The Great Saint Thiruvalluvar and the Holy Book Thirukural

Last Updated on August 29, 2016

The Great Saint Thiruvalluvar and the Holy Book Thirukural :

It was nearly 2000 years that our Mother Country was blessed with a born Siddha and born Poet. Named as Valluvar, he thrived in Mylapore, Chennai. Famously known as Thiruvalluvar for his poetic offerings to the world, his name meant ‘the devotee of the Valluva caste’. Thiruvalluvar was born in the capital of Pandyas – Madurai and he was honored and called as an Avatara of Brahma.

History says that Thiruvalluvar’s wife, Vasuki was an ideal for all women. It was said that she never disobeyed her husband and she was considered a virtuous and devoted lady. It was believed that Thiruvalluvar lived a life of purity and sanctity.

The sayings of Thiruvalluvar are all together are in a book that is famously called the “Thirukural”. Each poem is in a couplets (known as “Kural” in Tamizh which has 2 lines – ideally has 7 words; 4 in the first line and 3 in the second line)

There are a total of 1330 couplets couplets which is believed to consist of the core of:

  • The Vedas
  • The Upanishads
  • The Six Darshanas

The couplets are divided into 3 segments namely:

  • Arrathu Paal (Dharma) – which deals with the virtue
  • Porutpaal (Artha) – which deals wealth or polity
  • Kaamathuppaal (Kama) – which deals with love

Thirukkural is regarded as a universal Bible and munificently called the Another “Gita, Koran or Zend Avesta”. Thirukural is considered as the Universal Bible and famously entitled as  “The Three-Chaptered” or “The Three-Sectioned” (Muppaal) which is the original name given by Thiruvalluvar, “Statements Devoid of Untruth” (Poyyamozhi), “The Two-Lined Book” (Iradi Nool), “Northern Veda” (Uttharavedham), “The Tamil Veda” (Tamil Marai) and so on.

Thirukural explains can be called a holy book that helps us to adapt an honest and realistic attitude towards life. It is good to know that Thirukural is not a religious scripture; it does not talk about spirituality or Godly Promises. It gives us a detailed look on our life. With the wise lines in it we can learn ways of cultivating one’s mind to achieve harmony in present life. Thiruvalluvar in most of his couplets simply insists on what we need to do in humanly life in order to reach eternal life.

Like the Bible and Quran, Thirukural is also a great book that is known to be the most translated work in the world. This great Sangam Literature has been translated to more than 80 languages of the world.

It is a well known fact that in order to honor Thiruvalluvar, a 133-feet statue was raised in stone. This great statue of Thiruvalluvar is built on the southernmost Coromandel Coast of the Indian peninsula near the town of KanyaKumari.