultimate Veda or Creed
  2. Poyyamozhi - falseless word
  3. Vayurai vazhthu - truthful praise
  4. Teyvanul - the divine book
  5. Pothumarai - the common Veda or Creed
  6. Muppal - three fold path
  7. Tamil marai - Tamil Veda

Sections

Thirukkural is structured into 133 chapters, each containing 10 couplets, thus a total of 1330 couplets.[7] The 133 chapters are grouped into three sections:[7][8]

  • Aram - righteousness
  • Porul - wealth and
  • Inbam or Kamam - pleasure

Aram containes 380 verses, Porul with 700 and Inbam with 250.[7] While Aram and Inbam discuss about ethical living in private life, Porul deals with public matters.[7]

Legend

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.

Translations

The Latin translation of Thirukkural made by Constanzo Beschi in 1730 did much to make known to European intellectuals the richness and beauty of Oriental Tamil literature. One of the earliest commentaries on the Thirukkural was by Parimelazhagar, belonging to the 12th century. His commentary (Urai) give us an idea of the amount of information contained in each and every kural. A lot of software are available these days for installing Kurals in desktops. The software based Kural (poem) changes each day and you get the kural and its explanation in both English and Tamil. An English Translation of Tirukural by GU Pope brought the Tirukkural to the western world in 1886. This work is widely revered and accepted in many parts of the world. Pope's translation can be viewed from the website http://pm.tamil.net/pub/pm0153/trkrlpop.html?q=projectmadurai/pub/pm0153/trkrlpop.html

The following is a list of translations/commentaries of the Tamil literary classic THIRUKURAL - taken out from the Encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, vol. 1, Inst. of Asian Studies, Thiruvanmayur, Tamil Nadu, India.

Bengali

  • Nalini Mohan, Sanyal, thirukural, Calcutta, 1939
  • Sastri, E.C., thirukural, Calcutta, 1974
  • Nalini Mohan, Sanyal, thirukural, Calcutta, 1939
  • Sastri, E.C., thirukural, Calcutta, 1974
  • Krishnamoorthy, S. Calcutta, 2001

Burmese

  • Myo Thant, U, thirukkural, Rangoon

Chinese

  • Cheng Xi 程曦, Gula Zhenyan 古臘箴言, Hong Kong: Xianggang daxue chubanshe 香港大學出版社, 1967.

Czech

  • Zvelebil, Kamil V, Thirukural (selections), Prague, 1952–1954

Dutch

  • Kat, D, Thirukural (selections), Netherlands, 1964

English

  • Aiyar, V.V.S, Kural_: Maxims of thiruvalluvar, 4th ed, Madras, 1961
  • Balasubramanian, K.M, Thirukural of thiruvalluvar, Madras, 1962
  • Chakravarthi, A, thirukural in English with commentary, Madras, 1953
  • Drew, H.W., The kural of thiruvalluvar with commentary of Parimelazhakar, Madras, 1840
  • Drew, H.W. and Lazarus, J., Thirukural (in verses), Reprint, Madras, 1956
  • Ellis, F.W., thirukural on virtue (in verse) with commentary, 1812, reprint Madras 1955
  • Gajapathy Nayagar, A, The rosary of gems of thirukkural, Madras, 1969
  • Kasturi Srinivasan, Thirukural: an ancient Tamil classic (in couplets), Bombay, 1969
  • Mathavaiyah, A, Kural in English with commentary in Tamil, Madras, 1925
  • Michael, S.M., The sacred aphorisms of thiruvalluvar (in verse), Nagarcoil, 1928
  • Muthuswamy, P, Thirukural in English, Madurai, 1965
  • Parameswaran Aiyar, T.V., 108 gems from the sacred Kural, Kottayam, 1928
  • Parameswaran Pillai, V.K., kural, Madras
  • Pope, G.U, A collection of the English translation of thirukural, Madras, 1959
  • Popely, H.A., The sacred Kural (selections in verses), Calcutta, 1951
  • Raja, P, thirukural (in verses), Kumbakonam, 1950
  • Rajagopalachari, C, kural, the great book of thiruvalluvar, Madras, 1937, 3rd ed, 1973
  • Ramachandra Dikshithar, V.R., thirukural in English with roman translation, Madras, 1949
  • Ranganatha Muthaliar, A: thirukural moolamum uraiyum with English translation, Madras, 1933
  • Thangaswami, T.D, thirukural (selections in verse), Madras, 1954
  • Thirunavukarasu, Mrs, T., Kural a selection of 366 verses (a gem for each day), Poona, 1916
  • Vadivel chettiar, K, kural in English with Tamil text and parimelazhakar commentary,(3parts), Madurai, 1972–1980
  • Vanmikinathan, G, the thirukural - a unique guide to moral, material and spiritual prosperity, trichy, 1969
  • Yogi Suddanantha Bharathi: Thirukural with English couplets, Madrs, 1968
  • Yogi Suddanantha Bharathi, thirukural couplets with clear prose rendering, Madras, 1970

