INDIA, June 6, 2017 (Lokvani, by K. Arvind): Thirukkural is a renowned literary work in Tamil composed by the Sage Thiruvalluvar over two millennia ago. Thirukkural has been translated into a multitude of world languages including Hindi, Urdu, Latin, French, German and American English. The German translation of Thirukkural influenced Russian writer Tolstoy’s thinking on non-violence, Tolstoy’s Letter to a Hindu which influenced Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas on non-violence includes references to the Thirukkural. Thirukkural has now been translated into Sanskrit, another classical language of India which is even older than Thirukkural. This article captures some of Thirukkural’s pithy life wisdom, as well as some interesting facts about Thiruvalluvar, Thirukkural, and its Sanskrit translator Sri S.N. Srirama Desikan.
Thirukkural is an ancient treatise on ethics and values that is held in high reverence by Tamils everywhere. Even though Thirukkural is said to have traces of influence from Hindu and Jain thought, especially where it exhorts non-violence and vegetarianism, and is held in reverence by Hindus in South India, it is considered mostly non-denominational and secular in the life guidance that it provides. Sage Thiruvalluvar is the poet who composed the Thirukkural, but not much is known about him. It is believed that he was a divinely inspired weaver born in Mylapore, Chennai, sometime between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE.
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