# Tirukkural translations into English

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.

## List of translations

Below is a list of English translations of the Tirukkural till date:
| S.No. | Year | Translator(s) | Title of the Translation | Place of Publication | Form | Coverage | Notes |
| 1 | 1794 | Nathaniel Edward Kindersley | Specimens of Hindoo Literature | London (W. Bulmer and Co.) | Verse | Selections | Made the first ever translation of the Kural text into English in a chapter titled 'Extracts from the Teroo-Vaulaver Kuddul, or, The Ocean of Wisdom' in his book Specimens of Hindoo Literature |
| 2 | 1812/1819 | Francis Whyte Ellis | Tirukkural | | Verse and Prose | Selections | Translated 120 couplets in all—69 of them in verse and 51 in prose. Second edition published by University of Madras Press in 1955 as Tirukkural Ellis Commentary |
| 3 | 1840 | William Henry Drew | The Cural of Tiruvalluvar (Kural 1–630) | Madurai (American Mission Press) | Prose | Partial | Reprints were in 1852, 1962, and 1988 by Kazhagam (Madras) and Asian Educational Services (AES) (New Delhi) |
| 4 | 1872 | Charles E. Gover | Odes from the Kural (Folksongs of South India) | Madras (Higginbothams) | Verse | Selections | Reprint by Gian Publications (Delhi) in 1981 |
| 5 | 1873 | Edward Jewitt Robinson | Tamil Wisdom | London (Paternoster Row) | Verse | Partial | Revised edition in 1885 as Tales and Poems of South India; 1st reprint in 1975 by Kazhakam (Madras) and 2nd in 2000 by TNR (Tanjore) |
| 6 | 1885 | John Lazarus | Tirukkural (Kural 631–1330) | Madras (Murugesa Mudaliar) | Prose | Partial | Reprint in 1988 by AES (New Delhi) |
| 7 | 1886 | George Uglow Pope | The Sacred Kurral of Tiruvalluva Nayanar | London (Henry Frowde) | Verse | Complete | Reprint in 1980 by AES (New Delhi) |
| 8 | 1915 | T. Thirunavukkarasu | Tirukkural: A Gem for Each Day | Madras (SPCK Press) | Prose | Selections | Translated only 366 couplets |
| 9 | 1916 | V. V. S. Aiyar | The Kural or The Maxims of Tiruvalluvar | Madras (Amudha Nilayam Private Ltd.) | Prose | Complete | Reprints in 1925, 1952, 1961, and 1982 by Tirupparaitturai Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam (Tiruchirapalli) |
| 10 | 1919 | T. P. Meenakshisundaram | | | | | Published the 1904 work of K. Vadivelu Chettiar with English renderings. Republished in 1972–1980 in Madurai as Kural in English with Tamil Text and Parimelazhakar Commentary (3 parts). Recent edition published in 2015 in 2 volumes. |
| 11 | 1920 | S. Sabaratna Mudaliyar | Kural | Madras | | | |
| 12 | 1924 | G. Vanmikanathan | The Tirukkural: A unique guide to moral, material and spiritual prosperity | Madras (Rathina Nayakkar & Sons) | Prose | Complete | Published again in 1969 in Tiruchirappalli by the Tirukural Prachar Sangh. |
| 13 | 1926 | A. Madhavaiyya | Kural in English | Madras | Verse | Selections | Possibly published earlier in 1923 |
| 14 | 1928 | T. V. Parameswaran Aiyar | 108 Gems from the Sacred Kural | Kottayam (Jagadamba Vidhya Vihar) | | Selections | |
| 15 | 1928 | Unnamed author | Jeevakarunya Thirukkural Selections | Karaikkudi (Kumaran Co. Publishers) | | Selections | |
| 16 | 1929 | S. Somasundara Bharathiyar | Tiruvalluvar: English translation in Tamil lectures | Madurai (Madurai Tamil Sangam) | | | Republished in 1966 by Navalar Somasundara Bharatiyar Trust, Chennai |
| 17 | 1931 | Herbert Arthur Popley | The Sacred Kural or The Tamil Veda of Tiruvalluvar | Calcutta (The Heritage of India Series) | Verse | Selections | Reprint in 1958 by YMCA Publishing House (Calcutta) |
| 18 | 1933 | A. Ranganatha Mudaliar | Tirukkural Mulamum Uraiyum with English Translation | Madras | | | |
