considered to be an echo of the Sermon on the Mount. We can only say that Tiruvalluvar's appeal is vast as 'the general air' and every religionist finds in it an echo of his own faith, while none feels offended.
As a moralist Tiruvalluvar claims a pre. eminent place in world literature. In laying down morals, he was not thinking of just the Tamils of his own time but of all eternal mankind. He set aside the narrow views of moral philosophers who lay down rules for a particular society professing a particular faith at a particular time. Throughout the 'Kural' we can find 'lofty, humane ideas' and a few are quoted here:
"A is the first stir in the world of sound; even so the Eternal Adorable one is the prime impulse of all creation. (1)
All functions and concerns of life cease without water, and there will be no flow of water without rain. (20)
The infinite book of the secret of nature lies open only to those who are endowed with the gift of understanding the sensations of touch and taste, and sight and sound, and smell. (27)
Be spotlessly pure in your heart; verily everything is in this one commandment; all else is nothing but a vain show and a hollow symbol. (34)
If the light of love and virtue illumines a home, it becomes perfect and all its ends fulfilled. (45)
