The Kural

the long version

<p>Traditionally attributed to the weaver-philosopher <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/thiruvalluvar">Thiruvalluvar</a>, the <i>Kural</i> is a philosophical text composed of 1,330 Tamil couplets called <i>kurals</i>. Written sometime before the 5th century CE, the <i>Kural</i> is a comprehensive ethical work divided into three parts, which address righteousness, wealth, and love respectively. (These largely correspond with the life objectives of <i>dharma</i>, <i>artha</i>, and <i>kama</i> found in Hindu thought and Sanskrit literature, omitting the fourth, <i>moksha</i>, or liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.)</p> <p>It’s celebrated as one of the foremost works of classic Tamil literature, having won high acclaim not only in its home country but also internationally among thinkers like <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/leo-tolstoy">Leo Tolstoy</a>, who quoted from the <i>Kural</i> in his “Letter to a Hindu.”</p>