The Book of Aṟam, in full Aṟattuppāl (Tamil: அறத்துப்பால், literally, "division of virtue"), also known as the Book of Virtue, the First Book or Book One in translated versions, is the first of the three books or parts of the Kural literature, a didactic work authored by the ancient Indian philosopher Valluvar. Written in High Tamil distich form, it has 38 chapters each containing 10 kurals or couplets, making a total of 380 couplets, all dealing with the fundamental virtues of an individual. Aṟam, the Tamil term that loosely corresponds to the English term 'virtue', correlates with the first of the four ancient Indian values of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. The Book of Aṟam exclusively deals with virtues independent of the surroundings, including the vital principles of non-violence, moral vegetarianism, veracity, and righteousness.
The Book of Aṟam is the most important and the most fundamental book of the Kural. This is revealed in the very order of the book within the Kural literature. The public life of a person as described by the Book of Poruḷ and the love life of a person as described by the Book of Inbam are presented to him or her only after the person secures his or her inner, moral growth described by the Book of Aṟam. In other words, only a morally and spiritually ripe person, who is considered cultured and civilized as dictated by the Book of Aṟam, is fit to enter public or political life, and the subsequent life of love.
Etymology and meanings
Aṟam is the Tamil word for what is known in Sanskrit as 'Dharma', and pāl means 'division'. The concept of aṟam or dharma is of pivotal importance in Indian philosophy and religion. With a long and varied history, the word straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations, rendering it impossible to provide a single concise definition. Thus, there is no equivalent single-word translation for aṟam in western languages.
The book and its chapters
The Book of Aṟam is the most important of all the books of the Tirukkural and is considered the most fundamental. The book exclusively deals with dharma, which is common to the entire work of the Tirukkural, thus providing the essence of the work as a whole. An exemplification for this is found in verse 34 of Purananuru, where its author Alathur Kilar refers to the entire work of the Tirukkural by simply calling it as 'Aṟam'. In a practical sense, the Book of Aṟam deals with the essentials of the Yoga philosophy by expounding the household life that begins with compassion and ahimsa, ultimately leading to the path to renunciation.
The Book of Aṟam contains the first 38 chapters of the Kural text, all dealing with fundamental virtue. The first four chapters, known as the introductory chapters, include 40 couplets on God, rain, characteristics of a righteous person, and assertion of virtue. The remaining chapters with 340 couplets are addressed to the common man or a householder, which includes 200 couplets on domestic virtue and 140 couplets on higher yet most fundamental virtue based on grace, benevolence and compassion. All the couplets in the book essentially mandate the ethics of ahimsa (non-violence), meatless diet, casteless human brotherhood, absence of desires, path of righteousness and truth, and so forth.