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As of 2015, the Japanese language has two translations available of the Tirukkural. [1]
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As of 2015, the Japanese language has two translations available of the Tirukkural. [1]
The first Japanese translation of the Kural text was made by Shuzo Matsunaga in 1981. [2] [3] [4] Work on the translation began in the 1970s when Matsunaga chanced upon a few translated lines from the original work. Through his pen-pal in India, he obtained guidance and a copy of an English translation of the work by George Uglow Pope. [5] Having completed the translation by 1980, he published it the next year when he also attended the 5th World Classical Tamil Conference in Madurai in 1981, where he presented his research essay on the Kural. [5] Matsunaga also translated it into Korean. [6]
The second translation of the work was made by Japanese Indologist Takanobu Takahashi in 1999, which was titled Thirukkural: Sacred Verses of Ancient Tamil (ティルックラル: ティルヴァッルヴァル＝著 高橋孝信＝訳). 南インドのタミル地方で，今もなお誰もが口にする1300余の箴言。６世紀頃につくられ，法・財・愛をテーマにインド的思考を結晶させた聖なる短詩 (ティルックラル) を，詳細な注釈で読み解く) and was published by Heibonsha, Tokyo. [2]
The first Japanese translation of the Kural, which was made with the guidance of S. M. Muthu, an Indian scholar of Tamil, eventually led to the Japanese government felicitating him for his services to Japanese literature by issuing commemorative stamps bearing his picture in 2007. [3] [5] From the 50 odd letters through which Shuzo Matsunaga corresponded with Muthu during the translation work, Shuzo went on to publish his learning about the Indian culture in a book titled My India As Seen Through Letters. [3] [5]
The Tirukkuṟaḷ, or shortly theKural, 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. Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, it is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
The Tirukkural, shortly known as the Kural, is a classic Tamil sangam treatise on the art of living. Consisting of 133 chapters with 1330 couplets or kurals, it deals with the everyday virtues of an individual. Authored by Valluvar between the first century BCE and 5th century CE, it is considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality and is praised for its universality and non-denominational nature.
Yu Hsi is a Taiwanese Tamil poet and scholar, who has translated the Tirukkural and the poems of Subramaniya Bharathi and poet Bharathidasan in Mandarin. He is the founder president of the Tamil Sangam in Taiwan. He has received various awards, including awards from Seoul World Academy of Arts and Culture (2004), Thiruvalluvar Award (2014), and a felicitation from former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, an ancient Indian treatise on the ethics and morality of the commoner, is one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. Authored by the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, it has been translated into at least 42 world languages, with about 57 different renderings in the English language alone.
Tirukkural remains one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. As of 2014, there were at least 57 versions available in the English language alone. English, thus, continues to remain the language with most number of translations available of the Kural text.
Hindi perhaps has many translations of the Tirukkural. As of 2000, there were at least 19 translations of the Kural text available in Hindi. Many of these translations are in verse form.
As of 2020, there were at least four translations of the Tirukkural available in Arabic. The Kural text is the first, and so far the only, Tamil work to be translated directly into Arabic. It is also the first Tamil work to be released in the Arabian soil.
Among the European languages, German has the third highest number of translations of the Tirukkural, after English and French. As of 2015, there were at least eight translations of the Kural text available in German.
As of 2015, the Chinese language had two translations available of the Tirukkural.
Telugu is one of the Indian languages that has had the earliest Tirukkural translations in modern times. As of 2000, there were at least 14 translations of the Kural text available in Telugu.
As of 2015, there were at least three Gujarati translations available of the Tirukkural.
As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Rajasthani only once.
As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Saurashtra only once.
As of 2015, Tirukkural has been translated into Sinhalese at least twice.
As of 2015, Urdu has at least two translations available of the Tirukkural.
As of 2015, Fijian had at least two translations available of the Tirukkural.
Korean has at least two translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2017.
Takanobu Takahashi is a Japanese Indologist, who is currently associate professor of Indian literature at International Buddhist University at Osaka, Japan. He is the second translator of the Kural into Japanese.
Shuzo Matsunaga is a Japanese engineer best known for translating the Kural into Japanese from its English version.
P. C. Kokila is an Indian professor of Hindi, who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Gujarati.
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