# Thiruvalluvar explained — The Kural

> Chapter companion for The Kural by Thiruvalluvar.

## What happens

This chapter recounts the life and times of the Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar, focusing on his marriage to Vāsuki, their ideal domestic life, her death, and his subsequent renunciation. It also discusses the scant historical evidence for his dates, his caste background, and the legendary tests of Vāsuki's obedience and devotion.

## Themes in this chapter

### Family Life and Duty

The chapter highlights the ideal married life of Thiruvalluvar and Vāsuki, emphasizing wifely obedience, domestic harmony, and the poet's view that married life is best for scholars if they find a wife like Vāsuki.

### Love and Marriage

The love between Thiruvalluvar and Vāsuki is portrayed through tests of faith, mutual devotion, and the poet's lament upon her death, illustrating the depth of their marital bond.

### Asceticism and Spiritual Discipline

After Vāsuki's death, Thiruvalluvar renounced the world and became an ascetic, showing the transition from householder life to spiritual pursuit.

## Character check-ins

### Thiruvalluvar

The poet-saint, a weaver by profession, who tested his wife's faith and lived a happy married life until her death, after which he became an ascetic.

### Parimêlajahar

Not directly mentioned in the excerpts; included as a canonical figure but no specific role in this chapter.

### Dr. Pope

Not directly mentioned in the excerpts; included as a canonical figure but no specific role in this chapter.

### Pallor

Not directly mentioned in the excerpts; included as a canonical figure but no specific role in this chapter.

### Bouderie

Not directly mentioned in the excerpts; included as a canonical figure but no specific role in this chapter.

### Lakshmi

Not directly mentioned in the excerpts; included as a canonical figure but no specific role in this chapter.

## Key lines

> O loving one! O thou who usedst to cook delicious dishes for me and who hast never disobeyed me! who wouldst chafe my feet at night and sleep after I had slept and wake before I had waked! Art thou going away from me now, O artless one? When shall these eyes know sleep again?

Thiruvalluvar mourns his wife Vāsuki, recalling her devoted care and obedience, and expresses his profound grief and sleeplessness after her death.

_This verse is attributed to Thiruvalluvar upon the death of his wife, reflecting the depth of their marital bond._

> married life is the best even for scholars and searchers after truth if they can find a wife like Vāsuki; otherwise they had better continue single all their life.

Thiruvalluvar advises that a virtuous wife makes married life ideal for spiritual seekers, but without such a partner, celibacy is preferable.

_This is the poet's answer to a sage inquiring about the value of marriage._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters/thiruvalluvar
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters