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Thiruvalluvar
திருவள்ளுவர்
The sage of the Tirukkural — the poet of universal ethics
Years
c. 2nd century CE
Known as
Thiruvalluvar — the author of the Tirukkural
Birthplace
Mylapore, Tamil Nadu
Field
Poets & Writers
“All lands are home to the good, and all people are kin to the learned.”
— Thiruvalluvar, Tirukkural
The Story
Little is known of Thiruvalluvar's life except that he lived in the Tamil country, traditionally placed in the early centuries of the common era, working as a weaver in Mylapore. His single work, the Tirukkural — 'the sacred couplets' — is one of the most perfect books ever written: 1,330 couplets, each a complete thought, arranged in three books on virtue, wealth, and love.
The Kural covers the whole of human life — the duties of the householder, the arts of the ruler, the conduct of the wise, and the happiness of love — in language of matchless brevity and beauty. Its ethics are universal: it teaches truth, compassion, non-violence, and justice in terms that belong to no religion but to all humanity.
The work is honoured as the Tamil Veda, sung and quoted for two thousand years, and its author is revered as a saint. The statue of Thiruvalluvar, 133 feet high on the sea at Kanyakumari, is one of the great monuments of Bhārat — a tribute to the sage of the Kural.
Core Ideas
The Tirukkural
1,330 couplets — one of the world's greatest ethical books.
The Tamil Veda
The title the tradition gives his sacred book.
Virtue, Wealth, and Love
The three books of the whole of human life.
Universal Ethics
Truth, compassion, and justice for all humanity.
The Monument
His 133-foot statue stands at Kanyakumari.
Why it matters today
Thiruvalluvar is honoured as the greatest sage of the Tamil tradition — the poet whose Kural is one of the supreme ethical books of the world. His couplets are quoted in every Tamil home, his statue stands at the southern tip of Bhārat, and his wisdom remains the eternal guide of the Tamil people and of all humanity.