Thirukkural 26 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
செயற்கரிய செய்வார் பெரியர் சிறியர்
செயற்கரிய செய்கலா தார்.
Transliteration
Seyarkariya Seyvaar Periyar Siriyar
Seyarkariya Seykalaa Thaar
Modern English
“Great people are willing to do what is difficult when it is necessary and right.”
Modern Interpretation
Great people are willing to do what is difficult when it is necessary and right. Small-minded people avoid hard duties and choose only what is easy or profitable. For example, admitting a serious mistake may be uncomfortable, but a responsible person accepts it, apologizes, and repairs the damage. Courage in difficult moments reveals true character.
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Tamil pronunciation
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Modern Plain English
Great people are willing to do what is difficult when it is necessary and right.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
The small the paths of ease pursue The great achieve things rare to do
G.U. Pope Translation
Things hard in the doing will great men do;Things hard in the doing the mean eschew
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
The great will do those things which is difficult to be done; but the mean cannot do them
Tamil commentary
பிறர் செய்வதற்கு முடியாத செயல்களைச் செய்பவரே மேன்மக்கள்; செய்ய முடியாதவரோ சிறியவரே.
Chapter 3
More from The Greatness of Ascetics
நீத்தார் பெருமை
No merit can be held so high As theirs who sense and self deny
Kural 22To con ascetic glory here Is to count the dead upon the sphere
Kural 23No lustre can with theirs compare Who know the right and virtue wear
Kural 24With hook of firmness to restrain The senses five, is heaven to gain
Kural 25Indra himself has cause to say How great the power ascetics' sway
Kural 26The small the paths of ease pursue The great achieve things rare to do
Kural 27They gain the world, who grasp and tell Of taste, sight, hearing, touch and smell
Kural 28Full-worded men by what they say, Their greatness to the world display
Kural 29Their wrath, who've climb'd the mount of good, Though transient, cannot be withstood
Kural 30With gentle mercy towards all, The sage fulfils the vitue's call