The Thiru Kural (Tamil: திருக்குறள், meaning 'sacred verses'), or shortly the Kural (Tamil: குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kurals, of seven words each.

The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue (aram), wealth (porul) and love (inbam), respectively.

It is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known as Thiruvalluvar.

The Kural text is among the earliest systems of Indian epistemology and metaphysics. The work is traditionally praised with epithets and alternative titles, including "The Tamil Veda" and "The Divine Book."

Written on the ideas of ahimsa, it emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual. In addition, it highlights virtues such as truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of wife, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of army and soldier's honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants. It also includes chapters on friendship, love, sexual unions, and domestic life.

The text effectively denounced previously held misbeliefs that were common during the Sangam era and permanently redefined the cultural values of the Tamil land.

The work is traditionally grouped under the "Eighteen Lesser Texts" series of the Late Sangam works, known in Tamil as "Pathinen Keezhkkanakku Noolgai".

Alternate Titles

The work is highly cherished in the Tamil culture, as reflected by its twelve traditional titles:

Thiru Kural (The Sacred Kural)
Uttara Vedam (Later Veda)
Thiruvalluvar (Eponymous with the Author)
Poyya Mozhi (Falseless Word)
Vayurai Valttu (Truthful Praise)
Theyvanul (The Divine Book)
Pothumarai (The Common Veda)
Valluva Maalai (Garland made by Valluvar)
Tamil Manu Nool (Tamil Ethical Treatise)
Thiruvalluva Payan (Fruit of Thiruvalluvar)
Muppal (The three-fold path)
Tamil Marai (Tamil Veda)

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