PREFACE
Very few in the world outside of the Tamil country have heard the name of the poet whose work is presented here in a new English garb. And yet he is one of those seers whose message is intended not merely for their own age or country but for all time and for all mankind. Born in the lowest of castes and bred up to the profession of weaving, which was his only means of livelihood till the day came for him to renounce all worldly ties, Tiruvalluvar has given to the world a work to which, in perfection of form, profundity of thought, nobleness of sentiment, and earnestness of moral purpose, very few books outside the grand scriptures of humanity can at all be compared. Indeed his work is eulogised by the Tamil people as the Tamil Vêda, the universal Vêda, the later Vêda, the Divine book etc., etc. It is a great pity that such a treasure should have been confined for so many ages only to one single people even in Hindusthan.
The translation that I offer here is not the first translation of this chef d'œuvre in a European language. More than a century and
