Tirukkural Chapter 46 - Couplets 1,2,3 Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

திருக்குறள் -TIRUKKURAL
அதிகாரம் 46 - சிற்றினம் சேராமை
CHAPTER 46 - AVOID LOW COMPANY
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46/01. சிற்றினம் அஞ்சும் பெருமை; சிறுமைதான்
சுற்றமாச் சூழ்ந்து விடும்.

46/01. Sitrrinam anjum perumai; sirumaidhaan
Sutrramaagach chuzhndu vidum.

46/01. Great men will be afraid of joining low company,
Who will join and circle around similar low groups.
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Balaram: High class people will never join
Low class people.

Hari: A high class person
Will never like to join
Any of the low class men
Who aren't open and plain.

He has more decency,
Decorum and dignity,
To let himself down,
Before such low class men.

A low class man will join
His group of low class men,
As a regular habit of his own,
Rather than joining high class men
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46/02. நிலத்தியல்பால் நீர்திரிந்து அற்றாகும் மாந்தர்க்கு
இனத்தியல்பது ஆகும் அறிவு.

46/02. Nilaththiyalbaal neerthirindhu atrraagum maandharkku
Inathiyalbadhu áagum arrive.

46/02. Water changes its color and taste to suit the ground in which it stays.
Like that, people will change themselves to suit the company they join.
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Balaram: A low class man will join
Only another low class man.

Hari: *இனம் இனத்தோடு சேரும்.*

*A class will join the same class*
Birds of the same feather flock together.
A good man joining a drunkard
Will become another drunkard.

A drunkard will not join
A group of good men,
But he'll join another
Drunkard as his brother.

Some people like chameleon
Change according to person
Good for good men
And bad for bad men.
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46/03. மனத்தான்ஆம் மாந்தர்க்கு உணர்ச்சி; இனத்தான்ஆம்
இன்னான் எனப்படும் சொல்.

46/03. Manaththaanaam mandharkku unnarchchi; inaththaanaam
Innaan enappadum sol.

46/03. One will get general knowledge through one's own mind.
But to say he is that kind of man, it depends upon what company he is in.
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Balaram: Intelligent one may be, but if his mind is perverted
He'll even join a bad company.

Hari: Good Company one must choose,
Otherwise his prestige he'll lose.
A good man in the company of good
Will be like a crown on his head.

"Tell me who your friends are?
I'll tell who you are? "
This proverb itself reveals,
Good or bad, how one behaves?

A friend in need
Is a friend indeed,
So, one's companion
Must be an excellent person.
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