# The Kural — Character guide

> Key figures in The Kural by Thiruvalluvar.

- [Thiruvalluvar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/thiruvalluvar.md): He is the poet at the center of the Kural, a man whose very name means only 'devotee of the valluva caste,' his origins and dates swallowed by tradition. He tested his bride Vâsuki by asking her to cook iron nailheads, a
- [Parimêlajahar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/parimelajahar.md): Nine commentators had already tried their hand at the Kural before him, but it was Parimêlajahar who entered, as the tradition says, into the very mind of the author. His commentary is as terse and vigorous as the origin
- [Dr. Pope](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/dr_pope.md): A translator and scholar of the Kural, referenced in the commentary.
- [Pallor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/pallor.md): In the Kural's third part, love is treated as the romance of a single couple from first meeting to reunion, and Pallor is the visible mark of the ache between them. It is not a person so much as a condition that overtake
- [Bouderie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/bouderie.md): Bouderie is the mood that flickers between the couple in the Kural's love section, the sulk that is half punishment and half invitation. It belongs to the same agitated mind the poet anatomizes so finely, where each mood
- [Lakshmi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/lakshmi.md): The goddess of wealth and prosperity, invoked in the text.
- [the Kural](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/the_kural.md): The Kural is not merely a collection of verses but a moral agent with a stake in being followed, since its author has no power to compel and must rely on the sanction of consequence. It moves from Righteousness through P
- [Drew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/drew.md): A translator or scholar mentioned in the commentary notes.
- [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/jesus_christ.md): Referenced as a moral exemplar in comparative commentary.
- [M. Ariel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/m_ariel.md): A scholar cited in the commentary on the Kural.
- [Kauṭilya](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/kautilya.md): Ancient Indian philosopher referenced for political wisdom.
- [Fortune](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters/fortune.md): Personified concept of luck and destiny in the moral verses.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_kural_se/characters