~ ThirukuraL ~

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Being Led by Women

Verse 901
Those who dote upon their wives will not achieve great success,
And those of great ambition avoid that very thing.

Verse 902
The riches of a man who rashly follows a woman's ways
Will buy him only shameful shame.

Verse 903
An abnormal submissiveness to his spouse
Will earn a man endless disgrace among decent men.

Verse 904
Though he has mastered the doing of deeds,
The henpecked husband merits little in this life or the next.

Verse 905
A man's fears of his own wife will make him
Constantly fearful of offering good to good folks.

Verse 906
Though providence has filled his life,
A man who fears his graceful spouse is empty of simple dignity.

Verse 907
A woman's shy ways show great dignity,
Unlike a man who lives to work a woman's bidding.

Verse 908
Those who live obeying their wife's wishes
Can neither satisfy the needs of friends nor benefit others.

Verse 909
Neither virtuous deeds nor vast wealth nor other accomplishments
Will be found with men who carry out their wife's commands.

Verse 910
Prosperous men whose thoughts dwell in the mind
Never indulge in the folly of doting on their wives.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Wanton Women

Verse 911
The sweet words of beautifully bangled women who desire
A man's wealth and not his love cause his fall into disgrace.

Verse 912
Weigh the worth and abandon the company of unvirtuous women
Who weigh the profit and talk of their virtues.

Verse 913
A mercenary woman pretends intimate embrace,
But in the darkened room she holds a stranger's corpse.

Verse 914
Men seeking spiritual treasures are too richly wise
To touch tawdry women who treasure only material riches.

Verse 915
Men of innate good sense and acquired sagacity
Never touch tramps who share their shameful beauty with all.

Verse 916
Men who desire to extend their own goodness
Will not embrace desireable women who extend lewd charms to all.

Verse 917
Only men devoid of a chaste mind will lie in the arms of women
Whose hearts covet other things as they embrace.

Verse 918
It is said that men devoid of discerning wisdom
Succumb to a deceiving damsel's embrace as to a siren's song.

Verse 919
The soft arms of the elegantly jewelled harlot
Are an infernal pit wherein base, ignorant men are engulfed.

Verse 920
Two-faced females, besotting brew and addictive dice
Befriend the men whom fortune has forsaken.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



The Avoidance of Drunkenness

Verse 921
Those who crave intoxicating drink each day
Will neither be feared nor famed.

Verse 922
Do not drink liquor. If some wish to, let it be those
Who have no wish for the esteem of exemplary men.

Verse 923
The sight of the drunken man's revelry is unbearable
Even to his own mother. How must it then appear to the wise?

Verse 924
The virtuous damsel called decency will turn her back
On men who indulge in the grievously vile vice called drunkenness.

Verse 925
To spend one's wealth to purchase self-oblivion
Is the result of being oblivious to what constitutes proper conduct.

Verse 926
Those who always sleep are akin to the dead.
And those who constantly drink are like men who have taken poison.

Verse 927
The drooping eyes of those who drink secretely reveal that secret,
Drawing forth their neighbor's endless ridicule.

Verse 928
Stop denying, "I never drink." For next time you drink
The mind's hidden secret will be told, then and there.

Verse 929
One may as well carry a candle underwater to search
For a drowned man as use reason to sober one drowned in drink.

Verse 930
Cannot the drunkard who sees while he is sober the drunken state of
Another realize the shameful degradation of his own drunkenness?

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Gambling

Verse 931
Do not take to gambling even if you can win,
Or your wins will be like the baited hook that the fish swallows.

Verse 932
To win once, a gambler loses a hundred times.
Is that the way to win either happiness or prosperity?

Verse 934
Gambling brings on many woes and erodes a man's good name.
There is nothing which ends in more wretched poverty.

Verse 935
Those enamored of the dice, the gambling hall
And their lucky hand lose everything in their desire to win.

Verse 936
Gambling is misfortune's other name, and fools ensnared
By her will suffer an empty stomach and a surfeit of sorrow.

Verse 937
Spending time in the gambling hall wastes
Ancestral wealth and diminishes an individual's worth.

