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Thirukkural in Sanskrit (संस्कृतम्) |
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In spite of being an extinct language, scholarship interest in Sanskrit – being a language of revelation – has seen more than 5 translations of Tirukkural. Some of these, however, are not complete translations. Interestingly, while most maiden attempts of translating the Kural into any language has been in prose, this doesn’t seem to be the case with Sanskrit. The attempt has been invariably to come out with one in Sanskrit slokas. Historically Sanskrit literature has been in verse and it is in verse that its literature has gained renown. It should also be remembered that the first ever translation of the Kural into a foreign language was in Latin, another language no longer in speech.
The translation of S.N. Sriramadesikan who published Tirukkural translation in 1961 and 1978 has been presented here. . There is a website solely devoted to this great Sanskrit scholar who was born in Kanchipuram in 1921. He is recipient of great honours from governmental and non-governmental organizations. He has not only translated Thirukkural into Sanskrit but many other Tamil classics like Ettuthogai (Eight Anthologies), Pathupāttu (Ten Idylls), Silappadikāram, Thiuppāvai, Kambarāmāyanam, Nāladiyār etc. (see: http://sriramadesikan.com/). Thanks to Dr. Thirumurugan, the veterinarian working at Chennai, with whose help I could obtain a CD containing the entire translation. And my wife, K.T. Shahnaz, as usual took all the pains to type the verses in Unicode. |
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