Thirukkural {english} (HARD BOND, Tamil, REVEREND. W.H. DREW REVEREND. JOHN LAZARUS)

THIRUKKURAL AT A GLANCE 'KURAL' MEANS SHORT FORM. EACH 'KURAL VENBA' (TAMIL POETRY METRE) OR COUPLET CONTAINS JUST TWO LINES. THE BOOK HAS 133 CHAPTERS EACH COMPRISING TEN COUPLETS; THUS 1330 IN TOTAL. IT HAS THREE MAJOR DIVISIONS: BOOK ONE ON MORALISTIC PRINCIPLES (380 COUPLETS); BOOK TWO ON WEALTH (700); BOOK THREE ON LOVE-LIFE (250 COUPLETS). FATHER CONSTANTIO JOSEPHO BESCHI, AN ITALIAN JESUIT, TRANSLATED IT INTO LATIN CIRCA 1780. DR. GRAUL PUBLISHED AN EDITION IN LEIPZIG AND IN LONDON IN 1856 WITH GERMAN AND LATIN TRANSLATIONS. PROFESSOR ARIEL HAS DONE THE FRENCH TRANSLATION. REVEREND WILLIAM HENRY DREW, A MISSIONARY OF THE LONDON SOCIETY IN THE THEN MADRAS, PUBLISHED AN EDITION OF 63 CHAPTERS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND JOHN LAZARUS, ALSO A MISSIONARY, COMPLETED AND PUBLISHED THIS EDITION ON 1885 AT MADRAS.