Thirukkural with the Times explores real-world lessons from the classic Tamil text ‘Thirukkural’. Written by Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar, the Kural consists of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each. This text is divided into three books with teachings on virtue, wealth, and love and is considered one of the great works ever on ethics and morality. The Kural has influenced scholars and leaders across social, political, and philosophical spheres.
Motivational speaker, author and diversity champion Bharathi Bhaskar explores the masterpiece.
The genius of Thiruvalluvar lies not only in the wisdom of his words but in his craft. Nowhere is this more visible than in Kamathuppaal—the Book of Love. With just two principal characters—the man and his beloved—he scripts a complete play of 25 chapters and 250 couplets.
Apart from the two, there are only faint shadows of other figures; the thozhi, friend of the lady, paangan, friend of the lad, and the foster mother of the lady. It remains a two-character play, where Valluvar carefully scripts the entire arc of a relationship; intimate yet vast, narrow in frame but infinite in resonance.
The lover celebrates her beauty while she longs for eternal companionship. There are moments of bliss, episodes of quarrels, reconciliations, separations, and the yearning to be reunited. In every line, the elixir of love binds them together.
And what is the play about? Nothing less than life itself. Love is the pinnacle of human happiness, a universal experience that transcends cultures and centuries. The drama of love has not changed — couples quarrel, break up, reconcile, and rush back into each other’s arms. Perhaps the Gods themselves must be weary of watching the same scenes replay endlessly. Yet when these emotions are woven with the grandeur of poetry, they appear fresh.
What elevates this poetic drama is not just its theme but the devices Valluvar employs. He uses soliloquy, dramatic irony, metaphors, and similes to breathe life into his characters. The result is more than poetry—it is theatre, staged not in grand halls but in the hearts of those who read it.
What makes Valluvar’s poetry radiant are also some unexpected allegories and parables that almost jolt you. Couplet 1110, is an example:
“Aridhoaru Ariyaamai Kandatraal Kaamam
Seridhoarum Seyizhai Maattu.”
The more men learn, the more their ignorance they detect; so is passion—that discovers more of her undiscovered secrets at every union.
At first glance, this seems misplaced. Such a thought could have belonged in the chapters on learning ( kalvi) or wisdom ( arivudaimai). Indeed, it describes a universal truth: the more one discovers, the more one realises how little one knows. Newton’s confession: “I feel like a boy playing on the seashore, finding pebbles, while the great ocean of truth lies undiscovered before me” is a perfect echo of this.
Galileo, on the night of January 7, 1610, peering at Jupiter through his telescope, must have felt this same shock—that the universe is infinitely larger than one can fathom. Ramanujan, writing his first theorem, must have sensed that numbers conceal an inexhaustible world. In knowledge, every discovery reveals the immensity of what remains.
Why then does Valluvar speak of this in the Book of Love? Because love too is an endless quest. The lover, like the seeker, realises that every new glimpse of his beloved opens yet another hidden dimension of her being. The journey of desire is also like an endless path where every door opened leads to another. Knowledge and love, science and passion—all the different quests merge in the recognition that the greatest truths are inexhaustible.
Perhaps the only certainty is that Valluvar himself was in love. For only one who has truly loved could have dared to compare the boundless mysteries of the universe with the inexhaustible depth of a beloved.
Motivational speaker, author and diversity champion Bharathi Bhaskar explores the masterpiece.
The genius of Thiruvalluvar lies not only in the wisdom of his words but in his craft. Nowhere is this more visible than in Kamathuppaal—the Book of Love. With just two principal characters—the man and his beloved—he scripts a complete play of 25 chapters and 250 couplets.
Apart from the two, there are only faint shadows of other figures; the thozhi, friend of the lady, paangan, friend of the lad, and the foster mother of the lady. It remains a two-character play, where Valluvar carefully scripts the entire arc of a relationship; intimate yet vast, narrow in frame but infinite in resonance.
The lover celebrates her beauty while she longs for eternal companionship. There are moments of bliss, episodes of quarrels, reconciliations, separations, and the yearning to be reunited. In every line, the elixir of love binds them together.
And what is the play about? Nothing less than life itself. Love is the pinnacle of human happiness, a universal experience that transcends cultures and centuries. The drama of love has not changed — couples quarrel, break up, reconcile, and rush back into each other’s arms. Perhaps the Gods themselves must be weary of watching the same scenes replay endlessly. Yet when these emotions are woven with the grandeur of poetry, they appear fresh.
What elevates this poetic drama is not just its theme but the devices Valluvar employs. He uses soliloquy, dramatic irony, metaphors, and similes to breathe life into his characters. The result is more than poetry—it is theatre, staged not in grand halls but in the hearts of those who read it.
What makes Valluvar’s poetry radiant are also some unexpected allegories and parables that almost jolt you. Couplet 1110, is an example:
“Aridhoaru Ariyaamai Kandatraal Kaamam
Seridhoarum Seyizhai Maattu.”
The more men learn, the more their ignorance they detect; so is passion—that discovers more of her undiscovered secrets at every union.
At first glance, this seems misplaced. Such a thought could have belonged in the chapters on learning ( kalvi) or wisdom ( arivudaimai). Indeed, it describes a universal truth: the more one discovers, the more one realises how little one knows. Newton’s confession: “I feel like a boy playing on the seashore, finding pebbles, while the great ocean of truth lies undiscovered before me” is a perfect echo of this.
Galileo, on the night of January 7, 1610, peering at Jupiter through his telescope, must have felt this same shock—that the universe is infinitely larger than one can fathom. Ramanujan, writing his first theorem, must have sensed that numbers conceal an inexhaustible world. In knowledge, every discovery reveals the immensity of what remains.
Why then does Valluvar speak of this in the Book of Love? Because love too is an endless quest. The lover, like the seeker, realises that every new glimpse of his beloved opens yet another hidden dimension of her being. The journey of desire is also like an endless path where every door opened leads to another. Knowledge and love, science and passion—all the different quests merge in the recognition that the greatest truths are inexhaustible.
Perhaps the only certainty is that Valluvar himself was in love. For only one who has truly loved could have dared to compare the boundless mysteries of the universe with the inexhaustible depth of a beloved.
You may also like
First telecom system with India-made chips gets TEC certification
VIDEOS: Kasba Ganpati Leads The Way As Visarjan Procession Begins In Pune
Kartik Aaryan, Ananya Panday groove to 'Jumma Chumma De De'
Parag Tyagi pens note for late wife Shefali Jariwala's father on birthday
North Korea, Russia sign agreement to bolster cooperation on public safety