| 19 | 1935 | C. Rajagopalachari | Kural, The Great Book of Tiruvalluvar | Madras (Rochouse and Sons Ltd.) | Prose | Selections | Translated only select couplets from Books I and II. Reprints in 1937, 1965, and 1973 |
| 20 | 1942 | M. S. Purnalingam Pillai | The Kural in English | Tirunelveli (Sri Kanthimathi Vilasam Press) | Prose | Complete | Reprints in 1999 and 2007 by IITS (Chennai) |
| 21 | 1946 | S. M. Michael | The Sacred Aphorisms of Thiruvalluvar | Nagercoil (The Grace Hut) | Verse | Complete | Reprint in 1968 by M. S. Raja (Sattur) |
| 22 | 1949 | V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar | Tirukkural | Madras (The Adayar Library and Research Centre) | Prose | Complete | Reprints in 1994 and 2000 |
| 23 | 1950 | M. R. Rajagopala Aiyangar | Tirukkural | Kumbakonam | Prose | Complete | |
| 24 | 1950 | P. Raja | Thirukkural (in verses) | Kumbakonam | Verse | | |
| 25 | 1953 | A. Chakravarti | Tirukkural | Madras (The Diocesan Press, Vepery) | Prose | Complete | |
| 26 | 1954 | I. D. Thangaswamy | Tirukkural | Madras | Verse | Selections | |
| 27 | 1955 | Issac T. Thangaiya | Thirukkural in English with Parimelazhakar Commentary | Madras | | | |
| 28 | 1962 | K. M. Balasubramaniam | Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar | Madras (Manali Lakshmana Mudaliar Specific Endowments) | Verse | Complete | |
| 29 | 1965 | T. Muthuswamy | Tirukkural: The Gospel of Mankind | Madurai (Vivekananda Press) | Prose | Partial | |
| 30 | 1967 | V. Chinnarajan | The Kural Gems | Udumalpet | Verse | Selections | |
| 31 | 1968 | C. R. Soundararajan | | | Prose | Complete | |
| 32 | 1968 | Emmons E. White | The Wisdom of India | New York City (The Pater Pauper) | Verse | Selections | Also published as The Wisdom of the Tamil People in 1976 |
| 33 | 1968 | Shuddhananda Bharati | Tirukkural | Madras (Kazhakam) | Verse | Complete | Also published a complete prose version in 1970 |
| 34 | 1969 | Kasturi Srinivasan | Tirukkural | Bombay (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) | Verse | Complete | Reprints in 1976 and 1983 by Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust (Coimbatore) |
| 35 | 1969 | A. Gajapathy Nayagar | The Rosary of Gems of Tirukkural | Madras | | | |
| 36 | 1970 | Shuddhananda Bharati | Tirukkural | | Prose | Complete | |
| 37 | 1971 | T. N. S. Ragavachari | Teachings of Tiruvalluvar's Kural | Madras (Health, June 1966 to October 1971) | Prose | Complete | Reprinted in 1982 |
| 38 | 1972 | S. R. V. Vasu | Voice of Valluvar: A Modern Commentary of the Kural | Madras (Thayakam) | | Selection | Selection of about 200 couplets; 90 pages |
| 39 | 1975 | E. V. Singan | Tirukkural | Singapore (EVS Enterprises) | Prose | Complete | Reprinted in 1982 |
| 40 | 1978 | S. N. Sriramadesikan | Tirukkural | Madras (Gangai Puthaka Nilayam) | Prose | Complete | Reprinted in 1991, 1994 and 2006 |
| 41 | 1979 | S. Maharajan | Tiruvalluvar | New Delhi (Sahitya Akademi) | Verse | Selections | Translated select couplets from all the three books of the Kural text. Second edition was published in 1982 |
| 42 | 1979 | Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya Swami | Thirukural/Weavers Wisdom | New Delhi (Abhinav Publications)/(Himalayan Academy Publications) | Verse | Partial | Translated only Books I and II; published again in 2000 |
| 43 | 1981 | K. C. Kamaliah | Sacred Kural: The Kindly Light | Tirunalveli (South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society) | | | |
| 44 | 1982 | S. M. Diaz | Tirukkural | Coimbatore (Ramananda Adigalar Foundation) | Verse | Complete | Reprinted in 2000 |
| 45 | 1985 | S. Jagathratchagan | Thirukkural: English Rendering | Madras (Apollo Publications) | | Complete | 291 pages |
