Among the European languages,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

has the third highest number of translations of the

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 ...

, after

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 ...

and French. As of 2015, there were at least eight translations of the Kural text available in German. Karl Graul (IZ 43-1864 S 424 E G)

History

The first translations of the Kural text into German were made by

August Friedrich Caemmerer August Friedrich Caemmerer (1767–1837) was a Danish missionary in South India. He is known as the first translator of the Kural into German. Biography August Friedrich Caemmerer arrived in Tranquebar Tharangambadi (), formerly Tranqueba ...

in 1803 and by

Friedrich Rückert Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasium'' ...

in 1847. However, these remained incomplete. Caemmerer translated only the first two books, viz. the Book of Virtue and the Book of Wealth. The first well-known complete German translation was made by

Karl Graul Karl Graul (6 February 1814 – 10 November 1864) was a leader of Leipzig Lutheran mission and a Tamil scholar. He was born in a poor weaver family in Germany. He moved to India as the director of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission in 1849 and ther ...

in 1856. He published it in 220 pages under the title ''Der Kural des Tiruvalluver. Ein gnomisches Gedicht über die drei Strebeziele des Menschen'' as the third volume of the four-volume work ''Bibliotheca Tamulica sive Opera Praecipia Tamuliensium.'' Graul's translation is considered a scholarly one by various scholars including

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 ...

, who in 1962 praised the translation thus: "As far as I know, the two best translations of Tirukkural had been till this day, Graul’s old German version … and V. V. S. Iyer’s (translation in English)." Speaking about the Kural in his introduction, Graul said, "No translation can convey any idea of its charming effect. It is truly an apple of gold in a network of silver." The nineteenth century witnessed one more translation by Albrecht Frenz and K. Lalithambal in 1877 (titled ''Thirukural von Thiruvalluvar aus dem Tamil'').

Translations

References

Published translations

* Karl Graul (Trans.). (1856). ''Der Kural des Tiruvalluver. Ein gnomisches Gedicht über die drei Strebeziele des Menschen.'' (''Bibliotheca Tamulica sive Opera Praecipia Tamuliensium'', Volume 3). Leipzig: Dörffling & Franke; London: Williams & Norgate. 220 pages.
Digitalisat
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Translations into German

History

Translations

See also

References

Published translations