Verse 938
Gambling will consume a man's wealth and corrupt his honesty.
It will end his benevolence and bring on him misery.

Verse 939
Those who take to gambling's fickle gain forfeit these five:
Raiments, riches, rations, renown and urudition.

Verse 940
The gambler's passion increases with the losses incurred.
Even so does the soul's craving for life grow with the griefs suffered.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Medicine

941
Disease is but deficiency or excess of three life forces
Defined in learned texts as air, fire and water.

Verse 942
The body requires no medicine if you eat
Only after the food you have already eaten is digested.

Verse 943
If digestion is complete, let a man eat with moderation,
For that is the way to prolong the life of the body.

Verse 944
Certain the last meal has digested and sensing appetite's keen edge,
Savor only foods which are fully agreeable.

Verse 945
Life remains unharmed when one eats with restraint,
Refraining from foods proven disagreeable.

Verse 946
The joy of health abides in the man who eats moderately.
Even so, the pain of illness dwells with him who eats excessively.

Verse 947
The thoughtless glutton who gorges himself beyond
His digestive fire's limits will be consumed by limitless ills.

Verse 948
Diagnose the illness, trace its cause,
Seek the proper remedy and apply it with skill.

Verse 949
An erudite doctor offers healing remedy after heeding
The patient's nature, the disease's nature and the time of year.

Verse 950
Medicine consists of a patient, physician, prescription
And nursemaid - each commanding four parts.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Nobility

Verse 951
An innate sense of rights and shying away from wrong
Are found together only in the nobly born.

Verse 952
Men of noble birth will never fall from three:
Virtuous conduct, truthfulness, and modesty.

Verse 953
Four are the attributes of the true gentleman: a smiling face,
A generous hand, a courteous disposition and kindly words.

Verse 954
Men of good birth will not do demeaning deeds
Even though millions and millions may be gained thereby.

Verse 955
Time-honored families may be parted from prosperity's charitableness,
But will never sever themselves from proper conduct.

Verse 956
Those committed to their family's flawless fame
Dare not commit deceitful, dishonorable deeds.

Verse 957
In high-born men blemishes are clearly seen,
Just as the moon's elevation makes it more visible.

Verse 958
When a man with good background lacks loving affection,
Doubts arise whether he arose from that family.

Verse 959
The nature of a soil is known by the seedlings that sprout.
Even so, the nature of a man's family is known by the words he speaks.

Verse 960
Those desiring greatness must desire modesty. And those seeking
their family's honor must seek to be respectful to all.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Honor

Verse 961
Refrain from those actions that would degrade honor
Even though they should be indispensable for the preservation of life.

Verse 962
Those who pursue glory honorably never act ingloriously,
Even if fame is assured.

Verse 963
Cultivate modesty in the midst of good fortune,
But in times of adversity preserve your dignity.

Verse 964
Honorable men fallen from high position
May be likened to odious hari fallen from the head.

Verse 965
Even men grand as a mountain will become small
If they commit an unworthy act though as small as a mustard seed.

Verse 966
It offers neither earth's renown nor heaven's refuge,
So why would one run after or even stand before a man who reviles him?

Verse 967
Better to die right where you stand, the saying goes,
Than to live running after those who despise you.

Verse 968
Will any medicine save the body of the high-born man
When his honor has perished?

Verse 969
Shorn of its hair, the yak will refuse to live;
Such men exist, who prefer death to the loss of honor.

Verse 970
The world will extoll and exalt honorable men
Who exult in death rather than dishonor.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Greatness

Verse 971
Life's light is the aspiration for glorious achievement.
And disgrace is the dark thought that says, "I shall live without it."

Verse 972
Birth decrees to all men who live a common circumstance.
Diverse actions define their unique specialness.

Verse 973
Lowly men are never high, even when elevated.
High souls are never low, even when downtrodden.

Verse 974
Even as chastity in a woman, greatness must be guarded
By being true to one's own self.

Verse 975
A man possessing greatness possesses the power
To perform uncommon deeds.

