As of 2015, there were at least five
Sanskrit translations available of the
Tirukkural.
History of translations
Despite its
thin popularity as a spoken and colloquial language, Sanskrit is considered divine and a language of revelation by scholars. This resulted in more than five translations available of the Kural text in Sanskrit. Unlike in other languages where maiden attempts of translating the Kural text is widely made in prose, all translations in Sanskrit are made in verse in the form of typical ''slokas''. This is because historically Sanskrit literature has been in verse, for which it has gained renown.
It is believed that in the 18th century, Thyagasamudram Shri Chakrapani Iyer, a relative of the eminent Tamil scholar
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 – 28 April 1942) was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular efforts ...
, translated the Kural text into Sanskrit for the first time. Per available records, the Kural was translated into Sanskrit for the first time in 1922 by Appa Vajapeyin. It was published by Gururajachariar under the title ''Suniti Kusuma Mala'' at
Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...
. The second translation was published in 1937–1940 by Sankara Subramanya Sastri, who published it as "Sugati Ratnaakaraa" in the journal ''Sahridaya''. Another translation was published in verse by an anonymous translator in 1940 (perhaps believed to be Vidya Bhushanam Pandit Shri Govindaraya Shastri, a Jain). It was published in
Delhi and contained prose explanation in
Hindi.
The fourth translation was made by Kaliyan Ramanuja Jeer in 1956. It was published in
Nanguneri.
The fifth one was a translation by Sanskrit scholar
S. N. Sriramadesikan
S. N. Sriramadesikan (21 June 1921 – 17 March 2014) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Tamil, lecturer, principal, editor and publisher. Among his many works, he is best known for translating the Tirukkural into both Sanskrit and English.
...
, which was published in 1961 and in 1978. It was published in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
by Sarasa Kala Nilayam.
Besides translating Tirukkural into Sanskrit, he has translated several other Tamil classics such as ''
Ettuthogai
The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai ( ta, எட்டுத்தொகை) or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil language, Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (''Patiṉeṇmēlka ...
'' (Eight Anthologies), ''
Pathupāttu'' (Ten Idylls), ''
Silappadikāram'', ''
Thiruppāvai'', ''
Kambarāmāyanam'', ''
Nāladiyār'' etc.
The sixth translation was published in 1983 by H. A. Chakrapani Iyer under the title "Tiruvalluvar in Sanskrit".
The seventh translation was published in January 2021 by V. Indrajithu. It was a complete translation in verse.
Translations
See also
*
Tirukkural translations
*
List of Tirukkural translations by language
Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, is considered one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. As of 2020, the work has been translated into about 41 world languages. As of 2014, English language alone had about 57 vers ...
References
External links
Sanskrit scholar and Kural translator Srirama Desikan
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017
Sanskrit
Translations into Sanskrit