திருக்குறள் கட்டமைப்பில் பழமொழி மற்றும் விடுகதைகளின் பங்கு: வாய்மொழி மரபும் எழுத்து இலக்கிய ஒருங்கிணைப்பும் பற்றிய விரிவான ஆய்வு

The Role of Proverbs and Riddles in the Structure of Thirukkural: A Comprehensive Study on Oral Tradition and Written Literary Integration

Abstract

: In the Tamil cultural landscape, proverbs (mudhumozhi) and riddles (pisi)—oral literary traditions that have been in continuous practice over ages—serve as repositories of common folk's social experiences and portals to life's fundamental truths. Thirukkural, standing as the crown jewel of Tamil ethical literature, is not merely a compilation of textual or manuscript-bound thoughts, but is intrinsically structured with the deep stylistic and philosophical elements of the oral tradition.

Against the backdrop of the prosodic limits outlined in Tolkappiyam’s Cheyyuliyal, oral customs, and folkloric theories, the primary objective of this paper is to analyze how Thiruvalluvar crafted the oral techniques of rural people into the classical Kural Venba poetic meter.

In this study, proverbs and riddles collected through field research, Tolkappiyam grammatical sutras, Sangam literary citations, and data from open-access international journals are critically examined from a comparative perspective. Thiruvalluvar effectively utilized the proverbs and riddles prevalent during his time as tools to establish a nuanced technique of succinctly expounding the three-fold path—Virtue (Aram), Wealth (Porul), and Love (Inbam)—essential for human society.

Ultimately, this study establishes that the structural strategies of the oral tradition are the primary catalysts behind Thirukkural’s universal perpetuity, polysemy (multiplicity of meaning), and timeless aesthetic appeal.