Thirukkural in English - From chapters 091 to 100

Division II. Wealth - From chapters 091 to 100

091 Uxoriousness

0901 Wives unduly exalted impede greatness.
Ambitious men avoid that very thing. *

0902 The affluence of a careless uxorious man
Will buy him only shameful shame. *

0903 Habitual submission to one’s wife
Will always bring disrepute among the good.

0904 The deeds of one who dreads his wife
Merits little in this life or the next. *

0905 A man who fears his wife will always fear
To do good things to good people. *

0906 Those who fear their wives' slender shoulders
May live like gods but are not men.

0907 Modest womanhood is greater than the manhood
Which thrives on obeisance to wife. *

0908 Men governed by their fair ladies cannot address
The needs of friends nor do any good.

0909 Virtuous deeds, exalted wealth and other deeds
Are not for the henpecked. *

0910 The thoughtful and firm-willed never indulge
In the folly of doting on their wives. *


092 Public women

0911 Fraught with disgrace are the sweet words
Of jeweled women who desire wealth, not love. *

0912 See through and avoid the immoral women
Who talk of morals with a purpose.

0913 A harlot’s false embrace for money is like one hired
To clasp an alien corpse in a dark room. *

0914 The wise who treasure grace desire not the false charms
Of those who treasure wealth. *

0915 Sensible men of lofty wisdom will find no joy
In the cheap delight of public women. *

0916 Those who would spread their own good will not touch
Others who spread their charms for money. *

0917 The empty-hearted alone will embrace
The hearts that go not with their bodies.

0918 Only those who can’t see through a false woman’s embrace
Consider her to be an angel. *

0919 The soft arms of those who sell their charm
Are a hell that plunge the base. *

0920 Fortune leaves those whose associates are
Treacherous women, wine and dice. *


093 Avoiding alcohol

0921 Those who always love wine
Will neither inspire fear in others nor retain their fame. *

0922 Drink no wine, or let them drink
Who do not care what wise men think.

0923 When a drunkard's glee hurts his own mother,
Why speak of the wise?

0924 The good lady Shame turns her back to men
Addicted to the grave vice drunkenness. *

0925 It is sheer ignorance to spend one’s substance
And obtain in return only insensibility. *

0926 Slumbers are no different from the dead.
Nor alcoholics from consumers of poison.

0927 Those who often get drunk in private
Will soon become a laughing stock in public.

0928 Stop pretending to have not drunk.
Out will come the secrets from the heart.

0929 To reason with one drowned in drink is like
Searching with a candle for a man drowned in water. *

0930 When a drunkard sober sees another drunk,
Why does he not note his own damage?


094 Gambling

0931 Don’t gamble even if you win for it draws you in
Like fishes drawn to shining baits.

0932 Can gamblers gain anything good in life
Who gain one and lose a hundred? *

0933 To be lost all the time in the rolling dice
Is to lose your hoarded wealth to others.

0934 There is nothing like gambling to bring
Poverty, sorrow and disgrace.

0935 They lose all who will not give up the dice,
The board and the throw.

0936 Those blindfolded by the dark ogress called dice
Will starve and suffer in distress. *

0937 Time wasted in a gambling house
Will end one’s ancestral wealth and worth. *

0938 Dicing loses wealth, imposes lies,
Kills grace and causes sorrow.

0939 Gambling will make one lose these five:
Riches, food, fame, learning and clothes.

0940 Like the attachment to life despite sufferings
Is the love for gambling despite loss. *


095 Medicine

0941 Three things beginning with wind, say the experts,
In excess or lacking cause disease.

0942 The body needs no drugs if what is eaten
Is digested before the next meal.

0943 Once digested, eat with moderation.
That prolongs the life of one embodied. *

0944 Assured of digestion and real hunger,
Eat with care what is agreeable. *

0945 No harm to life if what is eaten
Does not include disagreeable food.

0946 As pleasure dwells with a moderate eater,
So is disease with a voracious glutton. *

0947 Unlimited eating beyond one’s measure
Leads to unlimited number of ills.

0948 Diagnose the illness, trace its cause,
Seek the proper remedy and apply it with skill.

0949 A doctor should have the measure of the patient,
Disease and its stage, and treat.

0950 Any treatment involves these four orders:
