Tamil Wisdom, by Edward Jewitt Robinson, 1873

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...

remains one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. As of 2014, there were at least 57 versions available in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

alone. English, thus, continues to remain the language with most number of translations available of the Kural text.

List of translations

Below is a list of English translations of the Tirukkural till date:

History of English translations

Following the translation of the Kural text into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Constantius Joseph Beschi Constantine Joseph Beschi (8 November 1680 – 4 February 1747), also known under his Tamil name of ''Vīramāmunivar'', was an Italian Jesuit priest, missionary in South India, and Tamil language littérateur. Early years Born in Castiglione ...

in 1730,

Nathaniel Edward Kindersley Nathaniel Edward Kindersley (2 February 1763 – 16 February 1831) was an English civil service officer to the British East India Company. He is known for being the first translator of the Tirukkural into English in 1794. Family Nathaniel Edwar ...

attempted the first ever English translation of the Kural text in 1794, translating select couplets in verse.

Francis Whyte Ellis Francis Whyte Ellis (1777–1819) was a British civil servant in the Madras Presidency and a scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit. Biography Ellis became a writer in the East India Company's service at Madras in 1796. He was promoted to the offices o ...

attempted the second English translation, who translated only 120 of the 1330 couplets of the Kural text—69 in verse and 51 in prose. In 1840, William Henry Drew translated the first book of the Tirukkural in prose. In 1852, he partially completed the second book, too, in prose. Along with his own English prose translation, his publication contained the original Tamil text, the Tamil commentary by

Parimelazhagar Parimelalhagar ( ta, பரிமேலழகர்) (), sometimes spelled Parimelazhagar, born Vanduvarai Perumal, was a Tamil poet and scholar known for his commentary on the ''Thirukkural''. He was the last among the canon of ten medieval c ...

and

Ramanuja Kavirayar Ramanuja Kavirayar (1780, Ramanathapuram – 1853, Madras) was a Tamil savant and poet. Living in Madras, he dominated the world of Tamil letters and had several eminent Tamil scholars as his students. Ramanuja Kavirayar pioneered the work of b ...

's amplification of the commentary. He thus covered chapters 1 through 63, translating 630 couplets. John Lazarus, a native missionary, revised Drew's work and completed the remaining portion, beginning from Chapter 64 through Chapter 133. Thus, Drew and Lazarus together made the first complete prose translation of the Tirukkural available in English. Meanwhile, there were two more verse translations made in 1872 and 1873 by

Charles E. Gover Charles Edward Gover (1835–1872) was a British folklorist in Madras (present-day Chennai), India. He was one of the earliest translators of the Tirukkural into English. Life Gover was the son of Thomas Gover of Poplar, Middlesex. In 1864, he ...

and

Edward Jewitt Robinson Edward Jewitt Robinson was a 19th-century Protestant missionary to British India. He is best known as one of the earliest translators of the Tirukkural into English. Biography Edward Jewitt Robinson published a collection of ancient Tamil te ...

, respectively. While Gover translated only select couplets, Robinson translated the first two books of the Kural text. The first complete verse translation in English and the first complete English translation by a single author was achieved in 1886 by

George Uglow Pope George Uglow Pope (24 April 1820 – 11 February 1908), or G. U. Pope, was an Anglican Christian missionary and Tamil scholar who spent 40 years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English. His popular translations included those ...

, whose work brought the Tirukkural to a wider audience of the

western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

. The first English translation by a native scholar (i.e., scholar who is a native speaker of Tamil) was made in 1915 by T. Tirunavukkarasu, who translated 366 couplets into English. The first complete English translation by a native scholar was made the following year by

V. V. S. Aiyar Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar (2 April 1881 – 3 June 1925), also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu who fought against British colonial rule in India. His contemporaries include Subramanya Bhar ...

, who translated the entire work in prose. Aiyar's work is considered by various scholars, including

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

scholar

Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the Char ...

, to be the most scholarly of all the English translations made until then, including those by native English scholars. At least 24 complete translations were available in the English language by the end of the twentieth century, by both native and non-native scholars. By 2014, there were about 57 versions available in English, of which at least 30 were complete.

Comparison

The following table illustrates two different facets of a subject depicted by two Kural couplets from the same chapter and their different interpretations by various translators.

Less-known translations

The Kural has also been translated numerous times without getting published or reaching the masses.

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...

, for instance, has translated fifteen couplets of the Kural, including all the ten couplets from the opening chapter (in a different order from the original) and five from the second chapter, in 1919 as part of his translations of various other ancient works.

References

Published translations

* Pope, G. U. (1886). ''The Sacred Kurral of Tiruvalluva Nayanar (with Latin Translation By Fr. Beschi)'' (Original in Tamil with English and Latin Translations). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, pp. i–xxviii, 408 * Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. (1979). ''Tirukkural: The American English and Modern Tamil Translations of an Ethical Masterpiece.'' . Available from http://www.redlotusworld.org/resources/Tirukkural.pdf * Padmanabhan, V. (2003). ''Thirukkural with English Explanation.'' Chennai: Manimekalai Prasuram, 280 pp. * Murugan, V. (2009). ''Thirukkural in English.'' Chennai: Arivu Pathippagam, xiv + 272 pp. * Guruparan, S. P. (2014). ''Thirukkural: English Translation.'' Chennai: Mayilavan Padhippagam, 416 pp. * Venkatachalam, R. (2015). ''Thirukkural—Translation—Explanation: A Life Skills Coaching Approach.'' Gurgaon, India: Partridge Publishing India, 689 pp. .

External links

Tirukkural in Tamil and English—Valaitamil.com

G. U. Pope's English Translation of the Tirukkural
* * https://www.facebook.com/Tirukkural.in.6.languages/ {{Tirukkural, state=collapsed

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Translation-related lists