Knowledge Of The Assembly [from 'naaladiyaar' In Tamil] Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

311. The nitwits join the assembly of the wise
and follow not their ways of wisdom, but speak,
repeat and admire useless things.The calm wise
don't speak ideas of worth among them.

312. The great men don't join the feigning fools who speak
about their past learning and ignorant thoughts.
If they join them, the pretenders smirch on
their castes and incite a wanton brawl.

313. Many men with verbosity take part
in heated debates without clear oration,
good skills of learning and communication
but speak on multiple things though they're losers.

314. The stupid who learns not well but crams
what the teacher said, and enters the council
of the wise and describes the subjects
without shame, and displays his idiocy.

315. If you join the untrue, animal-like
angry brutes and be a word-smith to win
their praise, your talents won't come out but you'd see
your teeth fall like the seeds of gourd in your hand.

316. The fools who recite poems and bigot
not knowing the inner meaning, for joy,
speak disgusting words, and the great poets listen
to them for not making their moms grieve.

317. The systematic learners gain with ease
the knowledge of books as the men have the whores
to embrace. The worth of the books
is rarely known as the minds of the wenches.

318. They know not the content of the books, yet
gather them and stock them up in the house.
A set of poets just save the books, but others
enlighten all with the wisdom of the books.

319. O, the herdsman of hilly tracts attracting
herds of wild cows! If the commentator
doesn't summarize, enunciate, annotate
and enlighten, will be worthy his comments?

320. Whatever books the low-born could have gone through
they don't save themselves from faulty expression.
The high-born with vision don't care for the fools
Who know not the hidden worth of the books.