A Comparative Study of Tirukkural with Ethical Literature in World Languages

உலக மொழிகளில் உள்ள நீதிநூல்களுடன் திருக்குறள் ஓர் ஓப்பீடு

Abstract

A nation’s literary development is considered to be the cultural development of that nation. Regardless of which country’s history we examine, we can see that the intellectual development of its people is reflected in the literature that emerged there. The lifestyle of the people living there was also shaped accordingly. It was only when the customs and practices that were initially followed blindly were organized and people began to investigate what is good and what is evil that the ethical literature of world nations began to emerge. In ancient Tamil Nadu as well, among the people who were engaged only in war and love following the morals of the five landscapes, ethical thoughts had emerged here and there. However, when we look at Tamil literary history, we can realize that these ethical literature works began to emerge in large numbers only after the post-Sangam period.