மூதுரை
Moodhurai
The Moodhurai — literally "the wise saying" or "the elder's counsel" — is a collection of thirty ethical maxims composed in the venpa metre by Avvaiyar, the beloved poet-sage of Tamil literature.
Where the Aathichudi teaches through single aphorisms arranged by the alphabet, the Moodhurai speaks in fuller couplets, drawing on vivid imagery from rain, sunlight, the cow, the king's sceptre, and the tenderness of the young shoot — to frame timeless truths about virtue, fate, companionship, and the conduct of a good life.
Each verse is presented in five layers: the original Tamil, a romanized transliteration, an English meaning, a Tamil prose commentary (உரை), and an alternative English rendering.