Thirukural

An elixir of Life

Tirukkural is a classic Tamil sangam literature consisting of 1330 couplets or Kurals.It was authored by Thiruvalluvar

The Thirukkural is one of the most important works in the Tamil language. This is reflected in some of the other names by which the text is given by such as Tamil marai (Tamil Vedas); poyyamozhi (words that never fail); and Deiva nool (divine text).

Thirukkural is structured into 133 chapters, each containing 10 couplets, for a total of 1330 couplets. The 133 chapters are grouped into three sections:

(Tamil: அறத்துப்பால், arathupaal) righteousness

(Tamil: பொருட்பால், porutpaal) wealth

(Tamil: காமத்துப்பால், kamathupaal) love

A couplet or Kural 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. Aram contains 380 verses, Porul with 700 and Inbam with 250.

The authorship of the book and to the exact number of couplets written by Thiruvalluvar.