Thirukkural 701 in English
Tamil original, transliteration, English translation, meaning, commentary, pronunciation, and chapter context.
Tamil original
கூறாமை நோக்கக் குறிப்பறிவான் எஞ்ஞான்றும்
மாறாநீர் வையக் கணி.
Transliteration
Kooraamai Nokkake Kuripparivaan Egngnaandrum
Maaraaneer Vaiyak Kani
Modern English
“A perceptive adviser can understand what someone means without being told, simply by noticing their face and behavior.”
Modern Interpretation
A perceptive adviser can understand what someone means without being told, simply by noticing their face and behavior. If a teammate goes quiet and looks worried, noticing it early lets you offer help before they have to ask.
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Tamil pronunciation
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Modern Plain English
A perceptive adviser can understand what someone means without being told, simply by noticing their face and behavior.
Poetic Couplet (Bharati)
Who reads the mind by look, untold Adorns the changeless sea-girt world
G.U. Pope Translation
Who knows the sign, and reads unuttered thought, the gem is he,Of earth round traversed by the changeless sea
Classical Meaning (Drew & Lazarus)
The minister who by looking (at the king) understands his mind without being told (of it), will be a perpetual ornament to the world which is surrounded by a never-drying sea
Tamil commentary
ஒருவன் வாயால் சொல்லாமல் இருக்க, அவனுடைய முகத்தையும் கண்ணையும் பார்த்தே அவன் மனக்கருத்தை அறிந்து கொள்பவன், எப்போதும் வற்றாத கடலால் வளைக்கப்பட்ட இவ்வுலகத்தவர்க்கு ஆபரணம் போன்றவன்.
Chapter 71
More from The Knowledge of Indications
குறிப்பறிதல்
Who reads the mind by look, untold Adorns the changeless sea-girt world
Kural 702Take him as God who reads the thought Of another man with without a doubt
Kural 703By sign who scans the sign admit At any cost in cabinet
Kural 704Untold, he who divines the thought Though same in form is quite apart
Kural 705Among senses what for is eye If thought by thought one can't descry?
Kural 706What throbs in mind the face reflects Just as mirror nearby objects
Kural 707Than face what is subtler to tell First if the mind feels well or ill
Kural 708Just standing in front would suffice For those who read the mind on face
Kural 709Friend or foe the eyes will show To those who changing outlooks know
Kural 710The scale of keen discerning minds Is eye and eye that secrets finds