Thirukkural (Sacred Couplets) in English

The Kural has been translated into English by more than 90 translators, both European and Indian. Translations by Indian authors alone are more than 80. Almost all the translations by European scholars happened during the 19^th century. The first person known to have translated the Kural into Enlgish was Kinderly who translated selected couplets in his publication “Extracts from the Ocean of Wisdom” in 1794. This was followed by F.W. Ellis, who translated 120 couplets partly in verse and parts in prose in 1812.[1] Though W.H. Drew published an edition of 63 chapters sometime during 1850,[2] the first complete translation in English was that of G.U. Pope in 1886.[3] Being a great scholar, Pope also produced an exhaustive introduction, grammar and notes in his translation. His notes also contained Fr. Beschi’s (1700-1742) translations of the Kural into Latin. Another significant contribution by Pope was the first ever Lexicon and Concordance of the Kural which he added in the end. For these reasons, Pope’s work is one of the most republished and reprinted translations of Kural. In spite of his great scholarship, Pope’s translation is not regarded amongst the best available. VVS Iyer, the first native scholar to have translated the entire Kural in English, wrote that Pope’s verses do not at all do justice to the merits of the original. Iyer’s translation has also seen several publications.

Tirukkural is not a work that can be translated faithfully in typical English verse. For the sake of rhyming the last words, a translator is forced to introduce new words and phrases. The best way would be to translate the Kural, as much as possible, the way Valluvar himself would have done if he were to write it in English. The Tirukkural translation presented here is a compilation of different translations drawn from a comparative study of 15 different translations and 10 other sources like articles 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 in translation, 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, CV etc.) in a separate column. The initials have been expanded with their full names and citations in a table at the end of this page. When no translation was found particularly satisfactory, I chose to render them myself. These have been marked by initials NV. An astrix (*) at the end of a translation indicate that the rendering has been improved upon, either by adding/replacing words or deleting superfluous words. To know more on the process of this comparison and criteria of selection, click here: Comparing Tirukkural translations to unfold the best. 

Click here to go to the Contents pages of 133 chapters in English

N.V.K. Ashraf

June 2005

An introduction to the translations of Tirukkural (in English)

An introduction to the Kural and its author (in English)

குறளும் வள்ளுவரும் (ஆங்கிலத்தில்)