| 46 | 1985 | K. Chokkalingam | Thirukkural: Aratthuppaal | Jaffna (Sri Subramaniya Puthaka Salai) | | Partial | Translated only Book I |
| 47 | 1987 | C. Rajasingham | Thirukkural: The Daylight of the Psych | Chennai (International Institute of Tamil Studies) | | Partial | Translated the first 9 chapters |
| 48 | 1987 | P. S. Sundaram | Tiruvalluvar: The Kural | New Delhi (Penguin Books India Limited) | Verse | Complete | Reprinted in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 2000 by International Tamil Language Foundation (Illinois) |
| 49 | 1987 | T. S. Ramalingam Pillai | | | | | |
| 50 | 1987 | K. N. Subramanyan | Tiruvalluvar and His Tirukkural | (Bharatya Gnanpith) | | Selections | |
| 51 | 1988 | K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar | Tirukkural | Calcutta (M. P. Birla Foundation) | Verse | Complete | |
| 52 | 1988 | M. Thiraviyam | Tirukkural | Madras (Asian Educational Services) | | Selections | Published again in 1992 as 108 Tirukkural Couplets in English by Vanathi Padippakam, Madras |
| 53 | 1989 | K. Chellappan | Kural—Portraits: Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi's Kuralovium, a Translation from Tamil by K. Chellappan | Annamalai Nagar: Annamalai University | | | |
| 54 | 1990 | Chidambaran Ilankumaranar | Thirukkural English Translation | Madurai | | | |
| 55 | 1990 | A. Pandurangan | Tirukkural—Arattuppal | Thiruvannamalai (Tilakavathi Publications) | | | |
| 56 | 1991 | M. Swaminathan | | | | | |
| 57 | 1992 | Norman Cutler | A Gift of Tamil: Translations of Tamil Literature (Edited by Paula Richman) | New Delhi (Manohar and American Institute of Indian Studies) | | | |
| 58 | 1995 | T. R. Kallapiran | | | | | |
| 59 | 1995 | D. V. G. Ramarathinam | Tirukkural | (Thiyaga Durgam) | Prose | Complete | |
| 60 | 1997 | G. J. B. Christopher | A Metrical Translation of Tirukkural (Part One: Righteousness) | Tiruchirappalli (Primerose Home) | | Partial | Translated only Book I; 80 pages |
| 61 | 1997 | Swamiji Iraianban | Ambrosia of Thirukkural | New Delhi (Abhinav Publication) | Prose | Complete | |
| 62 | 1997 | G. N. Das | Readings from Thirukkural | New Delhi (Abhinav Publication) | Verse and Prose | Select | Translated 290 couplets in both verse and prose. |
| 63 | 1998 | J. Narayanasamy | Tirukkural | Coimbatore | Mixed | Complete | Translated more in prose than in verse. Reprinted in 1999 |
| 64 | 1999 | K. Kalia Perumal | Wonders of Tirukkural | Thanjavur (Jayam Publications) | Verse | Complete | |
| 65 | 1999 | C. B. Acharya | Maxims of Truth (Commentary on Thirukkural) | Madras (Super Power Press) | | | 964 pages |
| 66 | 1999 | K. C. Agamudai Nambi | Thirukkural | Madurai (Author) | | | 352 pages |
| 67 | 2001 | C. R. Sundar | Book Divine Tirukkural | Chennai (Vignesh Pathippakam) | Verse | Complete | |
| 68 | 2001 | V. K. Subramanian | Pearls of Wisdom: Tirukkural (Tamil: Tirukkural Cintanai Muttukkal) | Chennai (M.T.S. Academy India) | | | 82 p. |
| 69 | 2002 | A. Kandiah, V. Jayadevan, and L. A. Buckingham | Gleanings from Tirukkural for a Multicultural Society | Strathfield South, New South Wales, Australia (Natanalaya Publication) | | Selections | 47 pages. Bilingual edition; ISBN: 0975065335 |
| 70 | 2003 | V. Padmanabhan | Thirukkural with English Explanation | Chennai (Manimekalai Prasuram) | Prose | Complete | |
| 71 | 2003 | K. Kannan | Thirukkural Expressed in English | Madurai (Papa Publications) | Prose | Complete | |
| 72 | 2003 | S. Manickavasagam | Thirukkural: Tamil text, its paraphrase, Roman rendering and English translation | New Delhi (Richa Prakashan) | Prose | | |
| 73 | 2003 | V. Perampalam | The Sacred Kural of Thiruvalluvar; A path to purposeful living | Chennai | | | |
