Thirukkural 221 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
வறியார்க்கொன்று ஈவதே ஈகைமற் றெல்லாம்
குறியெதிர்ப்பை நீர துடைத்து.
Transliteration
Variyaarkkondru Eevadhe Eekaimar Rellaam
Kuriyedhirppai Neera Thutaiththu
Modern English
“Real charity means giving to someone who genuinely has nothing to offer back; everything else is more like a trade where you're quietly expecting a return.”
Modern Interpretation
Real charity means giving to someone who genuinely has nothing to offer back; everything else is more like a trade where you're quietly expecting a return. True giving asks for nothing in exchange. For example, giving a struggling stranger a meal with no strings attached is charity, while an expensive gift to a boss before a promotion review usually isn't.
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Modern Plain English
Real charity means giving to someone who genuinely has nothing to offer back; everything else is more like a trade where you're quietly expecting a return.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
To give the poor is charity The rest is loan and vanity
G.U. Pope Translation
Call that a gift to needy men thou dost dispense,All else is void of good, seeking for recompense
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
To give to the destitute is true charity All other gifts have the nature of (what is done for) a measured return
Tamil commentary
ஏதும் இல்லாதவர்க்குக் கொடுப்பதே ஈகை; பிற எல்லாம் கொடுத்ததைத் திரும்பப் பெறும் நோக்கம் உடையதே.
Chapter 23
More from Giving
ஈகை
To give the poor is charity The rest is loan and vanity
Kural 222To beg is bad e'en from the good To give is good, were heaven forbid
Kural 223No pleading, \"I am nothing worth,\" But giving marks a noble birth
Kural 224The cry for alms is painful sight Until the giver sees him bright
Kural 225Higher's power which hunger cures Than that of penance which endures
Kural 226Drive from the poor their gnawing pains If room you seek to store your gains
Kural 227Who shares his food with those who need Hunger shall not harm his creed
Kural 228The joy of give and take they lose Hard-hearted rich whose hoarding fails
Kural 229Worse than begging is that boarding Alone what one's greed is hoarding
Kural 230Nothing is more painful than death Yet more is pain of giftless dearth