Tirukural – Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Ignorance
Verse 847
A farmer has climbed out on the branch of a tree, but he is sitting on the wrong side and is about to injure himself. The owner of the orchard rushes up to warn him and urge him not to proceed.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver’s Wisdom
Verse 841
Dearth of wisdom is the direst destitution.
Other poverties the world deems less impoverishing.
Verse 842
If any merit is gained when a fool gives a gift, however gladly,
it is due to the recipient’s past penance and nothing else.
Verse 843
The suffering that ignorant men inflict upon themselves
can hardly be contrived by their enemies.
Verse 844
What is stupidity, you ask? It is the conceit
that dares to declare, “I am wise.”
Verse 845
He who pretends to knowledge he does not possess
raises doubts about the things he really knows.
Verse 846
Fools follow a perverse path, clothing their well-formed naked body,
yet never thinking to conceal their deformed mind.
Verse 847
Neglecting valuable advice, an ignorant man
becomes the cause of his own misery.
Verse 848
That soul who neither follows another’s orders nor fathoms what to
do himself creates nothing but torment until he leaves this life.
Verse 849
As an unseeing man sees only the ways of his own mind, whoever
attempts to open the eyes of those who will not see is himself blind.
Verse 850
He who denies as false what the world declares
to be true is deemed to be an earthly demon.
One Response to “Tirukural – Chapter 85”
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
April 25th, 2022 at 5:00 pm
“AUM”!.