What is Kural?
{{Infobox book | name = Tirukkuṟaḷ | image = திருக்குறள் தெளிவு.pdf | image_size = | alt = | caption = The ''Kural'' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], its original [[language]] | author = [[Valluvar]] | title_orig = திருக்குறள் | orig_lang_code = ta | title_working = Kural | country = India | language = [[Old Tamil language|Old Tamil]] | series = [[Eighteen Lesser Texts]] | subject = {{flatlist| * [[Ethics]] * [[Society]] * [[Politics]] * [[Economics]] and [[wikt:statecraft|statecraft]] * [[Love]] and [[pleasure]]{{sfn|Sundaram|1990|pp=7–16}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|1973|pp=156–168}} }} | genre = [[Poetry]] | set_in = Probably after the [[Sangam era]] (c. 500 CE or earlier) | pub_date = 1812 (first known printed edition, older palm-leaf [[manuscript]]s exist){{sfn|Kovaimani and Nagarajan, 2013|p=115}} | english_pub_date = 1794 | native_wikisource = திருக்குறள் | wikisource = The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar }} {{wikisourcelang|ta|திருக்குறள்|Tirukkural}}The '''''Tirukkuṟaḷ''''' or shortly '''the''' '''''Kural''''' is a classic [[Tamil language]] text. It has 1,330 short couplets (two-line [[poem]] parts), or [[Kural (poetic form)|kurals]], of seven words each.{{sfn|Pillai, 1994}} The text is divided into three books with [[aphorism]]s (sayings) on [[virtue]], [[wealth]] and [[love]].{{sfn|Sundaram|1990|pp=7–16}}{{sfn|Blackburn|2000|pp=449–482}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|1973|pp=157–158}} It is thought as one of the greatest works ever written on [[ethics]] and [[morality]]. It is also known for its all-inclusiveness and [[secular]] nature.{{sfn|Lal|1992|pp=4333–4334, 4341}}{{sfn|Holmström, Krishnaswamy, and Srilata, 2009|p=5}} ==History== People say [[Thiruvalluvar]] wrote the work. The text has been dated between 300 [[BCE]] and the 5th century [[CE]]. {{sfn|Zvelebil|1975|p=124}} The Kural text is among the earliest systems of Indian [[epistemology]] (way of thin