Tirukkural at a Glance

Name
Tirukkural (திருக்குறள்), also spelled Thirukkural; often simply "the Kural"
Author
Traditionally attributed to Thiruvalluvar (திருவள்ளுவர்)
Language
Classical Tamil
Date
Uncertain; proposals range from 300 BCE to the 5th century CE, and many scholars today favour about 500 CE
Size
1,330 couplets in 133 chapters
Books
Aram (virtue), Porul (wealth), Inbam (love)
Subject
Ethics and practical wisdom for everyday life, rulers and lovers

What Is the Tirukkural?

The Tirukkural is one of the most celebrated works of classical Tamil literature: a book on ethics and how to live well, written entirely in short couplets.

Its name explains its form. "Tiru" is a Tamil honorific meaning sacred or excellent, and "kural" means something short. Each kural is a two-line couplet of exactly seven words, four on the first line and three on the second, and each one states a complete idea.

Tradition gives the book many honorific names, among them Tamil Marai ("the Tamil Veda"), Poyyamozhi ("the word that never lies") and Ulaga Podhu Marai ("the universal scripture").

Who Wrote It? Thiruvalluvar

The Tirukkural is traditionally attributed to Thiruvalluvar. Almost nothing reliable is known about his life: his birthplace, family and background are all uncertain. That silence has only deepened the reverence around him.

Because the couplets speak of virtue in terms nearly everyone can accept, every major religious community in India has at some point claimed Thiruvalluvar as one of its own.

Two ways of seeing the author

Traditional view

A revered poet-sage whose life is told through later legends and hagiographies, and who is honoured in Tamil Nadu with an annual Thiruvalluvar Day.

Scholarly view

The name may belong to a single gifted poet, but the legends about his life were written down centuries later and cannot be confirmed. The text itself is the only reliable evidence.

When Was It Written?

No one knows for certain. Proposed dates range across roughly eight centuries, from 300 BCE to the 5th century CE.

Two ways of dating the text

Traditional dating

Tradition counts the Kural as the last work of the ancient Sangam literary age. Tamil Nadu's official Thiruvalluvar calendar counts its years from 31 BCE, a date proposed by Tamil scholars in the early 20th century.

Scholarly dating

Studying its language and its borrowings from earlier works, the Czech Tamil scholar Kamil Zvelebil placed it between 450 and 500 CE, after the Sangam age. Many scholars now date the text to about 500 CE.

How Is It Structured?

The Tirukkural is built with striking regularity: 1,330 couplets, in 133 chapters of exactly 10 couplets each, arranged in three books.

அறம்

Aram · Virtue

38 chapters · 380 couplets

Personal ethics, for householders and renunciants alike: kindness, truthfulness, gratitude, self-control, and the refusal to harm any living being.

பொருள்

Porul · Wealth

70 chapters · 700 couplets

Public life: how to rule, govern, choose advisers and friends, build a stable economy, and earn and use wealth well.

இன்பம்

Inbam · Love

25 chapters · 250 couplets

Love and married life, told through the feelings of two lovers: longing, separation, quarrels and reunion.

The first two books speak to everyone, from householders to kings. The third turns from advice to poetry and gives voice to lovers themselves.

Six Famous Kurals

Six couplets, drawn from all three books, give a taste of the whole: the original Tamil, with its meaning in plain words.

Kural 1Aram · Virtue

அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம் ஆதிபகவன் முதற்றே உலகு.

Just as the letter A comes first among all letters, the Primal Lord comes first in the world.

Chapter 1: Praise of God (கடவுள் வாழ்த்து)

Kural 100Aram · Virtue

இனிய உளவாக இன்னாத கூறல்கனிஇருப்பக் காய்கவர்ந் தற்று.

Using harsh words when kind ones are at hand is like picking unripe fruit when ripe fruit is right there.

Chapter 10: Speaking kindly (இனியவைகூறல்)

Kural 314Aram · Virtue

இன்னாசெய் தாரை ஒறுத்தல் அவர்நாணநன்னயஞ் செய்து விடல்.

