Czech Rosary

Czech Rosary

Thirukkural

Thirukkural (Tamil: திருக்குறள் also known as the Kural) is a classic of couplets or Kurals (1330 rhyming Tamil couplets) or aphorisms celebrated by Tamils. 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 4th century AD. 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 Veda); poyyamozhi (words that never fail); and teyva nul or dheiva nool (divine text). The book is considered to precede Manimekalai and Silapathikaram since they both acknowledge the Kural text.

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".   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

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.

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).

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

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

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

 

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 softwares 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

 

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, Thiruvanmiyur, 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

• Shuzo Matsunaga, Thirukkural, Osaka, Japan, August 1981

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

About the Author

Kamalanathan Bakthavachalam
Tamil Nationalist
Chennai

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