| 74 | 2004 | O. R. Krishnaswami | The Wisdom of Tirukkural—A Guide to Living | Mumbai (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) | Prose | Partial | Translated only Books I and II |
| 75 | 2004 | Anantham Krishnamurthy and R. Shahjahan | Thirukkural (Original text, Romanization with English and French translations) | New Delhi (Richa Prakashan) | | | 676 pages; ISBN: 8187062738 |
| 76 | 2004 | P. Varadarajan | Thirukkural: The Voice From Within | New Delhi (National Council of Educational Research and Training) | | Complete | 136 pages |
| 77 | 2005 | M. D. Jayabalan | | Cheyyar (Mavanna Publications) | Verse | Partial | Translated only 321 couplets |
| 78 | 2005 | G. Govindarajulu | Quintessence of Thirukkural | Chennai (ANK Prints) | | | |
| 79 | 2005 | K. Krishnaswamy and Vijaya Ramkumar | Unpublished online translation | | | Complete | |
| 80 | 2005 | Morgan Yegambaram | Thirukkural for Children | Durban, South Africa | | | |
| 81 | 2005 | S. M. Ponnaiah | A Tapestry of Tamil Poetry | Kuala Lumpur (University of Malaya Press) | | Selections | Translated only 133 couplets |
| 82 | 2005 | Deivanayaki Thirumalai | Book of Virtue in Rhythmic Verses | Chennai (Perfect Xerox) | | Partial | Translated only Book I; translated 100 more couplets in 2014 |
| 83 | 2006 | David Pratap Singh | Tirukkural | Madurai (Master Pathippakam) | Verse | Complete | 396 pages |
| 84 | 2006 | S. Ratnakumar | Tirukkural: A Guide to Effective Living | Singapore (Tamils Representative Council [TRC]) | Prose | Complete | |
| 85 | 2006 | N. V. K. Ashraf | Tirukkural: Getting Close to the Original | (Online) | Prose | Selections | English translations of various authors; translated about 200 couplets |
| 86 | 2006 | M. Annamalai | Thirukkural: Tamil–English | Chennai (Santha Publications) | | | 76 pages |
| 87 | 2007 | Kalladan | Tirukkural Readings and Reflections | Chennai (Manivasagam Publications) | | | 273 pages |
| 88 | 2007 | V. Srinivasan | Thirukkural | (Sri Vijeyam Publishers) | | | |
| 89 | 2008 | M. D. Jayabalan | Thirukkural in English | Cheyyar | | Selections | Translated a selections of 317 couplets from all the three books |
| 90 | 2008 | C. R. Soundarrajan | Thirukkural Uraikkalanjiam | (Thiruvarasu Puthaka Nilayam) | | | 960 pages |
| 91 | 2008 | Chellaiah Yogarathinam | Thirukkural in English | Chennai (Manimekalai Prasuram) | | | |
| 92 | 2008 | Ira. Ilangkannanaar | Bilingual Tirukkural | (KPK Memorial Political Souvenir) | | Partial | Translated only 1049 couplets |
| 93 | 2009 | V. Murugan | Thirukkural in English | Chennai (Arivu Pathippagam) | Verse | Complete | |
| 94 | 2009 | Moorthy Rajaram | Thirukkural: Pearls of Inspiration | New Delhi (Rupa Publications) | Verse | Complete | |
| 95 | 2009 | Moorthy Rajaram | Thirukkural: Pearls of Inspiration | New Delhi (Rupa Publications) | Prose | Complete | |
| 96 | 2009 | N. E. Ramalingam | Thirukkural Commentary in Tamil and English | Chennai (Thiruvalluvar Pathippagam) | Prose | Complete | |
| 97 | 2009 | Damo Bullen | Unpublished | | | | |
| 98 | 2009 | Pasupathy Dhanaraj | Tirukkural: Tenets for Right Living | Chennai (Mathushree Imprints) | | | 284 pages |
| 99 | 2009 | B. Ramiah | Tirukkural: English Explanation | Pudukkottai (Pudukkottai Thirukkural Kazhagam) | | Selections | Translated only 330 couplets |
| 100 | 2010 | B. R. M. Subramani | Thirukkural: Righteousness: Morals and Virtues | (Dravidian University) | | Partial | Translated only Books I and II; published in two volumes |
| 101 | 2011 | R. Viswanathan | Thirukkural: Universal Tamil Scripture: Alongwith [sic] the Commentary of Parimalazhagar in English | Mumbai (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) | Prose | Complete | ISBN 978-81-7276-448-7 |