Fijian

  • Berwick, S.L, Na. Thirukkurala, Fiji, 1964
  • Geraghty, Paul. Tirukurali, Fiji, 2008

Finnish

  • Aalto, Pentit, Kural - the ancient Tamil classic, Finland, 1972

French

  • Ariel, M, kural de thiruvalluvar (traduits du tamoul), Paris, 1848
  • Barrigue de, Fontaineu, G, le livre de l'amour de thiruvalluva, Paris, 1889
  • Danielou, Alain, thiruvallouvar kural, Pondicherry, 1942
  • Jacolliot, Louis, kural de thiruvalluvar, selections, Paris, 1767
  • Lamairesse, M, thirukural in French, Pondicherry, 1867
  • Gros, François, Le Livre de l'Amour, Gallimard, Collection UNESCO, Paris, 1992

German

  • Albrecht, Fenz and K. Lalithambal: thirukural von thiruvalluvar aus dem Tamil, Madurai, 1977
  • Cammera, A.F, thirukural waith German translation, Leipzig, 1803
  • Graul, Karl, der kural des thiruvalluvar, London, 1854
  • Graul, Karl, der tamu lische gnomes dichtar thiruvalluvar, Leipzig, 1865
  • Rickert, Friederich, thirukural, selections, Berlin, 1847
  • William and Norgate, Der kural des thiruvalluvar, 2nd ed, London, 1866

Gujarati

  • Kalani, Kantilal L., thirukural in Gujarati, Bombay, 1971 (Gujarti - Philosopher - Writer in Gujarati Literature - [1930-1998]. Kantilal has won many prices for his books and has written more than 60 books. One of his Co-profound translation is “VISHNU SAHSTRNAM”.

Hindi

  • Sankar Raju Naidu, S, thirukural in Hindi, Madras, 1958
  • Seshadri, K, thirukural in Hindi, Lucknow, 1982
  • Govindaraj Jain, Kural in verse, first two parts, New delhi, 1942
  • Jain, B.D, thirukural, thirupananthal, 1961
  • Khenand Rakar, thirukural, parts 1 and 2, Ajmer, 1924
  • Rajan Pillai, thirukural, Lucknow, 1976
  • Venkatakrishnan, M.G, thirukural, Trichy, 1964

Japanese

Kannada

  • Gundappa, L, thirukural (3 parts), Madras, 1960
  • Gundappa, L, thirukural dharma bhaga, Bangalore, 1955
  • Srinivas, P.S, thirukural with original couplets and translations in Kannada, Madurai, 1982
  • Srikanthaiah, B.M, Kural (selections in verses), bangalore, 1940

Latin

  • Graul, Charles, Kural of thiruvalluvar, Tranquebar, 1866
  • Veeramamunivar, thirukural (Books I and II), London, 1930

Malay

  • Dr.G.Soosai Ph.D,J.P.,P.P.N,P.K.T.,Thirukkural Kitab Murni Tamil Nadu.,Kuala Lumpur,1978 & 1991
  • Ismail, Hussein: thirukural sastera kalasik Tamil yang, Kuala Lumpur, 1967
  • Ramily Bin Thakir thirukural (in verses), Kuala Lumpur, 1964

Malayalam

  • Azhakathu Kurup, thirukural in verses, Trivandrum, 1875
  • Balakrishna Nair, G, Kural waith commentary, Part I, Trivandrum, 1963
  • Chellan Nadar, K, thirukural tharmanaskantam, Parassala, 1962
  • Damodaran Pillai,P, thirukural manikal, Trivandrum, 1951
  • Gopalakurup, Vennikulam, thirukural (first 2 parts in verse), Kottayam, 1960
  • Govinda Pillai, A, thirukural, Trivandrum
  • Thirukkural Malayalam Vivarthanam Published by DC Books Kottayam Written By S. Ramesan Nair

Oriya

  • Kishrod, Dash Ch, thirukuralu-in oriya language, Sampalbur, 1985

Punjabi

  • Ram Murti Sharma, thirukural dhamma granth of the tamils, Chandigarh, 1983

Polish

  • Umadevi, Wandy Dynowskiev, thiruvalluvar kural, Madras, 1958

Rajasthani

  • Kamala Gurg, thirukural needhi sastra, Jaipur, 1982

Russian

  • Glazov, J.J and Krishnamurthi, A, thirukural, a book on virtu, politics and love, Moscow, 1963
  • Ibragimov, A., Thirukural in couplets with illustrations, Moscow, 1974

