THIRUKKURAL - Narayanalakshmi

1 THIRUKKURAL OF (1 to 380) TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION BY Narayanalakshmi 1 THIRUKKURALTHIRUKKURALTHIRUKKURALTHIRUKK URAL OFOFOFOF THIRUVALLUVARTHIRUVALLUVARTHIRUVALLUVART HIRUVALLUVAR THIRU VALLUVAR ThiruValluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher whose contribution to Tamil literature is the THIRUKKURAL , a work on ethics. (He lived between second century BC and eighth century AD) INTRODUCTION Human life is said to endeavor for the fulfillment of four goals of life- Dharma (Righteousness), Artha (Wealth or worldly comforts), Kaama (Desire-fulfillment) and Moksha (Liberation).

2 Thiru Valluvar ( ) deals with the first three goals of human life and explains them in his great work TirukKural ( ). He did not deal with the liberation section because, if any man follows the instructions given by the Tamil sage properly without a flaw, he will surely attain liberation without any special effort as such. Kural means two line prosody ( ). Thiru means Shree an auspicious word denoting reverence. The work is divided into three parts- - SECTION ON DHARMA (1 to 380) SECTION ON ARTHA (381 to 1080) SECTION ON KAAMA (1081 to 1330) The whole text contains 1330 verses in total made up of 133 smaller sections of ten verses each.

3 } 2 PART ONE (1 to 380) VERSES ON DHARMA [RIGHTEOUSNESS] 1. ! pg 3 2. & ( pg 9 3. + pg 13 4. & ./ pg 20 5. ! pg 25 6. ! 4 pg 30 7. ( / pg 34 8. &( - pg 37 9. 9 : 4 pg 42 10. = ? pg 47 11. @: & pg 51 12. A pg 54 13. B pg 57 14. D B pg 61 15. 9 = 9 pg 64 16.. pg 67 17. D pg 70 18. pg 73 19. ( G? pg 77 20. = pg 80 21.))))

4 + 9 H 4 pg 83 22. ( pg 87 23. pg 91 24. ( !- pg 95 25. pg 100 26. ( / pg 105 27. 4 pg 108 28. ? D 4 - pg 112 29. pg 117 30. @ pg 121 31. - pg 126 32. & @ - pg 130 33. pg 134 34. pg 138 35. pg 142 36. pg 147 37. / pg 152 38. ! pg 158 3 9 9 /PREFACE ! KADAVUL VAAZHTTHU PRAYER TO THE SUPREME LORD (1) B D 4 & B U AKARA MUDALA EZATTELLAAM AADI BHAGAVAN MUDARRE ULAGU All the letters start from the sound a.)))

5 The world also starts from the Supreme Lord the source of all. {All the letters are contained in the sound AUM, which has A, U and M sounds contained within it. Hence, all the words denoting all the objects of the world are sounds which begin from the first part of the AUM. And the entire world containing all the names and forms arise from the Supreme Lord, who is the beginning of all and is himself without any beginning.} (2) U & & U =& KARRATANAAL AAYA PAYANENKOL VAALARIVAN NARRAAL TOZAA AR ENIN What is the use of learning, if one does not salute the feet of that Lord, who is the embodiment of all knowledge?

6 {Learning should not make a person disbelieve in the Supreme Lord who is the essence of all the knowledge that is there. So learn to salute the feet of the Lord who is the source of all knowledge. Only by his grace can we pave our way to more learning. What we know is just a handful and what we don t know spreads out like the sands of the seashore. Humbleness is the mark of true learning. Arrogance blocks the path of learning. Be humble before those who know more than you. Always be devoted to the feet of the Supreme Lord who will guide you correctly in the path of knowledge.}

7 } 4 (3) & : +A ! MALARMISAI EGINAAN MAANADI SERNDAAR NILAMISAI NEEDU VAAZVAAR Those who always meditate on the honored feet of the Lord, sitting on the lotus heart of the devotees, will live forever in the state of liberation which is above all the worlds. {Where is this Lord found? He chooses always to sit on a flower. Which flower? The heart-lotus of a devotee, whose mind is soft with the love he has for the Supreme. Hold on to the feet of the Lord, and always remember him.

8 He will turn your heart also into a lotus and make it his home. You will also be fragrant with all virtues and have a pure heart which will become his temple. Then what happens? He who sits on top of your lotus heart will place you on top of the world itself. You will raise above all the mundane things and attain the eternal state of liberation by his grace.} (4) A : A4 A4 VENDUDAL VENDAAMAI ILAANADI SERNDAARKKU YAANDUM IDUMBAI ILA For those who have taken shelter at the feet of that Great Lord, who has no likes or dislikes, there is no suffering of any sort ever.

9 {When you have surrendered to the feet of the Supreme Lord, the sufferings of any sort never touch you. Does that mean that the life of yours is going to have no problems at all? How can that happen, as earth life is synonymous with hardships and suffering? When you surrender to the Supreme Lord, you will start becoming like him. How? The Lord does not have any likes or dislikes as such. He sees everything as his own Self. 5 A person who surrenders to the Supremacy will also get the character of having no likes or dislikes.}

10 For a man who looks upon the whole world as the Self, and loves everyone as his own Self, there is no suffering at all. Whatever is seen as suffering by the ignorant will be seen by the devotee as just a sport of the Supreme. He will neither want anything; nor will dislike anything that has befallen him. Like a sailor faces both the calm and turbulent ocean, yet enjoys the act of sailing and reaches his destination successfully, the devotee also sailing in the ship of equanimity (no likes/no dislikes) will reach his fulfillment for sure; for the Supreme Lord will always be at his side guiding him and protecting him.