Verse 976
"We will befriend great men and become like them,"
Such thoughts rarely intrude upon small minds.

Verse 977
When small-minded men do achieve some distinction,
It only serves to augment their arrogance.

Verse 978
Greatness is always humble. But pettiness
is self-adorned with words of praise.

Verse 979
Greatness abides in the absence of arrogance.
Smallness proudly parades its haughtiness.

Verse 980
Greatness conceals through silence the weaknesses of others.
But pettiness proclaims such things to all.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Perfect Goodness

Verse 981
It is said that all good things are natural to those
Who know their duty and walk the path of perfect goodness.

Verse 982
Perfect men hold as good their own good character.
No other goodness is so perfectly good.

Verse 983
Love, modesty, propriety, kindly look, and truthfulness -
These are the five pillars on which perfect goodness rests.

Verse 984
Penance is that goodness which refrains from killing.
Perfection is that goodness which refuses to tell others' faults.

Verse 985
Humility is the strength of the strong and the weapon
With which the wise conquer their foes.

Verse 986
The touchstone of one's unalloyed character
Is accepting defeat from inferiors unabashedly.

Verse 987
Of what avail is perfect goodness if it does not do good
Even to those who have caused pain?

Verse 988
Deprived of all else, one remains undisgraced
If endowed with strength of character.

Verse 989
Destiny's last days may surge with oceanic change,
Yet men deemed perfectly good remain, like the shore, unchanged.

Verse 990
Should the perfect virtue of perfect men diminish,
The robust earth would bear our burdensomeness no more.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Possession of Courtesy

Verse 991
If a man is easy of access to all, then the virtue of courtesy
Will be easily accessible to him.

Verse 992
Loving kindness and birth to lofty kindred -
These two confer on one a gracious manner.

Verse 993
That their limbs look alike does not render likeness among human.
Real similarities derive from similarly civil features.

Verse 994
The world commends the civil character of those
Who combine usefulness with impartial benevolence.

Verse 995
Disparaging words pain a man even when uttered in jest. Therefore,
those who know human nature are courteous even to their enemies.

Verse 996
The world goes on because civilized men exist.
Without them it would collapse into mere dust.

Verse 997
Though their minds are as sharp as a rasp,
Men without human decency are as wooden as a tree.

Verse 998
It is disgraceful to be discourteous,
Even toward the unfriendly who treat you unjustly.

Verse 999
To those who cannot smile in joy the wide world
Lies engulfed in darkness even in broad daylight.

Verse 1000
Great wealth amassed by men devoid of that virtue called courtesy
Is like good milk that has soured in an unclean vessel.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Wealth That Benefits None

Verse 1001
Whoever hoards wealth, neither enjoying nor expending it,
Is as lifeless as his unused heap.

Verse 1002
Believing wealth is everything, yet giving nothing,
The miser will himself be possessed in a miserable birth.

Verse 1003
The mere sight of men who crave wealth's accumulation,
And care nothing of renown is a burden to the earth.

Verse 1004
Unloved by even a single soul,
What could such a man imagine he might leave behind.

Verse 1005
Amid accumulated millions a man remains poor
If he neither gives nor enjoys his wealth.

Verse 1006
Vast wealth can be a wretched curse to one who neither
Gladdens himself in its worth nor gives to the worthy.

Verse 1007
The wealth of a man who gives nothing to the needy
Is like a beautiful maiden growing old unwed.

Verse 1008
The wealth of the man whom no one loves is like a poisonous tree
That bears fruit in the heart of a village.

Verse 1009
Strangers will one day sieze his wealth, who,
To pile it high, preffered self-denial, forsaking love and dharma.

Verse 1010
The short-lived poverty of the benevolent wealthy man
Is like the temporary dryness of the rain cloud.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Possession of Modesty

Verse 1011
For fair-faced maidens virtue's modesty brings bashfulness,
But the deeper modesty shies away from wrongful deeds.

Verse 1012
Food, clothing and such are not much different among people,
It is modesty that distingiushes good men from others.

Verse 1013
All life clings to a body,
Perfect goodness clings to all that is modest.

Verse 1014
Is not modesty the jewel of the great? Without it,
Is not their strut an affliction for the eye to behold?

Verse 1015
Those men who for others' disgrace and their own feel equally ashamed
Are regarded by the world as the abode of modesty.

Verse 1016
The great would rather defend themselves with modesty's barricade
Than breach it to acquire the vast world itself.

Verse 1017
Those who prize unpretentiousness will forsake life to preserve it.
But they would never forsake modesty for the sake of life.

Verse 1018
If a man does not feel ashamed of that which others feel ashamed,
Virtue itself will be ashamed of him.

Verse 1019
One's family will be consumed in the fire of failure to act well;
But everything good will be incinerated by dwelling in shamelessness.

Verse 1020
The movements of men devoid of innate modesty
May be likened to wooden puppets suspended on a string.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Advancing the Family

Verse 1021
There is no greater dignity than that of the man who declares,
"I will never cease in laboring to advance my family."

Verse 1022
Perseverance and sound understanding -
These two are what exalt a man's family.

Verse 1023
When a man declares he will advance his family,
God Himself will wrap His robes and lead the way.

Verse 1024
When a man's effort to raise high his family is unremitting,
His work will prosper of itself even if he makes no plans.

Verse 1025
The world will surround and wish to befriend the man
Who, without wrongdoing, prospers in life to uplift loved ones.

Verse 1026
It is said that true manliness consists
In becoming the head and provider for one's family.

Verse 1027
On a battlefield the burden falls upon the brave; In the
family, a comparable weight is carried by the most competent.

Verse 1028
Those seeking to improve their family await no reason,
For delays and undue regard for dignity will destroy it.

Verse 1029
Behold the man who shields his family from all suffering.
Has not his body become a willing vessel for affliction.

Verse 1030
Without good men to hold it up,
The family house will fall when misfortune descends.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Farming

Verse 1031
Wherever it may wander, the world must follow the farmer.
Thus despite all its hardships, farming is the most esteemed work.

Verse 1032
Farmers are the linchpin of the world, for they support all those
Who take to other work, not having the strength to plow.

Verse 1033
Those who cultivate their food live in self-sufficiency.
All others follow them and subsist in self-made dependence.

Verse 1034
Those in the shade of abundant sheaves of grain
Will see many nations overshadowed by their own.

Verse 1035
Those who eat food harvested with their own hands will
Never beg and never refuse a beggar's outstretched palm.

Verse 1036
When those who plough the fields stand idly with folded arms,
Even completely desireless ascetics will not subsist.

Verse 1037
If soil is dried so one ounce become one-quarter ounce,
Abundant yields will not require a single handful of fertilizer.

Verse 1038
It's better to fertilize than to furrow a field.
Having weeded, it's better to watch a field than to water it.

Verse 1039
If the lord of the land fails to visit his fields,
They will sulk (I think) as surely as a neglected wife.

Verse 1040
Mother Earth laughs to herself when she sees the slothful
Pleading poverty and crying, "Alas, I have nothing to eat."

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Poverty

Verse 1041
Ask what is more miserable than being poor
And the answer comes - only poverty pains like poverty.

Verse 1042
Poverty, the cruelest of demons, deprives a man
Of every joy in this life as well as the next.

Verse 1043
That poison called poverty will destroy obliterate at once
The honor of ancient descent and the refinement of speech.

Verse 1044
Privation produces unmindfulness which gives birth
To improper words, even in men of proper birth.

Verse 1045
This one affliction called poverty
Brings in its train a multitude of miseries.

Verse 1046
The poor may perceive profoundly and speak skillfully,
Yet their meaningful words are always forgotten.

Verse 1047
Poverty, destitute of all virtue, estranges a man
Even from the mother who bore him.

Verse 1048
Will wretched poverty which is killing me so (I think)
Come again today as of yesterday?

Verse 1049
Men may slumber even in the midst of fire,
But none can find repose in poverty's presence.

Verse 1050
Having become fatilly impoverished, let a man fully renounce,
Lest he fatally exhaust his neighbor's vinegar and salt.