| 102 | 2012 | A. Gopalakrishnan | Tirukkural—Thiruvalluvar Karutthurai | Chidambaram (Meiyappan Padhippagam) | Prose | Complete | Authored both Tamil commentary and English translation |
| 103 | 2012 | S. John Sahayam | Tirukkural—English translation | Chennai (Vanathi Padhippagam) | | | |
| 104 | 2012 | Vaidehi Herbert | Thirukkural in English | (Online) | | Complete | |
| 105 | 2013 | T. Kannan | | (Online) | Prose | Partial | Translated Book I and II; Book III in progress as of 2024 |
| 106 | 2013 | Singaravelu Sachithanantham | Karya Etika Tamil Berjudul Thirukkuṛaḷ | Malaysia (Uma Publications) | Verse | Complete | Trilingual version with Tamil original and Malay and English versions translated by the translator. |
| 107 | 2013 | Anonymous | Kural Abridged—Damowords | (Online) | | Complete | Single-line translation |
| 108 | 2014 | S. P. Guruparan | Thirukkural: English Translation | Chennai (Mayilavan Padhippagam) | Verse | Complete | |
| 109 | 2015 | Gopalkrishna Gandhi | Tiruvalluvar—The Tirukkural: A New English Version | New Delhi (Aleph Book Company) | Verse | Complete | |
| 110 | 2015 | Jyothirllata Girija | Voice of Valluvar—Thirukkural (The Tamil Veda) | Allahabad (Cyberwit.net) | Verse and Prose | Complete | |
| 111 | 2015 | R. Venkatachalam | Thirukkural—Translation—Explanation: A Life Skills Coaching Approach | Gurgaon (Partridge Publishing India) | Verse | Complete | Published in 689 pages, with new interpretations given for about 360 couplets. |
| 112 | 2016 | S. Kasipandiyan | Thiruvalluvar on Human Destiny | (Allied Publishers Limited) | | Complete | |
| 113 | 2016 | Narayanalakshmi | Thirukkural of Thiruvalluvar | | Prose | Complete | 5 volumes |
| 114 | 2017 | Ajayan Thenmala | Tiruvalluvar Tirukkural (Trilingual) | (Bhairavi Publications) | | | 282 pages (with Hindi, English and Malayalam translations) |
| 115 | | V. K. Parameswaran Pillai | Kural | Madras | | | |
| 116 | 2018 | Madurai Babaraj | Thirukkural: Virtue | Chennai (B. Vasantha) | Prose | Complete | |
| 117 | 2018 | R. J. A. Stephen Loie | Thirukkural English Couplet | Chennai (Palaniappa Brothers) | | | 208 pages; ISBN: 978-93-88139-60-1 |
| 118 | 2019 | R. Jayaprakasam | Thirukkural: Text in English & Tamil | Chennai (Porselvi Pathippagam) | Prose | Complete | |
| 119 | 2019 | Pattu M. Bhoopathi | Thus Blossoms Love: A Transcreation of Kamattupal in Modern Verse | Chennai (Sandhya Publications) | Verse | Partial | Translated Book III alone in modern verse form |
| 120 | 2020 | Jeevendiran Chemen | Tirukkural (Volume 1 & 2: Domestic life and Ascetic life) | Ebene, Mauritius (self-published) | | Partial | Translated Book I alone in English and French |
| 121 | 2020 | Lakshman Naresh | Tirukkural in English (Thiruvalluvar Book 1) | Kindle edition | | | 178 pages |
| 122 | 2020 | Varadaraja V. Raman | Tirukkural (Book I) in English: As Rhyming Couplets with the Core Ideas | Kindle edition | | | 161 pages (SIN: B086VVN-5HQ) |
| 123 | 2021 | J. S. Anantha Krishnan | Thiruvalluvar's Thirukkural | Kollam (Dream Bookbindery) | Verse | Complete | Youngest translator to have completed the translation of entire book in under 25 years |
| 124 | 2021 | N. Doraiswamy | Tirukkural in Easy English (Vol. 1) (Vol. 2 On Love) | Chennai (Notion Press) | | | 154 pages; published again in 2022 (300 pages) |
| 125 | 2021 | Kavikkuyil Anaivaariyar | Thirukkural: Pearls of Wisdom from Classical Tamil Series | Chennai (Notion Press) | | | 322 pages |
| 126 | 2021 | P. Subramanian | Thirukkural—A Comprehensive Vision for Life | (Jazym Books) | | | 552 pages |
| 127 | 2022 | Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma | The Kural: Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural | Boston (Beacon Press) | Verse | Complete | |
