A Compendium of Tirukkural Translations in English- Porutpal (Vol-2)

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The Tirukkural, or shortly the Kural, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each, or Kurals. The text is divided into three books, each with aphoristic teachings on virtue (aram, dharma), wealth (porul, artha) and love (inpam, kama). Considered one of the greatest works on ethics and morality, it is known for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Tiruva !!uvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The Kural is traditionally praised with epithets and alternate titles such as "the Tamil Veda" and "the divine book." It emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual. In addition, it highlights truthfulness, self- restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, the goodness of wife, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, the greatness of army and soldier's honour, the death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants. It also includes chapters on friendship, love, sexual union, and domestic life. The Kural has been widely admired by scholars and influential leaders across the ethical, social, political, economic, religious, philosophical, and spiritual spheres over its history. These include I Janko Ațika |, Kambar, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Costanzo Joseph Beschi, Karl Graul, George Uglow Pope, Alexander Piatigorsky, and Yu Hsi. The Tirukkural is believed to be the most translated of all literary works in the world, barring religious works like the Bible and the Koran (Diaz 41). There are about 180 translations of the Kural in the languages of the world and in English alone (until March 2006) about 50 translations have appeared. The translation service to the Kural in English was started in AD 1794 by N. H. Kindersley and now the history is more than 200 years old. The Kural is considered a masterpiece and one of the most important texts of Tamil Literature. The Tamil people and the government of Tamil Nadu have long celebrated and upheld the text with reverence.

The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), established in Chennai, has taken on the challenge of preparing the definitive editions of forty-one Classical Tamil texts, translating these works into English and other major European languages, as well as into major Indian languages, and writing a historical grammar of Tamil. Language being the autobiography of a people, CICT's objective is to preserve and safeguard the invaluable treasure of the literary compositions in the Tamil language. If only we could delve into our past and recover the riches and wealth of the mighty treasure trove of Classical Tamil poetry, we will be amply rewarded by its lofty aspiration, its refined sensibility and its soaring imagination. Apart from these, reading the ancient Tamil texts, notably the Tolkäppiyam, Ettuttokai, Pattuppātņu and Tirukkural, provides a foundation for scholarship in the present and offers an opportunity to bring enlightenment from the past into our contemporary education.

I am pleased to write this foreword to the series of publications brought out by CICT, which I am sure, will do full justice to the masterpieces in Tamil without compromising on the quality of production. The Carńkam corpus is repository of our glorious culture. I urge our present and future generations to study the great classical works and to convey their message and the vision of life embodied in them to the public at large. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I commend the series to enlightened readers the world over.

Among the classical literary works of the Tamil, Tirukkural finds a pride of place. This monumental creation of Thiruvalluvar has been read, interpreted and put into use in practical life by men of wisdom from days of yore. There is hardly any ancient work in Tamil which has not quoted passages from Tirukkural.

Of all the classics, Tirukkural is the work that has been chosen for translation by most western scholars and others. In English alone, there are more than fifty versions of this time-honoured work. The Tamil scholar Beschi translated it in Latin in 1730, N.H. Kindersley translated in English in 1794 and F.W. Ellis did it in English in 1812. It has undergone translations in such other foreign languages as French, German, and Russian. It has been rendered in almost all Indian languages.

The Central Institute of Classical Tamil has undertaken the task of translating all classical literature. The Institute made a judicious selection of 18 among the available English translations and has published them as a compendium. Professor A.A. Manavalan undertook this task. As a first step, we have already printed and published the translation of Arattuppal - Volume 1. Now, we are publishing the translation of Porutpal - Volume 2. On behalf of the Institute, I am pleased to extend my profound thanks to Professsor A.A. Manavalan for compiling and editing these translations.

I am thankful to the Department of Publication Division for their help in bringing out this volume.

The Hon'ble Minister of State for Human Resource and Vice- Chairman of the Central Institute for Classical Tamil has written the foreword which lends grace to this publication. I am indeed most happy to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to him. The Tamil world is only enriched by this and more such publications which are due to be published shortly.

In the history of world literature, Thirukkural, the magnum opus in Tamil, is one work of art that refuses to be tied down to any particular race, religion, land or culture. In an expansive body of 1330 verses that it contains, there is not even a single reference, direct or indirect, to the Tamil language or the Tamil people or the Tamil country that for sure sustained and nurtured its author's genius and that provided the milieu for such a work to be composed. It soars above diversities of nation, language, religion, race and culture and speaks for the entirety of humankind. Thirukkural is indeed the miracle of a literary composition where every god, every human trait, every virtue, every emotion, every deed, every relationship is universalized root and branch.