Tamil Classic Tirukkural in Tamil and English (PDF Version available)
Thirukkural (Tirukkural)

Thirukkural (Tamil: திருக்குறள் also known as the Kural) is a compilation of Kurals (1330 rhyming Tamil couplets) or aphorisms celebrated by Tamils (Hindus, Jains, and others alike). It was authored by Thiruvalluvar and is considered to be the first work to focus on ethics, among the Buddhist - Jain literature of India 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: tamilmarai (Tamil Veda); poyyamoli (speech that does not lie); and teyva nul (divine text).  It is dated anywhere from the second century BC to the eighth century AD.  The book is considered to be a posterior to Arthashastra by some historians and to precede Manimekalai and Silapathikaram since both the latter acknowledge the Kural text. The popularity of the Thirukkural is limited to Tamil Nadu and parts of the subcontinent. The most likely reason for the limitation is that it was written in Tamil.

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) called Kural Venpa. The 1330 couplets are divided into 3 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.

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 in Thiruvannamalai.