Sections

The Scripture consists of 133 Chapters with each Chapter describing a human virtue or fault. Each Chapter has 10 Couplets, making a total of 1330 Couplets. The 133 Chapters grouped into 3 Sections (Adhikaarams) :

1. Aram : Arathu-paal (அறத்துப்பால்) (Dharma) dealing with virtue:: 38 Chapters
2. Porul : Porut-paal (பொருட்பால்) : (Artha) dealing with wealth or polity : 70 Chapters
3. Inbam : Kamatthu-paal (காமத்துப்பால்) : (Kama) dealing with love : 25 Chapters. It is thought that these last Chapters were written to bring readers into the Weaver’s more serious subjects – this is just like how in Temples there are stimulating statues while entering the Temple that stimulate the mind, which stimulus later passes up the spine during worship and quietens the mind.

Each Kural or Couplet contains exactly 7 words, known as cirs, with 4 cirs on the 1st line and 3 on the 2nd. A cir is a single or a combination of more than one Tamil word. For example, Thirukkural is a cir formed by combining the 2 words Thiru and Kuṛaḷ.