The way to punish those who hurt you is to shame them with kindness, and then let the matter go.

Chapter 32: Not doing harm (இன்னாசெய்யாமை)

Kural 391Porul · Wealth

கற்க கசடறக் கற்பவை கற்றபின்நிற்க அதற்குத் தக.

Learn thoroughly what is worth learning. Once you have learned it, live by it.

Chapter 40: Learning (கல்வி)

Kural 423Porul · Wealth

எப்பொருள் யார்யார்வாய்க் கேட்பினும் அப்பொருள்மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு.

Whatever you hear, and whoever you hear it from, wisdom is seeing the truth within it.

Chapter 43: Wisdom (அறிவுடைமை)

Kural 1330Inbam · Love

ஊடுதல் காமத்திற்கு இன்பம் அதற்கின்பம்கூடி முயங்கப் பெறின்.

A quarrel is the sweetness of love, and the sweetness of a quarrel is the embrace that ends it.

Chapter 133: The joy of lovers' quarrels (ஊடலுவகை)

The meanings are our own plain-language renderings. Classic English translations, such as G. U. Pope's, differ in wording.

Why It Matters

Ethics without sectarianism

The Kural rarely argues for a particular god, ritual or school. Its teachings on honesty, kindness and self-restraint are respected across Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and other traditions.

Wisdom in seven words

Each couplet delivers a complete moral idea in just seven words. That concision makes the Kural easy to memorise, quote and carry through a lifetime.

A book the world translates

It has been translated into at least 57 languages. The first European translation was into Latin, by the Jesuit scholar Constanzo Beschi around 1730, and G. U. Pope's English version of 1886 introduced it widely to English readers.

A living text

In Tamil Nadu the Kural is still taught in schools and quoted in everyday life. In 2000 a 133-foot statue of Thiruvalluvar, one foot for each chapter, was unveiled on a rock off Kanyakumari, at India's southern tip.

The Kural and Indian Thought

The Kural's first book, Aram, is often compared with the idea of dharma: a life of right conduct in family, society and state. Its chapters on not killing and not doing harm echo the principle of ahimsa, or non-violence.

Yet the Kural speaks in its own voice. It gives few commands about ritual or the afterlife and much practical advice about this life: how to speak, whom to trust, how to govern, and how to love.

The Central Idea

Live rightly, earn rightly, love fully.

Seven words at a time, the Kural shows how.

Some fifteen centuries later, many of its couplets still read like advice written for today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Tirukkural?

The Tirukkural is a classical Tamil text on ethics, made up of 1,330 two-line couplets called kurals. It is organised in three books, on virtue (Aram), wealth (Porul) and love (Inbam), and is often called the "Tamil Veda".

Who wrote the Tirukkural?

It is traditionally attributed to the poet Thiruvalluvar. Very little reliable information about his life survives, and his birthplace and background are uncertain.

When was the Tirukkural written?

Its date is uncertain. Proposals range from 300 BCE to the 5th century CE. The scholar Kamil Zvelebil dated it to 450–500 CE, and many scholars today place it at about 500 CE.

How many couplets and chapters are in the Tirukkural?

It has 1,330 couplets in 133 chapters of 10 couplets each: 38 chapters on virtue, 70 on wealth and 25 on love.

What does the word "Tirukkural" mean?

"Tiru" is a Tamil honorific meaning sacred or excellent, and "kural" means short, referring to the short couplet form. Together the name means roughly "sacred couplets".

Is the Tirukkural a religious text?

It is chiefly a book of ethics rather than religious doctrine. Its teachings are largely non-sectarian, and followers of many Indian traditions have claimed and respected it.

Into how many languages has the Tirukkural been translated?

At least 57, including English, French, German and Latin. It is one of the most widely translated ancient works.

Sources & Further Reading

Facts on this page are drawn from the sources below. The Tamil text of the couplets follows the Project Madurai edition.