Who wrote Thirukkural?

Thirukkural, a classic of tamil literature. is a collection of couplets. 1330 of them, in fact. "Kural" means a short verse and "Thiru" is a prefix used to denote respect. The text is divided into three chapters, The first deals with individual character, the second deals with character becoming of a person in public life and the third deals with private life within the family.

We know very little about the exact date when the text was composed. Historians believe the text to have been written anytime between the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, more commonly referred to as the "Sangam" period (the Golden Age of Tamil literature). We know even less about the authorship of the text. We do not know who wrote it or even if it was composed by just one individual.

In present day Tamil Nadu, if you stop anyone walking down the street and ask who wrote Thirukkural, the reply will be "Thiruvalluvar". This is the general belief and this notion is propogated through the education system. Many legends have sprung around this belief, encouraged by the Dravidian movement in the 20th century. However, there is no evidence to suggest someone called Thiruvalluvar existed or that he wrote the text. The image of Thiruvalluvar as a venerable bearded old man sitting cross legged with palm leaf manuscripts in his hand is an artist's imagination created during the latter half of the 20th century.

There are many versions as to who could be the author. Some suggest that such an exhaustive work consisting of 1330 perfectly worded couplets about subjects ranging from ruling a kingdom, giving alms, spying, agriculture, education and making love could not have been composed by one individual. While the first two chapters could be written by either a man or a woman, some couplets in the third chapter, dealing with intimate relationships are written from a woman's perspective. Example:

Kural 1186:
விளக்கற்றம் பார்க்கும் இருளேபோல் கொண்கன்
முயக்கற்றம் பார்க்கும் பசப்பு.

Explanation:

(A woman in love laments)

As darkness waits for the lamp to be extinguished,
Weakness threatens to engulf me as soon as I am out of his embrace.


In Indian poetry, it is not unusual for men to write from a woman's prespective. This is quite prevalent in religious poetry where the male poet imagines himself to a woman in love with the male deity (notably Shiva or Krishna, the former known for his sexual prowess culminating in millennia long love making with his wife Parvati and the latter being a charming ladies man.)

Anyway, getting back to the topic :), in Thirukkural, the love and longing is not directed towards any deity. It is for, by all accounts, a normal man to whom the lady has lost her heart. So were some couplets composed by women poets?

As we know, during the Sangam period, women poets contributed to Tamil literature and poetry. Most notably, Avvaiyar. "Sangam" means "confluence" or "assembly". The Tamil Sangams were, quite literally, assemblies were poets gathered. And some of them were definitely bound to be women. Is it possible that, given that the Thirukkural covers almost every aspect of private, social and public life, many poets (both men and women) contributed? And the best verses were chosen and compiled into what is today known as Thirukkural?

Assuming various men & women contributed to making Thirukkural what it is, why is that such an intriguing thought? Because, in that case, the credit for composing such a timeless classic does not rest with one venerated individual (with magical powers, if some legends are to be believed) but with an entire society consisting of ordinary men and women who could create verses that are as true today as they were a thousand years ago.

And for what makes Thirukkural so special (beyond what was taught to us at school, of course)...my next post....