Thiruvalluvar's Couplets On 'Being Ashamed' Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

1011. To feel ashamed for bad deeds is shame. The blush
in a chaste woman’s beauteous-browed face is different.
1012. Food, clothing and the like are common to all humans.
Being shameful makes one the paragon of human virtues.
1013. All lives have the body as their abode.
But the soul of good human virtue dwells with shame.
1014. Isn’t modesty an ornament to the noble? Without it,
their majestic walk would be sickening to see.
1015. The people hail as the abode of modesty of those
who feel ashamed for the guilt of others and their own.
1016. The great accede better to have modesty as their bulwark
than to have longing even for the wide world.
1017. The modest shed their life for the sake of being shameful
and don’t give up modesty in lieu of life.
1018. If a man does shameless things which make others feel abashed,
the virtue itself forsakes him being shame-faced.
1019. If you lose your integrity, your family alone ruins.
But want of modesty ruins all the good coming towards you.
1020. The actions of those who’re shameless at heart are akin to
the illusive live actions of the puppets pulled by strings.