| 128 | 2022 | R. Manimohan | Unpublished | Coimbatore | | Partial | Books I and II |
| 129 | 2022 | Karen Goel | Thirukkural | Chennai (Notion Press) | | | 226 pages, paperback; ISBN: 979-8885556408 |
| 130 | 2022 | T. Anatharani and K. Bhagat Singh | The Chapter on Wealth | (Yes Dee Publishing) | | Partial | 162 pages; ISBN: 978-9391549237 |
| 131 | 2023 | S. B. Chakraborthy | Thirukkural | Chennai (Discovery Publications) | | | |
| 132 | 2023 | Meena Kandasamy | The Book of Desire | New Delhi (Penguin Random House India) | Prose | Partial | Translated Book III alone from a feministic view point |
| 133 | 2023 | R. Natarajan | The Kural: English Translation of the Ancient Tamil Text Thirukkural | Chennai (Rare Publications) | | Complete | |
| 134 | 2023 | K. Dhevendhiran | Tirukkural: English version | Kindle edition | | | 221 pages |
| 135 | 2023 | A. Rajamanickam | The Holy Kural: A Comprehensive Prose Rendering Work | (Thamarai Publications) | | | ISBN: 978-8123445236 |
| 136 | 2023 | Theanmozhi Chembian | Thirukkural English Translation in Seven Words | (PeriyarBooks.com) | | | 283 pages |
| 137 | 2024 | K. M. A. Ahamed Zubair | Thirukkural: Universal Book | London (Shams Publishing Inc.). | | Complete | |

## History of English translations

Following the translation of the Kural text into Latin by Constantius Joseph Beschi in 1730, Nathaniel Edward Kindersley attempted the first ever English translation of the Kural text in 1794, translating select couplets in verse. Francis Whyte Ellis attempted the second English translation, who translated only 120 of the 1330 couplets of the Kural text—69 in verse and 51 in prose. In 1840, William Henry Drew translated the first book of the Tirukkural in prose. In 1852, he partially completed the second book, too, in prose. Along with his own English prose translation, his publication contained the original Tamil text, the Tamil commentary by Parimelazhagar and Ramanuja Kavirayar's amplification of the commentary. He thus covered chapters 1 through 63, translating 630 couplets. John Lazarus, a native missionary, revised Drew's work and completed the remaining portion, beginning from Chapter 64 through Chapter 133. Thus, Drew and Lazarus together made the first complete prose translation of the Tirukkural available in English. Meanwhile, there were two more verse translations made in 1872 and 1873 by Charles E. Gover and Edward Jewitt Robinson, respectively. While Gover translated only select couplets, Robinson translated the first two books of the Kural text. The first complete verse translation in English and the first complete English translation by a single author was achieved in 1886 by George Uglow Pope, whose work brought the Tirukkural to a wider audience of the western world.
The first English translation by a native scholar (i.e., scholar who is a native speaker of Tamil) was made in 1915 by T. Tirunavukkarasu, who translated 366 couplets into English. The first complete English translation by a native scholar was made the following year by V. V. S. Aiyar, who translated the entire work in prose. Aiyar's work is considered by various scholars, including Czech scholar Kamil Zvelebil, to be the most scholarly of all the English translations made until then, including those by native English scholars.
At least 24 complete translations were available in the English language by the end of the twentieth century, by both native and non-native scholars. By 2014, there were about 57 versions available in English, of which at least 30 were complete.

### Comparison of translations

The following table illustrates two different facets of a subject depicted by two Kural couplets from the same chapter and their different interpretations by various translators.
