Tirukkuṛaḷ is a classic Tamil text consisting of 1330 couplets (Kurals) which deals with the daily virtues of an individual. The text has been dated somewhere between 300 BCE to 1st century CE and is written by Thiruvalluvar.
It is widely known for its universality and non-denominational nature. It is praised as universal truth and it emphasizes on the vital principles of non-violence, vegetarianism/veganism, casteless human brotherhood, absence of desires, path of righteousness and truth, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of subjects such as moral codes of rulers, friendship, agriculture, knowledge and wisdom, sobriety, love, and domestic life. Tirukkuṛaḷ is one of the most important works in the Tamil language.
Famous personalities who were influenced by Tirukkuṛaḷ in the past were Mahatma Gandhi, Yu Hsi, Leo Tolstoy, A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Monsieur Ariel, Constantius Joseph Beschi, Karl Graul, August Friedrich Caemmerer and many others. It has been translated into 40 languages and isone of the widely read translated works in the world.
Book Layout
The book has 133 chapters with 10 couplets in each chapter. The 133 chapters are grouped into 3 categories/books/parts.
Category 1 - Book 1 - Part 1 -> அறத்துப்பால் (Arathuppal) - Book of Virtue (Dharma) - dealing with virtues independent of the surroundings (Chapters 1-38)
Category 2 - Book 2 - Part 2 -> பொருட்பால் (Porrutpal) - Book of Polity (Ardha) - dealing with virtues with respect to the surroundings (Chapters 39-108) [While the Artha Shastra is based on subtle statecraft, the Porul of the Kural text bases morality and benevolence as its cornerstones.]
Category 3 - Book 3 - Part 3 -> காமத்துப்பால் (Kaamathupal) - Book of Love (kama) - dealing with virtues involved in conjugal human love (Chapters 109-133) [Unlike Kamasutra, which is all about eros and techniques of sexual fulfillment, the Kural text of Inbam remains a poetic appreciation of flowering human love as explicated by the Sangam period's concept of intimacy, known as aham in the Tamil literary trad]
Each couplets (Kurals) has exactly 7 words, known as cirs, with four cirs on the first line and 3 cirs on the second line.
The overall organization of the kurals is based on seven ideals prescribed for a commoner besides observations of love. This includes:
- 40 couplets on 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 morality, both positive and negative
- 250 on human love and passion
References:
Tamil Virtual University
Print, Folklore and Nationalism in colonial South India
The Legend of Valluavar and Tamil Literary
Kural Translations