Thiruvalluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet who wrote the Thirukkural, a work on ethics in Tamil literature. He is claimed by both the Tamils who practice Hinduism and the Tamils who practice Jainism as their own. Nevertheless, some consider him a Jain, showing internal textual evidence from the Thirukkural.
Thiruvalluvar's period (based on the Thirukkural per se) is between the second century BC and the eighth century AD.
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Quotations
As the quality of water changes with the nature of the soil;So will a mans reason vary with the quality of his friends.
Verse XLVI.2
Even the ignorant may appear very worthy,If they keep silent before the learned.
Verse XLI.3
If men must beg to live,May the Creator also go wandering and perish.
Verse CVII.2
Just as the hand that strikes the ground cannot fail,So is the ruin certain of him who cherishes anger.
Verse XXXI.7
Not every light is a true light;To the wise the light of truth is light itself.
Verse XXX.9
Reasoning with a drunkard is likeGoing under water with a torch to seek for a drowning man.
Verse XCIII.9
Encyclopedia
Thiruvalluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet who wrote the Thirukkural, a work on ethics in Tamil literature. He is claimed by both the Tamils who practice Hinduism and the Tamils who practice Jainism as their own. Nevertheless, some consider him a Jain, showing internal textual evidence from the Thirukkural.
Thiruvalluvar's period (based on the Thirukkural per se) is between the second century BC and the eighth century AD.
Both Thiruvalluvar's faith and identity are disputed. His disputed identity includes a low-caste Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, high-caste Hindu. Recent publication by Archaeological Survey of India (TN branch at Madurai) have declared Thiruvalluvar to be staunch follower of Jainism of Dravidian time.
Traditional accounts
Most of the researchers and great Tamil scholars like George Uglow Pope (or G.U. Pope) who had spent many years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English, which includes Thirukkural, Karl Graul (1814–1864) had already by 1855 characterized the Tirukkural as 'a work of Buddhist hue'. In this connection it was then of particular interest that Thiruvalluvar,
It should be noted that Graul could have been subsuming the Jains also under the name of the Buddhists (Graul 1865: xi note).
The name Valluvan was/is a common name representing his caste/occupation rather than his proper name. The Priests are called valluvan.
The name Thiruvalluvar (ThiruValluvar) consists of Thiru (a polite Tamil word, similar to Mr) and Valluvar (a polite name for Valluvan, according to Tamil tradition).
There are a few legends abound about the birthplace of Thiruvalluvar. One legend associates him to Madurai, the ancient capital of the Pandya rulers who vigorously promoted Tamil literature. According to another he was born and lived in Mylapore, a part of present day Chennai city and travelled to Madurai to submit his work, the Thirukural, for approval of the king (Pandian) and his college of poets.
There are, also, traditional stories citing the Tamil Sangam of Madurai (the assembly/conference of eminent scholars and researchers conducted on a regular basis) as the authority through which Thirukkural was introduced to the world. Thiruvalluvar might have spent most part of his life in Madurai because it was under Pandia rulers that many Tamil poets flourished. There are also recent claim by Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre (KHCRC) that Valluvar was a king who ruled Valluvanadu in the hilly tracts of Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.
Thirukkural
Thirukkural is one of most revered works in the Tamil . It consists of 133 athikarams or chapters. Each athikaram consists of 10 kurals (rhyming Tamil couplets) thus making 1330 kurals in total. Each couplet consists of four seers in the first line and three seers in the second. A seer is a single or a combination of more than one Tamil word. The first Kural is Agara Muthala Ezhuthellam Aathi; Bagavan Muthatrey Ulagu.
Thirukkural is divided into three sections. Section one deals with Aram doing things, with conscience and honor, for the good of the less fortunate, the second discusses Porul realities or facts of life, and the third dwells on Inbam the pleasures that a man and a woman experience in the course of their relationship. There are 38 chapters in the first section, 70 chapters in the second and 25 chapters in the third section. Thirukkural is dedicated to Lord Adinath first jain thirthankar of dravidian origin.
There is a huge (133 feet tall) statue of Thiruvalluvar showing his first three fingers. The statue is carved out of rock and erected at the southern tip of India (Kanyakumari) where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean confluence. The 133 ft denotes Thirukkural's 133 athikarams and the show of three fingers, to denote the three themes Aram, Porul, and Inbam.
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