The Immortal Kural

About the Book The Kural by Thiruvalluvar is an ancient work of the Sangam Age. Being a treatise on such a mundane theme as 'the Art of Living , and written under a political, social and economic milieu of such vast difference as may hardly be comparable with the modern age, one would expect it to face the inevitable tate of obsolescence. On the contrary, scholars and thinkers increasingly admire and advocate the Kural as relevant even today and claim for it the virtue of universal and timeless appeal. It is against this background that the author of this book raises the query: "What is it that makes the Kurai immortal?" and tries to seek an answer

The author highlights Valluvar's penetrating insight into the unshifting foundations of life and his extraordinary genius for abstraction and generalization. It is strikingly different from any book or commentary so far written on the Kural. Presenting the Award for 1988, the Sahitya Akademi in its citation states that "for the perceptiveness, analytical approach and scholarly treatment, the book has been hailed as a contribution to contemporary Tamil Literature".

About the Author Professor V.C. Kulandai Swamy was born in a remote village, Vangalampalayam in Tamil Nadu. He obtained his Ph.D from the University of Illinois, USA and was a teacher and researcher of international standing in Hydrology and Water Resources. Later he moved to academic administration and has been Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University (1978-79), Anna University (1981-1990) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (1990-1994).

A well known writer in Tamil, his literary contributions comprise mainly poems; he has also written articles and books on varied topics ranging from literary criticism to modernization of Tamil language. His poems under the pen-name Kulothungan have appeared in six volumes.

The University of Jaffna, Srilanka and five other universities in India conferred D.Litt (honoris causa)/D.Sc. (honoris causa) on him. Prof. Swamy was given SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD in 1988 and was conferred the national honour of PADMA SHRI in 1992 and PADMA BHUSHAN in 2002 by the President of India.

ForewordForeword When I read Dr .V.C. Kulandai Swamy's book in Tamil, Vazhum Valluvam which won for him the Sahitya Akademi Award, I found a new exposition of the Tirukkural, also referred to as the Kural, which has not been attempted earlier. There have been many commentators of the Kural but they were all scholars and philosophers. For the first time, a scientist, who is also well versed in the Tamil language, has studied the book from a scientific angle. This study has brought out and emphasized certain aspects which make the Kural immortal. I suggested to Dr Kulandai Swamy that he himself should translate his book into English so that this unique study and interpretation of the Kural may be available to a larger audience apart from the Tamil - knowing people. I am glad Kulandai Swamy has done the translation, and, if I may say so, in an exemplary manner showing his command of the English language also. I would like to congratulate him on his excellent achievement. I am confident this will find a wide readership not only in India but in other parts of the world also.

The Kural was written two thousand years ago by a great Tamilian, Thiruvalluvar, also referred to as Valluvar. His greatness has been poetically acknowledged by Mahakavi Subramania Bharati when he says Tamil Nadu has attained glory by giving to the world the Kural's author Valluvar.

The Kural contains three parts, dealing with three aspects of human pursuit, Aram, Porul and Inbam. In Sanskrit, these are expressed as Dharma, Artha and Kama.

Preface Man is not immortal; but he alone is capable of creations that are immortal; among them, books last longer than most others. Books again vary in content and kind and the longevity of their relevance depends on their audience and their appeal. In a field like science and technology, where the life of know-ledge is short and is becoming shorter day by day, obsolescence sets in fast. Even in other disciplines the relevance of a treatise diminishes, though relatively slowly, and becomes dated in a matter of some years. But scriptures, philosophical enquiries, great literary works and studies that dwell on the domain of human wisdom rather than human knowledge have the potential to sustain themselves and resist obsolescence.

The Bible will endure as long as Christianity lasts; so will the Koran as long as Islam has its followers. No one who is a believer in a religion will question the validity or relevance of its scriptures. They are supported and sustained by the respective faiths. Epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana remain immortal because of the beauty of the poems and the portrayal of characters that have a perennial appeal. When it comes to lyric poems, lines such as 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever' or 'the old order changed, yielding place to new, lest one good custom should corrupt the world,' are poetic truths that will never age. But books on diplomacy or statecraft or norms of conduct and counsel for monarchs, ministers or managers cannot last long in a fast-changing world in terms of their practical value and validity. We do praise Chanakya’s Artha Sastra; we admire Machiavelli' s Prince for the insight evident in the treatment.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages