~ ThirukuraL ~

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Introduction

In the Tamil language "Tiru" means "holy" or "sacred," and "Kural" means
anything that is brief or short. In this case it describes the very difficult and
disciplined venpa meter in which the verses were written. Each verse is
extremely short, containing only two lines of fourteen syllables. In fact, it is the
shortest form of stanza in the Tamil language. In many ways these couplets
are similar to the Sanskrit sloka. The entire scripture consists of 133 chapters
with each chapter elucidat' a different aspect of human virtue or human fault.
There are ten kural couplets per chapter, making a total of 1,330 couplets in
the entire scripture. In his work Tiruvalluvar chose a topic - such as children,
friendship or avoidance of anger - and gave us ten different couplets on the
one subject. To properly understand his perspective on a subject, each of the
ten couplets must be read, for they are like facets of a gem - all reflecting the
light of his understanding slightly differently and adding to the richness of his
comprehension. It has been explained that the saint spent the fullness
of his life quietly observing, simply observing the human condition. Then,
toward the end of his life, he was asked to speak out and share the wisdom
others in the community knew he possessed. The Holy Kural is his response.

The Holy Kural should be used in everyday life - its verses commited to
memory and meditated upon, quoted freely as your very own. You will sound
wise if you do remember and share these jewels. One of the greatest benefits
of this scripture is to guide our actions and our thoughts, to direct our purpose
in life and refine our interactions with our fellow man. Problems can be
resolved in the light of the saint's wisdom. If something is going along wrong
in your life, bring the forces of life back into harmony by studying the Holy
Kural and applying its knowledge. That is perhaps its main function - to
perfect and protect our lives in the everyday world by preventing mistakes
which can cause an unhappy karma, by preventing erroneous attitudes which
can bring unnecessary sorrow into our experience. Yet, there is nothing in the
Kural that has to be obeyed. Each of the couplets contains such insight,
however, that we are drawn to it and want to obey.


In Praise of God

Verse 1
"A" is the first and source of all the letters. Even so is
God Primordial the first and source of all the world.

Verse 2
What has learning profited a man, if it has not led him
To worship the Good Feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?

Verse 3
The Supreme dwells within the lotus of the heart. Those who reach
His Splendid Feet dwell endearingly within unearthly realms.

Verse 4
Draw near the Feet of Him who is free of desire and aversion.
And live forever free of suffering.

Verse 5
Good and bad, delusion's dual deeds, do not cannot cling
Those who delight in praising the immutable, worshipful One.

Verse 6
A long and joyous life rewards those who remain firmly
On the faultless path of Him who controls the five senses.

Verse 7
They alone dispel the mind's distress
Who take refuge at the Feet of the Incomparable One.

Verse 8
They alone can cross life's other oceans who take refuge
At the Feet of the Gracious One, Himself an ocean of virtue.

Verse 9
The head which cannot bow before the Feet of the Possessor
Of eight infinite powers is like the senses lacking the power to perceive.

Verse 10
The boundless ocean of births can be crossed,
But not without intimate union with Infinity's Holy Feet

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



The Importance of Rain

Verse 11
It is the unfailing fall of rain that sustains the world.
Therefore, look upon rain as the nectar of life.

Verse 12
Rain produces man's wholesome food;
And rain itself forms part of his food besides.

Verse 13
Though oceanic waters surround it, the world will be deluged
By hunger's hardships if the billowing clouds betray us.

Verse 14
When clouds withhold their watery wealth,
Farmers cease to pull their ploughs.

Verse 15
It is rain that ruins, and it is rain again
That raises up those it has ruined.

Verse 16
Unless raindrops fall from the sky,
Not a blade of green grass will rise from the earth.

Verse 17
The very nature of oceans, though vast, would diminish,
If clouds ceased to take up water and give back rain's gifts.

Verse 18
Should the heavens dry up, worship here of the heavenly ones
In festivals and daily rites would wither.

Verse 19
Unless the heavens grant their gifts, neither the giver's generosity
Nor the ascetic's aloofness will grace this wide world.

Verse 20
No life on earth can exist without water,
And the ceaseless flow of that water cannot exist without rain.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Greatness of Renunciates

Verse 21   
The scriptures exalt above every other good
The greatness of virtuous renunciates.

Verse 22
Attempting to speak of the renunciate's magnitude
Is akin to measuring the human multitudes who have ever died.

Verse 23
Behold those who have weighed the dual nature of things and followed
The renunciate's way. Their greatness illumines the world.

Verse 24
He whose firm will, wisdom's goading hook, controls his five senses
Is a seed that will flourish in the fields of heaven.

Verse 25
Such is the power of those who subdue the five senses that even Indra,
Sovereign of spacious heaven's celestials, suffered their curse.

Verse 26
The magnificent ones are they who can dispatch the most
Difficult tasks; the insignificant ones are they who cannot.

Verse 27
Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing -
He who controls these five magically controls the world.

Verse 28
Their own secret sayings reveal to the world
The greatness of men whose words prove prophetic.

Verse 29
It is impossible to endure even a moment's wrath of those
Who have scaled and stand upon the mountain called virtue.

Verse 30
Renunciates are called the priestly ones
For they are clothed in robes of compassion for all life

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Asserting Virtue's Power

Verse 31
Virtue yields heaven's honor and earth's wealth.
What is there then that is more fruitful for a man?

Verse 32
There is nothing more rewarding than virtue,
Nor anything more ruinous than its neglect.

Verse 33
Be unremitting in the doing of good deeds.
Do them with all your might and by every possible means.

Verse 34
Keep the mind free of impurity. That alone is the practice of virtue.
All else is nothing but empty display.

Verse 35
Virtue is living in such a way that one does not fall into these four -
Envy, anger, greed and unsavory speech.

Verse 36
Don't tell yourself tomorrow you'll be wise enough to practice virtue.
Do it now, for it will be your deathless companion when you die.

Verse 37
It is decidedly unnecessary to inquire about virtue's benefits,
So evident in the difference between the palanquin's rider and bearer.

Verse 38
Allowing not a day to pass without doing some good
Is a boulder that will block your passage on the path to rebirth.

Verse 39
Only virtuous deeds abound in true joy.
All other deeds are empty and devoid of distinction.

Verse 40
Virtue is merely that which should be done,
And vice is merely that which men avoid in life.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Family Life

Verse 41
He alone may be called a householder who supports
Students, elders and renunciates pursuing well their good paths.

Verse 42
The virtuous householder supports the needs
Of renunciates, ancestors and the poor.

Verse 43
The foremost duty of family life is to duly serve these five:
God, guests, kindred, ancestors and one's self.

Verse 44
Gathering wealth without misdeeds and sharing meals without
miserliness, The householder's posterity will never perish.

Verse 45
When family life possesses love and virtue,
That is both its essence and fruition.

Verse 46
If a man masters the duties of married life,
What further merits could monkhood offer him?

Verse 47
Among those who strive for liberation, the foremost are they
Who live the blessed state of family life as it should be lived.

Verse 48
The householder dedicated to duty and to aiding
Ascetics on their path of penance endures more than they do.

Verse 49
Domestic life is rightly called virtue. The monastic path,
Rightly lived beyond blame, is likewise good.

Verse 50
He who pursues the householder's life well here on earth
Will be placed among the Gods there in heaven.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



The Good Wife

Verse 51
She is the helpful wife who possesses the fullness of
Household culture and spends within her husband's means.

Verse 52
The fullest family life remains empty
If the wife lacks the lofty culture of the home.

Verse 53
What does a man lack if his wife is worthy?
And what does he possess if she is lacking worth?

Verse 54
What is more majestic than a women
Who preserves the prodigious strength of chastity?

Verse 55
Even the rains will fall at her command
Who upon rising worships not God, but her husband.

Verse 56
A woman is one who vigilantly guards herself,
Cares for her husband and protects their unblemished reputation.

Verse 57
Why do guardians protect women by confinement?
Her own resolute chastity is a women's paramount protection.

Verse 58
A women deeply devoted to the man who wed her
Will be worthy of great rewards in the world where Gods delight

Verse 59
Unless the wife pursues praiseworthy purity,
The husband cannot prance like a proud lion before his critics.

Verse 60
A worthy wife is the blessing of a home,
And good children are its precious ornament.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



The Blessing of Children

Verse 61
Of all a man's blessings we know of none greater than
The begetting of children endowed with intelligence.

Verse 62
Those who bear children of blameless character
Will themselves be born seven times, untouched by evil.

Verse 63
It is said that children are a man's real wealth,
And that this wealth is determined by his deeds.

Verse 64
Far sweeter than divine nectar is simple boiled rice
Stirred by the small hands of one's own child.

Verse 65
Being touched by one's children is a delight to the body,
And listening to them chatter is a joy to the ear.

Verse 66
"Sweet are the sounds of the flute and the lute," say those
Who have not heard the prattle of their own children.

Verse 67
A father can best benefit his son by preparing him
To sit in the vanguard of erudite councils.

Verse 68
What pleasure it is to human beings everywhere
When their children possess knowledge surpassing their own!

Verse 69
When a mother hears her son heralded a good and learned man,
Her joy exceeds that of his joyous birth.

Verse 70
The son's duty to his father is to make the world ask,
"By what great austerities did he merit such a son?"

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Possessing Love

Verse 71
Can any lock keep love confined within,
When the loving heart's tiny tears escape and confess it?

Verse 72
The unloving belong only to themselves,
But the loving belong to others to their very bones.

Verse 73
They say it is to know union with love
That the soul takes union with the body.

Verse 74
Love makes a man affectionate toward all,
And affection affords the priceless treasure of friendship.

Verse 75
They say love's greatness is this: it yields to good families
Worldly happiness here and heavenly bliss there.

Verse 76
The uninformed say love stands by virtuous souls,
Unaware that love is also friend to all immersed in vice.

Verse 77
As the blazing sun dries up a boneless worm,
So does virtue scorch a loveless being.

Verse 78
Without love in the heart,
Life is like a sapless tree in a barren desert.

Verse 79
What good is a body perfect in outer ways,
If inwardly it is impaired by lack of love?

Verse 80
With love enshrined in the heart, one lives.
Without it, the body is but bone encased in skin.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Hospitality

Verse 81   
The whole purpose of maintaining a home
And earning wealth is to provide hospitality to guests.

Verse 82
To hoard one's meal when a guest is in the home is improper,
Even if it happens to be the nectar of immortality.

Verse 83
The life of the man who daily cares for those who
Come to him will never suffer poverty's painful ruin.

Verse 84
Wealth's goddess dwells in the hospitable home
Of those who host guests with a smiling face.

Verse 85
If a man eats only after attending to guests' needs,
What further sowing will his fertile fields require?

Verse 86
The host who, caring for guests, watches hopefully for more,
Will himself be a welcomed guest of those whose home is heaven.

Verse 87
Charity's merit cannot be measured by gifts given.
It is measured by measuring the receiver's merits.

Verse 88
Those who never sacrifice to care for guests will later lament,
"We hoarded wealth, estranged ourselves, now none will care for us."

Verse 89
The poorest penury is having plenty yet shunning guests.
Such senselessness is only found in senseless fools.

Verse 90
The delicate anicham flower withers when merely smelled,
But an unwelcome look is enough to wither the heart of a guest

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Speaking  Pleasant Words

Verse 91
Pleasant words fall from the lips of virtuous men,
Full of tenderness and free from deceit.

Verse 92
Better than a gift given with a joyous heart
Are sweet words spoken with a cheerful smile.

Verse 93
A kindly countenance and sweet words
Spoken from the heart are virtue's way.

Verse 94
Poverty-provoking sorrow will not pursue
Those who speak joy-producing words to all they meet.

Verse 95
Humility and pleasant words are the jewels
That adorn a man; there are none other.

Verse 96
If a man seeks good works while speaking sweet words,
His virtues will wax and his vices wane.

Verse 97
Words yield spiritual rewards and moral excellence
When they do not wander far from usefulness and agreeableness.

Verse 98
Sweet speech which is stranger to pettiness
Imparts pleasure not only in this life, but in the next.

Verse 99
Why would anyone speak cruel words,
Having observed the happiness that kind words confer?

Verse 100
To utter harsh words when sweet ones would serve
Is like eating unripe fruits when ripe ones are at hand.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Gratitude

Verse 101
Heaven and earth are scant repayment
For help rendered where none was received.

Verse 102
A kindness done in the hour of need may itself be small,
But in worth it exceeds the whole world.

Verse 103
When help is rendered by weighing the receiver's need
And not the donor's reward, its goodness grows greater than the sea.

Verse 104
While aid may outwardly seem as puny as a mustard seed,
The knowing will deem it as imposing as a towering palm.

Verse 105
Help rendered another cannot be measured by the extent
Of assistance imparted. Its real measure is the recipient's worthiness.

Verse 106
Never forget fellowship with unsullied souls,
Nor forsake friendship with those who aided in adversity.

Verse 107
For seven lives in seven bodies the grateful will remember
Friends who nullified their anguish and affliction.

Verse 108
It is improper to ever forget a kindness,
But good to forget at once an injury received.

Verse 109
The deadliest injury is effaced the moment
The mind recalls a single kindness received from the injurer.