The patient, doctor, medicine and the nurse.


096 Lineage

0951 None except the well-born
Have that natural sense of integrity and shame. *

0952 Men of birth will never deviate from these three:
Good manners, truthfulness and modesty. *

0953 A smiling face, a generous heart, sweet words and no scorn;
These four are said to mark the well-born. *

0954 Men of birth will not indulge in mean acts
Even if offered millions manifold.

0955 An ancient family may default in charity,
But never in their conduct. *

0956 Those wedded to their spotless heritage
Will do nothing deceitful and ignoble. *

0957 Defects in people of noble descent
Appear prominently as spots on the moon.

0958 Want of affection from one of good family
Calls in question his descent from it. *

0959 Nature of sprout indicates the quality of soil;
So does the quality of speech one’s descent.

0960 There is no good without a sense of shame,
Nor high birth without politeness.


097 Honour

0961 Reject base actions even if such rejection
Makes life impossible.

0962 Those who desire fame with honour
Will not sacrifice honour for fame.

0963 In prosperity, bend low.
In adversity, stand straight.

0964 Men fallen from high stature
Are like hair fallen from the head. *

0965 Even a hill-like eminence can be brought low
By deeds as small as a speck. *

0966 Why go behind those who scorn when it yields
Neither fame nor place in heaven? *

0967 Better said doomed that state of life
Spent clinging on to those who scorn.

0968 Is body as precious as ambrosia that men desire to save it
Even at the cost of honour?

0969 The yak, sheared of its hair, does not survive.
The noble, stripped of their honour, prefer death.

0970 The world will admire and worship the glory of men
Who prefer death to dishonour. *


098 Pride/Greatness

0971 Honour is to crave for excellence.
Dishonor is to say: “I shall live without it”.

0972 By birth all men are equal. Differences in their action
Render their worth unequal.

0973 Neither the high-born who act low are high,
Nor the low-born who act high, low. *

0974 Even greatness, like a woman’s chastity,
Belongs only to him who guards himself.

0975 If the great achieve anything,
It will be deeds rare in achievement. *

0976 It is not in the nature of the small to have
That outlook of emulating the great. *

0977 If any distinction falls on the little minded,
Their insolence will know no bounds. *

0978 The great are always humble,
And the small lost in self-admiration.

0979 The great are never puffed up,
While the small are inordinately proud. *

0980 The great hide others' faults.
Only the small talk of nothing else.


099 Goodness

0981 All virtues are said to be natural to those
Who acquire character as a duty.

0982 No other goodness than good character
Is deemed good by the noble.

0983 The pillars of excellence are five:
Love, modesty, altruism, compassion, truthfulness.

0984 The characteristic of penance is non-killing,
And that of goodness not speaking others’ faults.

0985 Humility is the strength of the strong and the weapon
The wise use to conquer their foes.

0986 The touchstone of goodness is to own
One's defeat even to inferiors.

0987 What good is that goodness if it does not return good
Even to those who cause evil? *

0988 Poverty is no disgrace to one
Who has the strength called character.

0989 The depth of goodness is said to be the never changing attitude
In spite of ever changing fortunes.

0990 The earth will cease to bear its burden
If perfect men fall short of perfection.


100 Courtesy

0991 The demeanor called courtesy, they say,
Comes easily to those easily accessible to all.

0992 Kindness and exalted birth: these two
Constitute the demeanor called courtesy.

0993 What binds humanity together is not physical proximity,
But that binding of courteousness.

0994 The world applauds the conduct of those
Who help with impartiality and generosity. *

0995 Mockery hurts even in jest, and hence the considerate
Are courteous even to their foes. *

0996 The world goes on because of civilized men.
Without them it would collapse into dust. *

0997 Men without character, despite their sharp minds,
Are no better than blocks of wood.

0998 It is disgraceful to be discourteous,
Even towards the unfriendly who treat you unjustly.

0999 To those who cannot laugh,
This big world is all darkness even during the day.

1000 The great wealth kept by the uncultured
Is clean milk gone sour in a can unclean.