Thirukkural 103 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
பயன்தூக்கார் செய்த உதவி நயன்தூக்கின்
நன்மை கடலின் பெரிது.
Transliteration
Payandhookkaar Seydha Udhavi Nayandhookkin
Nanmai Katalin Peridhu
Modern English
“When someone helps you without calculating what they might get back, that generosity deserves to be valued as something vast, bigger than the ocean.”
Modern Interpretation
When someone helps you without calculating what they might get back, that generosity deserves to be valued as something vast, bigger than the ocean. Real kindness isn't a transaction. For example, a senior who tutors a junior for free, with no thought of credit or reward, is offering something far bigger than the time it took.
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Modern Plain English
When someone helps you without calculating what they might get back, that generosity deserves to be valued as something vast, bigger than the ocean.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
Help rendered without weighing fruits Outweighs the sea in grand effects
G.U. Pope Translation
Kindness shown by those who weigh not what the return may be:When you ponder right its merit, 'Tis vaster than the sea
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
If we weigh the excellence of a benefit which is conferred without weighing the return, it is larger than the sea
Tamil commentary
இவருக்கு உதவினால் பிறகு நமக்கு இது கிடைக்கும் என்று எண்ணாதவராய் ஒருவர் செய்த உதவியின் அன்பை ஆய்ந்து பார்த்தால், அவ்வுதவியின் நன்மை கடலைவிடப் பெரியது ஆகும்.
Chapter 11
More from Gratitude
செய்ந்நன்றியறிதல்
Unhelped in turn good help given Exceeds in worth earth and heaven
Kural 102A help rendered in hour of need Though small is greater than the world
Kural 103Help rendered without weighing fruits Outweighs the sea in grand effects
Kural 104Help given though millet-small Knowers count its good palm-tree tall
Kural 105A help is not the help's measure It is gainer's worth and pleasure
Kural 106Forget not friendship of the pure Forsake not timely helpers sure
Kural 107Through sevenfold births, in memory fares The willing friend who wiped one's tears
Kural 108To forget good turns is not good Good it is over wrong not to brood
Kural 109Let deadly harms be forgotten While remembering one good-turn
Kural 110The virtue-killer may be saved Not benefit-killer who is damned