Sanskrit

  • Srirama Desikan, S.N, thirukural in Sanskrit slokas, Madras, 1961, 1968

Saurashtra

  • Ram, S.S, Saurastra thirukural payiram - pitika pragaranam, Madurai, 1980

Sinhala

  • De Silva, Charles, Sirigiya (thirukural in sinhalese), Colombo, 1964
  • Sissigamy Govokgada, M, thirukural, Colombo, 1961

Swedish

  • Frykholm Ingya, thirukural, Uddavalla, 1971

Telugu

  • Jagannatha Sastri, Mudiganthi, thiruvalluva sookthalu, West Godavari, 1952
  • Lakshminarayana Sastri, Kural, chittoor, 1906

Urdu

  • Kohan, Muhamad Yusuf, Kural in Urdu and Arabic, Madras, 1976
  • Surawathi Hasarat, Kural in Urdu, New Delhi, 1966

FAMOUS QUOTES OF KURAL (English Translation)

• The stalks of water-flowers are proportionate to the depth of water; so is men's greatness proportionate to their minds (Knowledge).

• Defer not virtue to another day; receive her now; and at the dying hour she will be your undying friend.

• Avoid an act which you may repent later; If done by mistake, better not to repeat it.

• Whatever is thought to be done will be achieved as planned, if the planners possess firmness in execution.

• Friendship is not just a smile on the face; It is what is felt deep within a smiling heart.

• True friends guard you from evil, make you walk in right path and share your sorrow in difficult times.

• Excessive or deficient food or activity causes disorders in mobility, breathing and digestion.

• Though the world goes round with many activities, it is dependent on agriculture. Hence, though laborious, farming is the foremost activity.

• Agriculturists are the linchpin of the mankind since they support all others who cannot till the soil.

• The learned teacher makes you enjoy learning; On leaving, makes you to keep thinking of his teaching.

• Think and then undertake the work; to think after commencement will bring disgrace.

• Determined efforts result in prosperity; Idleness will bring nothing.

• Water will flow from a well in the sand in proportion to the depth to which it is dug, and knowledge will flow from a man in proportion to his learning.

• As water changes (its nature), from the nature of the soil (in which it flows), so will the character of men resemble that of their associates.

See also

References

  • Subramaniyam, Ka Naa, Tiruvalluvar and his Tirukkural. Bharatiya Jnanpith: New Delhi 1987.
  • P. S. Sundaram, The Kural. Penguin Books: London, 1990.
  • Blackburn, Stuart. (2000). Corruption and Redemption: The Legend of Valluvar and Tamil Literary History. Modern Asian Studies, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 449–82, May 2000.
  • Yogi Suddhananda Bharathi(1897), Thirukkural with English Couplets - Tamil Chandror Peravai: Chennai.(15 May 1995)
  • Thirukkural with English Couplets by Tamil Chandror Peravai (Translated by Yogi Suddhananda Bharathi[1897]), Tamil Chandror Peravai, 26 Sardar Patel Road, Adyar, Chennai - 600 020
  • Drew, W.H, Translated by John Lazarus, Thirukkural (Original in Tamil with English Translation), ISBN 81-206-0400-8

Notes

  1. ^ Blackburn, Cutler (2000). "Corruption and Redemption: The Legend of Valluvar and Tamil Literary History". Modern Asian Studies. 34: 449–482. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00003632. Retrieved 2007-08-20. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Pillai, MS (1994). Tamil literature. Asian Education Service. ISBN 8120609557.
  3. ^ Cutler, Norman (1992). "Interpreting Tirukkural: the role of commentary in the creation of a text". The Journal of the American Oriental Society. 122. Retrieved 2007-08-20. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Aiyangar Thirukkural cannot be compared with Arthashastra as it not only deals with Kingship or Statesmanship as in Arthashastra but also deals with various other aspects of life., SK (1995). Some Contributions of South India to Indian Culture. Asian Educational Services. p. 125. ISBN 8120609999. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |last= at position 9 (help)
  5. ^ "Tirukkural". Retrieved 2007-10-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The smile of Murugan on Tamil literature of South India. BRILL. pp. 156–. ISBN 9789004035911. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d Ravindra Kumar (1 January 1999). Morality and Ethics in Public Life. Mittal Publications. pp. 92–. ISBN 9788170997153. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  8. ^ Sujit Mukherjee (1 January 1999). A dictionary of Indian literature. Orient Blackswan. pp. 393–. ISBN 9788125014539. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
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