The Possession Of Knowledge [from 'na: Ladiya: R' In Tamil] Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

241. The biting, invincible black Cobra [Star-Raghu]
doesn't rush to gulp down the moon, shrunk to crescent.
The winsome people are ashamed to fight
with the foes, when they are weak.

242. O, You the owner of the cool seashore!
Self-restraint is the jewel of the poor.
If they exceed the limits, the people
of the town, mock at their clan.

243. Wherever you sow, the strychnine seeds
won't grow as the coconut. The southerners
reach heaven by virtue and not by born-place.
Though born in the north, the idlers can reach hell.

244. The bananas ripen in the leaves of Neem
will not lose their usual sweet taste.
Though the good-natured mix with the bad,
their friendship won't be changed in kind or mind.

245. O, You hero of the cool waves breaking shores!
Sweet-water springs up in saline coasts
but the hilly tracts produce salt water.
Respect hence comes not by one's race but by mind.

246. O, You leader of the cool coastal country
with Punnai-trees[Calophyllum]with broad base! Is it good
to make friendship and break it later?
Don't move with those who seek and forsake friends.

247. Pleasure mounts when you befriend intelligents,
Who know your thoughts by some cues. Friendship
With the stupid enhances your plight.
Avert them to revert to delight!

248. To stabilize on a high standing, to fail
and fall down in life, to go from strength to strength,
and to make him an apt leader, are the acts
done by himself alone and nobody else.

249. Leader of the cool, graceful waves roaring sea!
To fulfill well some needs to the society,
great men follow the fools in cyclic order.
It's to keep custom and not by ignorance.

250. If one works hard to earn wealth, enjoy bliss,
and help the deserved in this birth itself,
without hindrance, that one likens the ship
which left the port with gold and returned with goods.