“Now there are those who would explain kuḍambai as nest. But as its origin is not contemporaneous with that of the bird, and as the bird goes again into it after leaving it, the reader will see that it cannot symbolise the body.”
After these two examples it is quite superfluous to expatiate any more to the reader on the great qualities of the commentator. The Tamil people have preserved this commentary with the most religious care. Indeed it as well as the Kural have been among the greatest sources of inspiration to the princes of the Tamil country for a good and just rule and for successful statecraft. Even thirty years ago the Zemindars of the Tamil land were great lovers of the Kural and their children were carefully initiated into the rules of state policy and good government that abound in it and in Parimêlajahar. Would that these great books are again restored to their proper place in the curricula of study of our young men both rich and poor!
In undertaking this translation, my object has been not only to spread a knowledge of Thiruvalluvar’s grand work as widely as possible in the world, but also to induce my own countrymen speaking other languages than Tamil to retranslate it into their different vernaculars, so that the words of a great moral teacher who intended his message for all the world and for all time, may not fail at least now to reach the ears of the poorest of the poor and the simplest of the simple of his own countrymen, and to sow in their hearts the seeds of a noble, dignified, virtuous, and manly life. If I shall be able to say to myself that I have contributed something towards spreading the ideas of the Great Master among a wider audience among my countrymen, I shall consider that I have been amply rewarded for my labours.
The Kural
Or, The Maxims of Thiruvalluvar
Introduction
I
In Praise of the Lord
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A is the starting-point of the world of sound: even so is the Great Original the starting-point of all that exists.
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Of what avail is all thy learning if thou worship not the holy feet of Him of the perfect intelligence?
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Whoso taketh refuge in the sacred feet of Him whose walk is among flowers, his days will be many upon the earth.
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Behold the men who cleave unto the feet of Him who is beyond preference and beyond aversion: the ills of life touch them not ever.
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Behold the men who sing earnestly the praises of the Lord: they will be freed from the pain-engendering fruits of action both good and evil.3
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Behold the men who follow the righteous ways of Him who hath burned away the desires of the five senses: their days will be many upon the earth.
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They alone escape from sorrow who take refuge in the feet of Him who hath no equal.
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The stormy seas of wealth and sense delights cannot be traversed except by those who cling to the feet of the Sage who is the Ocean of Righteousness.
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Worthless indeed like the organs of sense which do not perceive is the head that boweth not at the feet of Him who is endowed with the eight attributes.4
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They alone cross the ocean of births and deaths who take refuge in the feet of the Lord: the others traverse it not.
II
In Praise of Rain
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It is by the unfailing fall of rain that the earth sustaineth itself: therefore is the rain called the immortal drink.
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Every food that is sweet to the taste is given to man by Rain: and itself formeth also part of his food.
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It rain should fail, famine would rage over the wide earth even though it is encircled by the ocean.
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Husbandmen would cease to ply the plough if the fountains of the heavens are dried up.
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It is rain that ruineth, and it is rain again that setteth up those that it hath ruined.
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Even grass will cease to grow if the showers from above should cease to fall.
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Even the mighty ocean would reek with corruption if the heavens should cease to suck its waters and render them back to it.
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Sacrifices will not be offered to the Gods nor Feasts be celebrated on earth if the heavens are dried up.
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Neither charity nor austerities will abide on the wide earth if the heavens should hold back their showers.
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Nothing on earth can go on without water: so even right conduct itself depends ultimately on rain.
III
The Greatness of Those Who Have Renounced the World
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Behold the men who have renounced sense-enjoyments and live a life of discipline: the scriptures exalt their glory above every other good.
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Thou canst not measure the greatness of ascetics: thou canst as well count the number of the dead.
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Behold the men who have weighed this life with the next and have renounced: the earth is made radiant by their greatness.
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Behold the man whose firm will controlleth his five senses even as the goading hook controlleth the elephant: he is a seed fit for the fields of heaven.
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The King of the Gods himself, Indra, is witness unto the might of him that hath burned away the five desires.5
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The great ones are they who can achieve the impossible:6 the feeble ones are those
