Thirukkural 222 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
நல்லாறு எனினும் கொளல்தீது மேலுலகம்
இல்லெனினும் ஈதலே நன்று.
Transliteration
Nallaaru Eninum Kolaldheedhu Melulakam
Illeninum Eedhale Nandru
Modern English
“Taking from others is never truly admirable, even when people try to dress it up as acceptable; giving is always the better path, whatever it earns you or doesn't.”
Modern Interpretation
Taking from others is never truly admirable, even when people try to dress it up as acceptable; giving is always the better path, whatever it earns you or doesn't. The act of giving matters more than any reward attached to it. For example, someone who quietly gives what they can, expecting nothing back, lives a fuller life than someone who's always angling to receive.
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Modern Plain English
Taking from others is never truly admirable, even when people try to dress it up as acceptable; giving is always the better path, whatever it earns you or doesn't.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
To beg is bad e'en from the good To give is good, were heaven forbid
G.U. Pope Translation
Though men declare it heavenward path, yet to receive is ill;Though upper heaven were not, to give is virtue still
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
To beg is evil, even though it were said that it is a good path (to heaven) To give is good, even though it were said that those who do so cannot obtain heaven
Tamil commentary
நல்லதுதான் என்று எவரேனும் சொன்னாலும் பிறரிடம் ஒன்றைப் பெறுவது தீமை; ஏதும் இல்லாதவர்க்குக் கொடுப்பதால் விண்ணுலகம் கிடைக்காது என்றாலும் கொடுப்பதே நல்லது.
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