The Kural text is among the earliest systems of Indian epistemology and metaphysics.
The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, it is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue ( aram), wealth ( porul) and love ( inbam), respectively. The Tirukkuṟaḷ ( Tamil: திருக்குறள், lit.'sacred verses'), or shortly the Kural ( Tamil: குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each.
