Tirukkural-The Book of Desire by Tiruvalluvar, Translated by Meena Kandasamy

Tiruvalluvar was an ancient Tamil poet and philosopher best known for writing the Tirukkural, a collection of couplets on matters ranging from love to ethics.

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The Kamattu-p-pal is the third part of the Tirukkural - one of the most important texts in Tamil literature. The most intimate section of this great work is also, historically, the most heavily censored. Although hundreds of male translations of the text exist, this is the first translation by a woman. Tirukkural in the English language, published by Penguin India and translated by Meena Kandaswamy, is a luminous translation of the Kamattu-p-pal. Meena