| Year | Translator | Form | Chapter 26 (The Renunciation of Flesh-Eating) | Chapter 26 (The Renunciation of Flesh-Eating) |
| Year | Translator | Form | Kural 254 (Couplet 26:4) | Kural 258 (Couplet 26:8) |
| | Original text | Verse | அருளல்லது யாதெனில் கொல்லாமை கோறல் பொருளல்லது அவ்வூன் தினல். | செயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த காட்சியார் உண்ணார் உயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த ஊன். |
| 1840–1885 | William Henry Drew & John Lazarus | Prose | Is it asked what is kindness and its opposite? It is the preservation of life, and its destruction (therefore) it is not right to eat that flesh (from which life has been taken away). | The wise, who have freed themselves from mental delusion, will not eat the flesh which has been severed from an animal. |
| 1873–1885 | Edward Jewitt Robinson | Verse | If merciless, it is to kill To eat what’s slaughter’d must be ill. | Whose minds from fleshly lusts are freed Refuse on lifeless flesh to feed. |
| 1886 | George Uglow Pope | Verse | What’s a grace, or lack of grace? ‘To kill’ is this, that ‘not to kill’; To eat dead flesh can never worthy end fulfil. | Whose souls the vision pure and passionless perceive, Eat not the bodies men of life bereave. |
| 1916 | V. V. S. Aiyar | Prose | The killing of animals is veritable hardness of heart; but the eating of their flesh is inequity indeed. | Behold the men who have escaped from the bonds of illusion and ignorance: they eat not the flesh from which life hath flown out. |
| 1931 | H. A. Popley | Verse | What is kindliness and its opposite? The one is non-killing, the other is killing; To eat dead flesh is not good. | Not translated |
| 1942 | M. S. Purnalingam Pillai | Prose | Not to kill is grace. To kill is what is called lack of grace. To eat the meat of the killed animal is unworthy. | Those who are free from blame and have the clear vision will not eat the meat of animals which have lost their life or which are slaughtered. |
| 1946 | S. M. Michael | Verse | To kill not’s Grace, to kill its loss; To eat lives no good alas! | Seers true, men clean never eat a corse, No sin they do dread worse. |
| 1949 | V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar | Prose | What is compassion but refraining from killing; what is sin but eating flesh? | Men of clear vision abstain from the flesh of a slaughtered animal. |
| 1953 | A. Chakravarti | Prose | What’s grace, or lack of grace? ‘To kill’ is this, that ‘not to kill’; To eat dead flesh can never worthy end fulfil. | A person free from the erroneous beliefs and equipped with the right faith will not eat flesh obtained from animal bereft of life. |
| 1962 | K. M. Balasubramaniam | Verse | To kill not aught is grace and killing is the lack of grace. To eat the flesh of lives thus killed is naught but great disgrace. | The men of pure vision quite free from illusion's dark mesh Won't eat at all the carcass that is free from life, called flesh. |
| 1968 | Shuddhananda Bharati | Verse | If merciless it is to kill, To kill and eat is disgraceful. | Whose mind from illusion is freed Refuse on lifeless flesh to feed. |
| 1969 | G. Vanmikanathan | Prose | If you ask what charity is and what is not, they are non-killing and killing respectively; eating that (slaughtered) meat is unrighteousness (sin). | Men of wisdom freed from the error (of delusion) will not eat flesh carved out of a creature. |
| 1969 | Kasturi Srinivasan | Verse | Not to kill is grace; to kill’s otherwise, But to eat dead flesh is never wise. | The visionaries, who follow a faultless creed Will not eat bodies, from life freed. |
| 1978 | S. N. Sriramadesikan | Prose | Non-injury is otherwise known as compassion; doing injury is heartlessness. The wise know that it is a sin to eat the flesh of animals. | The good ones, free from the three kinds of blemishes (desires) and possessed of unalloyed wisdom will hold dead bodies as corpses and will not eat the flesh. |
| 1979 | Satguru Sivaya Subramuniya Swami | Verse | If you ask, "What is kindness and what is unkindness?" It is not-killing and killing. Thus, eating flesh is never virtuous. | (a) Perceptive souls who have abandoned passion Will not feed on flesh abandoned by life. (b) Insightful souls who have abandoned the passion to hurt others Will not feed on flesh that life has abandoned. |
| 1988 | K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar | Verse | Grace says “Life, Life”, cruelty cries, “kill, kill!” It’s not grace to feed on flesh. | Those with unclouded minds will desist from Eating killed animal's flesh. |
| 1989 | P. S. Sundaram | Verse | Grace is not killing, to kill disgrace; And to eat a thing killed, profitless sin. | The undeluded will not feed on meat Which is but carrion. |
| 1998 | J. Narayanasamy | Prose | Mercy demands not to kill; butchering is cruel, and eating flesh meat is insensuous. | Wisdom free from the painful mind of evil will abstain from feeding on flesh. |
| 2000 | S. M. Diaz | Verse | To make others break the law of not killing is inconsistent with compassion; There is, therefore, no sense in eating the meat obtained by such killing. | Those who have a vision that is not blurred by mental confusion Will not eat the meat of dead carcasses. |
