Tirukkural Chapter 40 - Couplets 4,5,6 Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Tirukkural Chapter 40 - Couplets 4,5,6



திருக்குறள் -TIRUKKURAL
அதிகாரம் 40 - கல்வி
CHAPTER 40 - ON EDUCATION
***
40/04. உவப்பத் தலைக்கூடி உள்ளப் பிரிதல்
அனைத்தே புலவர் தொழில்.

40/04. Uvappath thalaikkoodi ullap pirdhal
Anaiththae pulavar thozhil.

40/04. An educated man is so popular
That people will be eager to meet and talk to him.
***
Sita: A highly educated man is a scholar.
Everyone will be eager to meet him.

Lakshmi: Yes, Just like one lamp
Lighting another lamp,
Without losing its brightness,
An educated man teaches others.

The more he teaches others,
Perfect his knowledge becomes,
He'll never forget,
What he had learnt.

An uneducated is rich in money
But he's poor in knowledge.
An educated may be poor in money
But he's rich in knowledge.
***
40/05. உடையார்முன் இல்லார்போல் ஏக்கற்றும் கற்றார்;
கடையரே கல்லா தவர்.

40/05. Udaiyaarmun illaarpol ekkatrrum katrraar
Kadaiyare kallaa dhavar.

40/05. Just like a poor man bends before a rich man, one who bends before a teacher
And learn is superior to others; otherwise he is uneducated inferior to feel shy of bending.
***
Sita: What is the harm for a student in bending before a teacher?

Lakshmi: A student should bow
That is the correct way how
He should show respects
To his teacher when he meets.

When Guru Dronacharya
Asked Hunter Ekalavya
To cut off his right
Thumb, he gave it.

The Guru didn't want
That hunter to compete
With Arjuna in archery
But Ekalavya didn't worry.

At once he cut and gave it
As Guru's fees, but he knew it
That he can't take the bow
And shoot, in future, an arrow.

This is an extreme case,
Of a disciple showing respects,
But bending before a teacher
To learn, is simple in nature.
***
40/06. தொட்டனைத்து ஊறும் மணற்கேணி; மாந்தர்க்குக்
கற்றனைத்து ஊறும் அறிவு.

40/06. Thottanaiththu oorrum mannarrkenni; maandharkkuk
Katrranaiththum oorrum arrive,

40/06. Just like a spring gives more water, the more deep one digs,
The knowledge of educated people goes up according to his studies.
***
Sita: There is a saying, 'Reading makes half man,
Writing makes a full man.'

Lakshmi: Yes Sita, The more one student reads
The more knowledge he gains.
Knowledge is like a spring in river beds
That gives more water, the deeper one digs.

Village women go to river beds
With a pot and plate on their heads,
They dig deep the river beds
To make a spring out of sands.

They bale out first turbid water,
And then collect crystal clear
Water in their mud pots
And carry pots back on their hips.

Like springs human brains act,
After the first few morbid thoughts,
One by one, clear thoughts rush out,
As in an open dam, water gushes out.
***

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Rajaram Ramachandran

Rajaram Ramachandran

Chennai born, now at Juhu, Mumbai, India
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