The Kural

A new translation of the classical Tamil masterpiece on ethics, power, and love.

Tiruvalluvar's The Kural, usually dated between the 3rd and 5th centuries, is a Tamil masterpiece of poetry and practical philosophy. On par with the Tao Te Ching, The Kural has been underserved by translators, who tend to sacrifice its poetry for what they see as its ideas. Drawing on the poetic lineage represented by W. S. Merwin, Wendell Berry, William Carlos Williams, and Denise Levertov, as well as on twenty years of dedicated study, this new translation by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma seeks instead to do justice to the poetic genius of the original and to the subtlety of its understanding of life.

Each chapter consists of ten short verses, or kurals, on a single theme, arranged into sections that cover three of the four aims prescribed by Hindu tradition-ethics at home, wealth in the world, and love in all its complexities. If a person pursues these first three wholeheartedly, it is said, the fourth aim, liberation from the cycle of birth and death, comes of its own accord.

Accompanying the translation is a foreword by the founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism, Andrew Harvey, and a "commentary of notes" in which Pruiksma elucidates key words and provides insights from important commentaries. Beautifully packaged, Pruiksma's translation of The Kural is a marvel feat both for readers who are deeply familiar with the original, and for those approaching it for the first time with open eyes.