Thirukkural 272 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
வானுயர் தோற்றம் எவன்செய்யும் தன்னெஞ்சம்
தான்அறி குற்றப் படின்.
Transliteration
Vaanuyar Thotram Evanseyyum Thannenjam
Thaanari Kutrap Patin
Modern English
“A lofty spiritual appearance means nothing if a person knowingly keeps doing what their own conscience calls wrong.”
Modern Interpretation
A lofty spiritual appearance means nothing if a person knowingly keeps doing what their own conscience calls wrong. Outer status cannot erase inner guilt. For example, a respected volunteer who secretly harms others is not made virtuous by their public image.
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Tamil pronunciation
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Modern Plain English
A lofty spiritual appearance means nothing if a person knowingly keeps doing what their own conscience calls wrong.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
Of what avail are sky-high shows When guild the conscience gnaws and knows
G.U. Pope Translation
What gain, though virtue's semblance high as heaven his fame exalt,If heart dies down through sense of self-detected fault
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
What avails an appearance (of sanctity) high as heaven, if his mind suffers (the indulgence) of conscious sin
Tamil commentary
தன் மீது தன் நெஞ்சமே குற்றம் சொல்லுமானால் மேலான நிலையினால் வரும் பலன்தான் என்ன?
Chapter 28
More from Imposture
கூடா ஒழுக்கம்
Elements five of feigned life Of a sly hypocrite within laugh
Kural 272Of what avail are sky-high shows When guild the conscience gnaws and knows
Kural 273Vaunting sainthood while week within Seems a grazer with tiger skin
Kural 274Sinning in saintly show is like Fowlers in ambush birds to strike
Kural 275Who false within but freedom feign Shall moan \"What have we done\" with pain
Kural 276Vilest is he who seems a saint Cheating the world without restraint
Kural 277Berry-red is his outward view, Black like its nose his inward hue
Kural 278Filthy in mind some bathe in streams Hiding sins in showy extremes
Kural 279Know men by acts and not by forms Strait arrow kills, bent lute but charms
Kural 280No balding nor tangling the hair! Abstain from condemned acts with care