Monday, August 2, 2010
Thirukkural -Need for life
Thirukkural (Tamil: திருக்குறள் also known as the Kural) is a classic of couplets or Kurals(1330 rhyming Tamil couplets) or aphorisms [1] celebrated by Tamils.[2] It was authored byThiruvalluvar, 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 A.D. The work begins with a salutation to the Almighty. The author was hence certainly a believer in God . His work is however, completely universal in approach. It is hence called ulga podhu marai (the world's common scripture). It does not advocate any specific religion then prevalent in India, namely Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism Thirukkural expounds various aspects of life and is one of the most important works in Tamil. 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).[3] The book is considered to be a posterior toArthashastra by some historians and to precede Manimekalai and Silapathikaram since both the latter acknowledge the Kural text.[4] Thirukkural is and remains to be the book that has been translated into the most number of languages and hence it is called as "Ulaga Podhu Marai" meaning the Common Knowledge for the world. Copies of Thirukkural are available even at places as far as New York. Copies of Thirukkural published as early as 1930 can be found in New York Public Library.
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) calledKural 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 is 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 ofThiruvalluvar in Thiruvalluva Malai
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