An epic revisited

Tamil epic ‘Thirukkural' has many translations in Malayalam, both in verse and in prose. As in Tamil, there is a pocket edition in Malayalam too. This book differs from the previous ones in that the English version of each couplet too is given, along with the corresponding Malayalam translation in verse form.

Detailed study

The translator has taken pains to bring the deep and profound facts, which are well compressed in very few thoughtful, sweet words with a masterly spirit by the great Thiruvalluvar in Tamil, well within double lines into Malayalam and English.

A detailed study that enlightens the myths and historical background of the life and writings of Thiruvalluvar aptly supported by authentic proofs with reference to a few Tamil and English books are also included. ‘Kural' is a classic that gives importance to practical worldly life instead of preaching and advice. Going through all the 1, 330 couplets, one can find that the apt and appropriate words used by Valluvar cannot be substituted by another one. For example, Valluvar's use of the word

Aram means virtue (dharma) which guides one away from bad qualities such as jealousy, greed, anger, and harsh words and is one of the main components for a family life full of peace and harmony.

Though the inner meanings of the poetic contents can be brought in to another language – here Malayalam and English to a certain extent by severe effort, fully bringing the poetic beauty and artistic fulfilment of the original to the translation is very difficult to achieve.

One may wonder why the word

aadhi bhagavaan in the first couplet in the Tamil original, which means Origin God, is translated into English as ‘Siva-Sakthi.' On the whole this book is a useful addition on the great Tamil epic to Malayalam readers.

Kural – Oru Amoolya Rathna Samhitha; Malayalam translation of Thiruvalluvar's epic

‘Thirukkural' by Sarada G. Nair.