Chapter 55: Just Reign

Verse 547
A king is meeting with his subjects and, as the balance scales above him show, he is thoughtfully working to be fair and just to all sides.

TAKA Presents the Tirukural

You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver’s Wisdom

Verse 541

Investigate well, show favor to none, maintain impartiality,
consult the law, then give judgment–that is the way of justice.

Verse 542

All the world looks to the rain cloud for sustenance.
All the people look to the king’s scepter for protection.

Verse 543

Even the Vedas of the brahmins and all dharma therein
rely on the sovereign’s sturdy staff for sustenance.

Verse 544

The world embraces the feet of a great kingdom’s monarch
who lovingly embraces subjects under his justice-wielding scepter.

Verse 545

Rain and rich harvests arise together
in a country whose sovereign ruler raises his rod lawfully.

Verse 546

Victory is not won by the lance,
but by the king’s scepter, provided it is not crooked.

Verse 547

The potentate protects the whole world,
and Justice protects him if he does not stray from Her.

Verse 548

An inaccessible ruler who listens and adjudicates inattentively
will inevitably plummet from power and perish.

Verse 549

No fault befalls a king who, in guarding and caring for his subjects,
punishes wrongdoers–for that is his duty.

Verse 550

A ruler’s punishing cruel criminals by execution
is like a gardener’s removing weeds from his garden.