| 2003 | V. Padmanabhan | Prose | Compassion warrants that one should not kill anybody and that too killing other creatures for food is more sinful. | Persons who are determined not to overlook moral disciplines will not take meat obtained by killing other species. |
| 2009 | V. Murugan | Verse | Benevolence is not to kill, and killing is lack of it And to eat the flesh thus obtained is an act unrighteous. | Men of vision freed of blemishes within Take not to eating the flesh of a lifeless body. |
| 2009 | Moorthy Rajaram | Verse | Non-killing is indeed an act of kindness Killing and eating it is unkindness. | The undeluded wise will ever avoid meat Which is but the flesh of a lifeless beast. |
| 2009 | Moorthy Rajaram | Prose | Not killing a creature is an act of kindness. Killing and eating its meat is unkindness. | Wise men who have clear mind will refrain from eating the flesh of a lifeless animal. |
| 2012 | A. Gopalakrishnan | Prose | When questioned about 'Kindness' and 'Non-kindness' the reply will be 'Non-killing' and 'Killing' respectively. One, without killing an animal by himself, eating the flesh of an animal killed by others, is also not meant by kindness. | Those, who have spotless and clear knowledge, will not eat the flesh of an animal from which life is taken out. |
| 2014 | S. P. Guruparan | Verse | (a) If it is asked what compassion is, it is not killing any living beings; And what is not compassion is killing and eating the flesh of the living beings!! (b) Not killing any living being is compassion And it is a sin to kill and eat the living beings!! | If one is freed from delusion and has the wisdom spotless He won't eat a body lifeless!! |
| 2015 | Gopalkrishna Gandhi | Verse | Don't hide behind the butcher's blade saying, 'He kills, I only eat' You're the one that whets the knife that makes the thing called meat. | If you wish, as you should, that your soul be liberated Think: this once lived, breathed, moved, till it was beheaded. |
| 2022 | Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma | Verse | If Lack of compassion — killing not-killing — lack; Of virtue — eating what's killed | They eat no flesh severed from life — those Who have severed confusion |

## Comparison with European literature

In his introduction to the English translation, G. U. Pope compared the Kural to the works of Propertius and Martial and to the Latin elagiac verse. In his commentary, he quoted analogous passages from various authors such as Horace, Aeschylus, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, William Wordsworth, and Catullus.$^{:9}$ He added that what Archbishop Trench said of Saint Augustin is equally true of Valluvar:
   He abounds in short and memorable, and if I might so call them, epigrammatic sayings, concentrating with a forceful brevity, the whole truth, which he desires to impart, into some single phrase, forging it into a polished shaft at once pointed to pierce, and barbed that it shall not lightly drop from the mind and memory.
Pope went on to composing a poem on the universality of Valluvar, hailing him as the "Bard of Universal Man".$^{:10}$

## Criticisms on translations

The couplets of the Kural are inherently complex by virtue of their dense meaning within their terse structure. Thus, no translation can perfectly reflect the true nature of any given couplet of the Kural unless read and understood in its original Tamil form. Added to this inherent difficulty is the attempt by some scholars to either read their own ideas into the Kural couplets or deliberately misinterpret the message to make it conform to their preconceived notions. The translations by the Christian missionaries are often criticized for misinterpreting the text in order to conform it to Christian principles and beliefs. In August 2022, the governor of Tamil Nadu, R. N. Ravi, criticized G. U. Pope for "translating with the colonial objective to 'trivialise' the spiritual wisdom of India," resulting in a "de-spiritualised version" of the Kural text. According to V. Ramasamy, even the very first Latin translation of the text by Beschi is distorted. He writes, "Beschi is purposely distorting the message of the original when he renders பிறவாழி as 'the sea of miserable life' and the phrase பிறவிப்பெருங்கடல் as 'sea of this birth' which has been translated by others as 'the sea of many births'. Beschi means thus 'those who swim the vast sea of miseries'. The concept of rebirth or many births for the same soul is contrary to Christian principle and belief".
Scholars also criticize Pope for over-emphasising certain texts from ancient Tamil literature while downplaying, or even dismissing, others, both ancient and more recent. In his book Breaking India, Rajiv Malhotra writes of Pope's attempts to undermine Tamil spirituality. He writes of Pope's claims that all Tamil works are of Christian origin, and that Tamil culture has nothing to do with Indian culture, thereby forging a Dravidian identity that previously never existed.$^{:68}$

## Less-known translations

The Kural has also been translated numerous times without getting published or reaching the masses. Sri Aurobindo, for instance, has translated fifteen couplets of the Kural, including all the ten couplets from the opening chapter (in a different order from the original) and five from the second chapter, in 1919 as part of his translations of various other ancient works.