12. LAZZARUS12.1. Rev. LAZZARUS on Tirukkuṟaḷ (1885)
The want of a neat and accurate edition of the greatest ethical classic of South India has for a long time been felt by all lovers of the Tamiḻ Language and its literature. To meet this want, the Publisher now offers to the public a new edition of the Kuṟaḷ, embracing the learned commentary of PARIMĒLAḺAKAR which is indispensable to a correct understanding of TIRUVAḶḶUVAR'S meaning, as well as a “PADAVURAY” in clear and simple language, and an English Version of the Text.
The English Translation of the first 63 Chapters has been compiled from various sources, but for the original rendering of the remaining 70 Chapters which is the first English Version ever attempted by any student of the Kuṟaḷ, and for a careful revision of the whole, the Publisher is indebted to the REV. JOHN LAZARUS, B.A., a Tamiḻ scholar and grammarian of no mean repute. It is hoped that the Translation will be found both faithful to the original and useful to all students of the Kuṟaḷ, whether Foreign or Native.
As regards the Kuṟaḷ itself, it stands on its own merits. The purity of its Tamiḻ, the richness of its diction, the lofty tone of its morality, the theistic and unsectarian nature of its theology, the endless variety of topics discussed in its 133 Chapters, and the profound esteem in which it is held by all classes of Tamil speaking Hindus, are too well known to need praise or comment on the part of Publisher.
Like other Tamiḻ classics, the KUṞAḶ treats of three of the four great themes on which all Hindu authors are to dwell in their treatises, viz., Virtue, Wealth, Pleasure and Heaven. Tiruvaḷḷuvar has wisely left the last subject untouched. Under the other heads, however, he treats of almost every subject that is worthy of a poet and moralist, or a statesman and philosopher. No subject, however noble or trivial it may be, seems to escape the fertility of his pen. It is a sort of multum in parvo encyclopedia of ethical rules and discourses, couched in the most concise, elegant and pregnant language.
The work derives its name from the KURAḶ metre in which it is composed and consists of two lines, the first being a tetrameter and the second trimester. This metre is a species of the well — known veṇpā — one of the two metres in which most of the Tamiḻ classics are composed, the other being the viruttam. Instead of making the first foot of the first verse rhyme with that of the second (verse), which is the usual rule, the poet often makes it rhyme with the last foot of the first verse — an improvement which adds a new beauty to the distich.
In conclusion, the Publisher begs to apologise for the somewhat tarnished colour of the paper in about half the book. This is owing to the long time the Work has taken to get through the Press. He, however, hopes to offer a far more satisfactory get-up in a second Edition of the Work.
