Tirukkural: Getting close to the original
	In Spirit, Content and Style
	The 'choicest' of all translations in English

 

Edited by: N.V.K. Ashraf

 

This Tirukkural translation in English is drawn from a comparative study of 25 different translations. Sixteen of these were either complete or partial translations and the remaining nine were translations that appeared in articles, monographs and books authored by different people on Tirukkural and Tiruvalluvar. The choicest translation that is close to the original - in spirit, content and style - has been chosen for presentation. Preference has been given for brevity, simplicity and clarity. Emphasize was also laid on translations that manage to reflect, as much as possible, every word found in the original.  Sometimes translations of two authors were combined to produce the best reflection of the original. The translator or translators of every couplet have been acknowledged with their initials eg. PS, SS, SB, VS etc. in a separate column. The initials have been expanded with the full names of these translators at the end of this page. When no translation was found particularly satisfactory, I chose to render them myself. These have been marked by initial NV. An astrix * at the end of a translation indicate that the rendering has been improved upon, either by adding/replacing words or deleting words found to be unnecessary. To know more on the process of this comparison and criteria of selection, click here: Comparing Tirukkural translations to unfold the best. 

Division III. Love

Notes:
1090. Compare with 1201: “Love is sweeter than wine; its mere thought intoxicates” - PS and with also 1281: “To please with the thought and delight with the sight, belongs not to liquor but love” - PS
 

Notes:
1096. Compare with 1099 for similar ideas.

Notes:
1102. Compare with 1275. “The trickery caused by the braceleted one carries the medicine to cure my ills as well” * - KV
1104. Compare with 1159. “Can fire, which hurts when touched, hurt like the passion of love even untouched?” - NV

Notes:
1115. aniccham – a flower known for its delicate nature. The idea here is that a woman’s waist is so delicate that it can’t even bear the weight of a delicate flower like aniccham if it is worn without removing its stalk.
1117. This couplet may look simple but has been translated differently. The word “அறுவாய்” has been usually taken to mean “variable, changing or inconstant” [PS, SB] and thereby interpreted by many as “waning and waxing moon” [JN, KK, GU, MS]. However, the very next word “நிறைந்த” [which means “filled with”] clearly implies that this word means the ‘spots or craters’ on the moon [“அறு” can mean “break, crack, split” and “வாய்” “mouth”].  Though the couplets in Kural are usually discrete and independent of each other, there are occasions – especially in division “LOVE” – where the succeeding ones appear in sequence [chapter 132 is a fine example]. Here it appears that the preceding couplet 1116 compares the lady’s face to the moon, with even the stars being unable to differentiate the two. This couplet takes the love’s face a step further and attempts to differentiate the two. Perhaps this is what is implied here: “Even the shining moon has spots of craters, but none on my love’s face”.  Commentator Manakkudavar’s gives a fitting explanation. He says: “இவள் முகத்து மறுவில்லை யாதலான், அது மதியோடு ஒவ்வாது என்று கூறியது”.
1120. Simply, it means: “Even flower petals and down feathers are prickly to my damsel’s feet”. Flower aniccham is known for its softness and the fruit nerunji for its thorns.

Notes:
1124. Other ways of translating this couplet: “She brings life to my life when together, but death when she leaves” – NV. “Being with my love is life, separation from her death” * - PS

Notes:
1131, 1132, 1133, 1135, 1136, 1137. madal [மடல்]: In the Tamil literary convention, a disappointed lover mounts a hobby horse made of dried palmyra leaves and has it dragged along the streets while he proclaims his intention to die if his lady-love continues to disappoint him.

Notes:
1146. In ancient India, a lunar eclipse was considered the outcome of a serpent swallowing the moon. An alternate translation would be: “An eclipse is much noised however brief. So my one day's meeting with my love” - PS. We see this belief being mentioned in other texts. For instance by Chanakya in Rajaniti-Sastra: “Brave men do not become sad when they beget trouble. Does not the moon which enters the dragon’s mouth come out again?” Tirumoolar uses this belief to good effect to depict upsurge of Kundalini: “The Kundalini serpent consumes kalas of Moon, the Fire consumes kalas of Sun……” [Tirumandiram 871].

Notes:
1151. Another way of putting it: “What use is telling me of your departure? Inform that to those who survive to see your return”- NV]
1157. A convention in ancient Tamil poetry was that separation from her lover makes a woman’s hands thin and her bangles loose [Sundaram, 1989]. The idea is repeated in couplet 1277.
1159. Compare with 1104. “Whence did she get the fire which burns when far, and cools when near?” - PS

Notes:
1165: An explanatory translation: “If in friendship he can hurt so much, imagine the fate when there is trouble?” - KK. Also compare with 1207:  “What will happen if I forget him, when his memory itself burns my heart?” * - SB
1170. Compare with 1244. “Rid me of these eyes, O my heart! For they, longing to see him, wear my life away” - GU

Notes:
1171. An interesting alternate translation, but not close to the original: “My eyes only showed him and filled me with passion. Why now filled with tears?” * - KV
1178. Compare with 1283. Five of the seven seers (metrical feet) between these two couplets are same! “Let him neglect me and do what he will. My eyes will not rest till they see him”
1179. Compare with 1295 for style and word play. “Anxious of not getting and of losing when got, either way my heart is always anxious” - NV, PS

Notes:
1181. An alternate translation, but not close to the original is given by PS. “I agreed to part and so have lost the right to complain of my pallor”.
 

Notes:
1196. The word “kaavadi” [காவடி, appearing as “கா” in Kural] refers to the shoulder pole used to carry heavy articles on either side.
1200. There are differing renderings of this couplet. The word “உறார்க்கு” is sometimes taken to mean “strangers or people” and the word “செறாய்” to mean “not to be angry or furious”. 

Key to the initials of different translators:

Route your comments & suggestions to the author through this address

I Home I Claims & Criticisms I Purpose of this site I What is new here? I Forthcoming topics I
 I Comparative Religion I Gospel of Vivekananda I
I Kural in 30 languages I Mathematical miracle in Kural I Introduction to the Kural I