Thirukkural 161 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
ஒழுக்காறாக் கொள்க ஒருவன்தன் நெஞ்சத்து
அழுக்காறு இலாத இயல்பு.
Transliteration
Ozhukkaaraak Kolka Oruvandhan Nenjaththu
Azhukkaaru Ilaadha Iyalpu
Modern English
“Make freedom from envy part of how you carry yourself, the same way you'd commit to honesty or good manners.”
Modern Interpretation
Make freedom from envy part of how you carry yourself, the same way you'd commit to honesty or good manners. It's a discipline worth practicing on purpose. For example, genuinely celebrating a friend's scholarship instead of quietly resenting it is a skill that takes deliberate effort to build.
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Tamil pronunciation
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Modern Plain English
Make freedom from envy part of how you carry yourself, the same way you'd commit to honesty or good manners.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
Deem your heart as virtuous When your nature is not jealous
G.U. Pope Translation
As 'strict decorum's' laws, that all men bind,Let each regard unenvying grace of mind
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
Let a man esteem that disposition which is free from envy in the same manner as propriety of conduct
Tamil commentary
உள்ளத்துள் பொறாமை இல்லாமல் வாழும் குணத்தை, ஒருவன் தனக்கு உரிய ஒழுக்கமாகக் கொள்க.
Chapter 17
More from Not Envying
அழுக்காறாமை
Deem your heart as virtuous When your nature is not jealous
Kural 162No excellence excels the one That by nature envies none
Kural 163Who envies others' good fortune Can't prosper in virtue of his own
Kural 164The wise through envy don't others wrong Knowing that woes from evils throng
Kural 165Man shall be wrecked by envy's whim Even if enemies spare him
Kural 166Who envies gifts shall suffer ruin Without food and clothes with his kin
Kural 167Fortune deserts the envious Leaving misfortune omnious
Kural 168Caitiff envy despoils wealth And drags one into evil path
Kural 169Why is envy rich, goodmen poor People with surprise think over
Kural 170The envious prosper never The envyless prosper ever