The Philosophy of Love in Thirukkural: An Analytical Exploration

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept of love in the Thirukkural, a classical Tamil work composed by Thiruvalluvar (3rd century BCE – 5th century CE), particularly its third volume Inbam consisting of 25 chapters on romantic love. The analysis shows that love is treated very delicately and in a complex manner in Thirukkural, where it is seen as a transformative power that is radical in its action on human consciousness, identity and embodied experience. The book examines the stages of the process of loving from its beginning to its end—from attraction to separation, to union—systematically, creating a full-fledged philosophy of the process of love that explores the dialectics of presence and absence, and the role of memory and imagination, as well as the embodiedness of desire and the ethical implications of vulnerability and fidelity. Unlike didactic or lyrical pieces, Thirukkural brings together in a remarkable way analytical sharpness and poetic imagery, relating love as a whole phenomenon, involving the body and mind, the individual and the social, the temporal and the eternal. This paper shows how Thirukkural, dialogued with the western philosophical systems ranging from Plato to psychoanalysis and modern debates in philosophy of emotion, feminist theory, and phenomenology, is relevant, yet has a balanced point of view that celebrates love’s universality and ineffability while dealing squarely with the complexities and challenges of love.