Verse 110
Having massacred every breed of goodness, one may yet escape,
But there is no escape for those who let gratitude die.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Impartiality

Verse 111
Justice may be called good when it acts impartially
Toward enemies, strangers and friends.

Verse 112
The wealth of those who possess justice will not perish;
Rather it will be posterity's soothing security.

Verse 113
However prosperous it may seem, all wealth gained
By loss of rightness must be relinquished that very day.

Verse 114
In their offspring one may doubtlessly discern
Who are the just and who the unjust.

Verse 115
Adversity and prosperity never cease to exist. The adornment
Of great men's minds is to remain unswervingly just under both.

Verse 116
When his heart forsakes fairness and his deeds turn depraved,
A man realizes deep within himself, "I am ruined."

Verse 117
Though a man is profoundly impoverished,
If he remains just, the world will not regard him as poor.

Verse 118
To incline to neither side like a balance scale's level beam
And thus weigh impartially is the wise one's ornament.

Verse 119
Speech uttered without bias is integrity,
Provided no unspoken bias hides in the heart.

Verse 120
Those businessmen will prosper whose business
Protects as their own the interests of others.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Possession of Self-Control

Verse 121
Self-control will place a man among the Gods,
While lack of it will lead him into deepest darkness.

Verse 122
Guard your self-control as a precious treasure,
For there is no greater wealth in life than this.

Verse 123
Comprehending and acquiring self-control
Confers upon one the esteem of wise men.

Verse 124
More imposing than a mountain is the greatness of a man who,
Steadfast in domestic life, has attained self-control.

Verse 125
Humility is a precious quality in all people,
But it has a rare richness in the rich.

Verse 126
Like a tortoise withdrawing five limbs into its shell, those who
Restrain the five senses in one life, will find safe shelter for seven.

Verse 127
Whatever you may fail to guard, guard well your tongue,
For flawed speech unfailingly invokes anguish and affliction.

Verse 128
By a single word of injury
Do all a man's virtues lose their goodness.

Verse 129
The wound caused by fire heals in its time;
The burn inflicted by an inflamed tongue never heals.

Verse 130
Virtue will wait in the streets to meet a man
Possessed of learning and self-disciplined, his anger subdued.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Possession  of Virtuous Conduct

Verse 131
Virtuous conduct leads a man to eminent greatness,
Therefore, it should be guarded as more precious than life itself.

Verse 132
In your striving, be mindful to preserve good conduct.
In your deliberations, discover it is your staunchest ally.

Verse 133
Morality is the birthright of high families,
While immoral conduct's legacy is lowly birth.

Verse 134
If a brahmin forgets the Vedas, he can relearn them.
But if he falls from virtue, his high birth is forever effaced.

Verse 135
Prosperity is not for the envious,
Nor is greatness for men of impure conduct.

Verse 136
The firm-minded never slacken in upholding virtuous conduct,
For they know the miseries brought on by such neglect.

Verse 137
By honest conduct one achieves honorable eminence,
While corrupt conduct brings one nothing but blame.

Verse 138
Good conduct is the seed in virtue's field;
Wicked conduct's harvest is never-ending sorrow.

Verse 139
Men who conduct themselves virtuously
Are incapable of voicing harmful words, even forgetfully.

Verse 140
Those who cannot live in harmony with the world,
Though they have learned many things, are still ignorant.

[MysteRy]

ThirukuraL



Not Coveting Another's Wife

Verse 141
Those who know virtue's laws and property's rights
Never indulge in the folly of desiring another man's wife.

Verse 142
Among those who stand outside virtue, there is no greater fool
Than he who stands with a lustful heart outside another's gate.

Verse 143
No different from the dead are those who
Wickedly desire the wife of a friend.

Verse 144
Though a man's measure is mountainous, what good is it
If, without the minutest concern, he takes another's wife?

Verse 145
A man who seduces another man's wife, knowing she is easy,
Suffers a shame which neither dies nor diminishes.

Verse 146
Hatred, sin, fear and disgrace-these four
Never forsake the man who commits adultery.

Verse 147
He is decreed a worthy householder
Who holds no desire for the womanliness of another's wife.

Verse 148
The chivalry that does not look upon another's wife
Is not mere virtue - it is saintly conduct.

Verse 149
In a world imperiled by the fearsome sea, to whom do good things belong?
To men never impassioned to caress a married women.

Verse 150
Though a man deserts virtue and indulges in vice,
He keeps some decency by not wanting another's wife's womanliness.