THIRUKKURAL COUPLET

Thiruvalluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet who wrote the Thirukkural, a work on ethics in Tamil literature. Thiruvalluvar's period is between the second century BC and the eighth century AD.

Thirukkural is the masterpiece of Tamil literature with the highest and purest expressions of human thought. It is written in the form of couplets (two line poems) expounding various aspects of life. It contains 1330 couplets,divided into 133 chapters of 10 couplets each.

Thirukkural was written by Thiruvalluvar, who is believed to have born 30 years before Jesus Christ. The Tamil Calendar is dated from that period and referred as Thiruvalluvar Aandu (Year). We find Thiruvalluvar as a moral philosopher, political scientist and master of public administration in the first two parts of Thirukkural. We find him to be a creative artist in the third part, depicting the fascinating aspects of lovers.

Thirukkural's immortality and universality are unquestionable. Its ethics and values are applicable to all religions, countries and time. It has been translated in over 60 languages of the world.

1. In Praise of God

"Akara mutala elutellam; ati

Pakavan mutarre ulaku."

The alphabet begins with 'A';

So does the Universe with God.

Just as the letter 'A' begins and energises all the other letters of the alphabet, God is the origin and sustenance of the universe.