Vedagiri Mudaliar | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | 1852 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Tamil scholar |
| Known for | Publishing the Tirukkural with commentaries for the first time |
| Children | Arumuga Mudaliar, Kandasamy Mudaliar |
Vedagiri Mudaliar was a Tamil scholar best known for his work on publishing the Tamil classical work of the Tirukkural with commentaries for the first time.
Vedagiri Mudaliar hailed from Kalathur, originally called Ponvilaintha Kalathur, a small town near Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu. Mudaliar taught Tamil in Madurai Tamil Sangam. He also established a printing press exclusively for the purpose of printing Tamil materials. [1]
In 1850, Mudaliar published the entire Kural text with commentaries for the first time in history. Though the work had been published with commentaries a few years earlier by Mahalinga Iyer, that work only had the first 24 chapters of the classical work published. A revised edition of the publication was released posthumously in 1853 by Mudaliar's sons Arumuga Mudaliar and Kandasamy Mudaliar. Mudaliar's work has the distinction of being used by Ramalinga Adigal, who launched a movement to teach the classic to the masses. Mudaliar had also written commentaries on the Naladiar, another ancient didactic work similar to the Kural text. [1]
Mudaliar died in 1852. Mudaliar's 1850 work was republished after 168 years in 2018 by Sivalayam J. Mohan. [1]
Parimelalhagar, also known as Vanthuvarai Perumal, was a Tamil poet and scholar known for his commentary on the Thirukkural. He was the last among the canon of ten medieval commentators of the Kural text most highly esteemed by scholars. He was also among the five oldest commentators whose commentaries had been preserved and made available to the Modern era, the others being Manakkudavar, Pari Perumal, Kaalingar, and Paridhi. Of all the ancient commentaries available of the Kural literature, Parimelalhagar's commentary is considered by scholars as the best both in textual and in literary aspects. Parimelalhagar also remains the most reviewed, in terms of both praise and criticism, of all the medieval Kural commentators. Along with the Kural text, Parimelalhagar's commentary has been widely published that it is in itself regarded a Tamil classic.
The Tirukkural, or shortly theKural, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each, or kurals. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue, wealth and love, respectively. Considered one of the greatest works on ethics and morality, it is known 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.
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.
William Henry Drew was a 19th-century Christian missionary to India who rendered the Tirukkural into English. However, he translated only the first 630 couplets of the Tirukkural.
John Lazarus (1845–1925) was a Christian missionary to India who rendered the Tirukkural into English. He revised the work of his predecessor William Henry Drew, who had already translated the first 63 chapters of the Tirukkural, and translated the remaining portion of the Kural text.
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.
Kannada has at least eight translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2014. Both prose and verse translations have been made in Kannada.
K. M. Balasubramaniam was a Tamil writer and supporter of the Dravidian Movement, and a translator of the Tirukkural into English. He came to be known as Thiruvachakamani for his translation of Manikkavacakar’s Thiruvasagam into English before translating the Kural text.
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.
Malayalam has seen the most number of Tirukkural translations than that of any other language in India. As of 2007, there are at least 21 translations of the Kural text available in Malayalam. Malayalam also has the distinction of producing the first ever translation of the Kural text among the languages in India and the world at large. The Annual Report of the Cochin Archeological Department for the year 1933–34 reported an unpublished manuscript of a Malayalam translation of the Tirukkural made in 1595.
Telugu is one of the Indian languages that has had the earliest Tirukkural translations in modern times. As of 2000, there are 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.
Herbert Arthur Popley was a Christian missionary of London Mission, Erode, known for his literary work as a translator of the Tirukkural and his skill in rendering Tamil Christian music in the Carnatic style. He was secretary of the All-India Y.M.C.A. At the time of his death, he was president of the local Y.M.C.A. and a director of the Coonoor Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd. He died in Coonoor on 9 May 1960 at the age of 81.
Manakkudavar was a Tamil poet and commentator known for his commentary on the Thirukkural. His is the earliest of the available commentaries on the ancient work, and hence considered to bear closest semblance with the original work by Valluvar. He was among the canon of Ten Medieval Commentators of the Kural text most highly esteemed by scholars. He was among the five ancient commentators whose commentaries had been preserved and made available to the Modern era, the others being Pari Perumal, Kaalingar, Paridhi, and Parimelalhagar.
Kaalingar, also known as Kalingarayar, was a Tamil poet and commentator known for his commentary on the Thirukkural. He was among the canon of Ten Medieval Commentators of the Kural text highly esteemed by scholars. He was also among the five ancient commentators whose commentaries had been preserved and made available to the Modern era, the others being Manakkudavar, Pari Perumal, Paridhi, and Parimelalhagar.
Pari Perumal, also known as Kaviperumal, was a Tamil poet and commentator known for his commentary on the Thirukkural. He was among the canon of Ten Medieval Commentators of the Kural text most highly esteemed by scholars. He was also among the five ancient commentators whose commentaries had been preserved and made available to the Modern era, the others being Manakkudavar, Kaalingar, Paridhi, and Parimelalhagar.
Paridhi, also referred to as Paridhiyaar, was a Tamil literary commentator known for his commentary on the Thirukkural. He was among the canon of ten medieval commentators of the Kural text most highly esteemed by scholars. He was also among the five ancient commentators whose commentaries had been preserved and made available to the Modern era, the others being Manakkudavar, Pari Perumal, Kaalingar, and Parimelalhagar.
S. M. Michael was one of the early 20th-century translators of the Tirukkural into English.
S. Srinivasan is an Indian civil engineer, who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Kannada.
Tarlochan Singh Bedi is an academician better known for translating the Kural into Punjabi.
| History |  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parts | |||||||
| Grammar | |||||||
| Commentaries |
| ||||||
| Translations |
| ||||||
| Culture |
| ||||||
| Memorials | |||||||
| Research |
| ||||||
| Legacy |
| ||||||
