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Thirukkural – All 1330 Kurals with Meaning in Tamil & English

Read all 1330 Thirukkural couplets by chapter, each with a simple explanation in Tamil, its meaning in modern English, a transliteration and the classic translations. Search by number or word.

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Kural of the day

Kural 310

இறந்தார் இறந்தார் அனையர் சினத்தைத்
துறந்தார் துறந்தார் துணை.

Irandhaar Irandhaar Anaiyar Sinaththaith
Thurandhaar Thurandhaar Thunai

Meaning
Those who go to extremes of anger are as good as dead, while those who have given up anger stand equal to those who have renounced everything.
Explanation in Tamil
இங்கே முதலில் வரும் 'இறந்தார்' என்பது அளவுகடந்து சினம் கொள்பவர்களைக் குறிக்கும்; அவர்கள் உயிரோடு இருந்தாலும் இறந்தவர்களுக்கு ஒப்பானவர்கள். சினத்தை முழுமையாகக் கைவிட்டவர்களோ, எல்லாவற்றையும் துறந்த துறவிகளுக்கு இணையானவர்கள். கோபத்தை விடுவது எவ்வளவு உயர்ந்த பண்பு என்பதை இது காட்டுகிறது.
Classic translations
Meaning (W.H. Drew & John Lazarus)
Those, who give way to excessive anger, are no better than dead men; but those, who are freed from it, are equal to those who are freed (from death).
Translation (G.U. Pope)
Men of surpassing wrath are like the men who've passed away; Who wrath renounce, equals of all-renouncing sages they.

The Tamil text and English translations come from public-domain editions. Wording and spelling can differ slightly between editions of the Thirukkural.

All 133 chapters

Virtue (Araththuppaal)
Wealth (Porutpaal)

The Essentials of a State

Way of Making Wealth

Love (Kaamaththuppaal)

About this app

Every one of the 1330 kurals has its own page with the Tamil text, a transliteration in English letters, a simple explanation in Tamil, its meaning in modern English and the classic translations by G.U. Pope and by Drew and Lazarus, and every chapter has a page with all ten of its kurals. Search by number or by a word in Tamil, English or transliteration, open a random kural, or browse the 133 chapters below.

Book (paal)ChaptersKuralsTheme
Arathuppaal (Aram)1–381–380Virtue: home life, kindness, truth, renunciation
Porutpaal (Porul)39–108381–1080Wealth: kingship, learning, friendship, public life
Kamathuppaal (Inbam)109–1331081–1330Love: courtship and married love

Frequently asked questions

What is the Thirukkural?
The Thirukkural is a classic Tamil book of 1330 couplets on how to live well, written by the poet Thiruvalluvar. Scholars date it variously between about 300 BCE and 500 CE. It has been translated into dozens of languages and is read in Tamil homes and schools to this day.
How is the Thirukkural arranged?
It has three books (paal): Aram on virtue (chapters 1–38), Porul on wealth and public life (chapters 39–108) and Inbam on love (chapters 109–133). The books are divided into 13 iyals (sections) and 133 adhikarams (chapters) of exactly ten kurals each.
What is a kural?
A kural is a couplet of seven words (cheer): four in the first line and three in the second, in the kural venba metre. Each one makes a complete point on its own.
How do I find a kural by its number?
Type the number, from 1 to 1330, in the search box and press Open. Kural 391 is chapter 40 (Learning), because each chapter holds ten kurals in order.
Who wrote the explanations?
The Tamil explanation (urai) and the modern English meaning of each kural are written by TamilURL with the help of AI tools, under our editorial policy, in our own words rather than copied from any published commentary. The classic translations shown with them are by Rev. G.U. Pope (1886) and W.H. Drew and John Lazarus (1840–1885), both in the public domain. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

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