Kural Number: 0008 (Vizhiyappan's Translation)

{பால்: 1 - அறத்துப்பால்; இயல்: 01 - பாயிரவியல்; அதிகாரம்: 001 - கடவுள் வாழ்த்து; குறள் எண்: 0008}

{Division: 1 - Ethics ; Section: 01 - Proem; Chapter: 001 - Praising Almighty; Kural Number: 0008}

                

அறவாழி அந்தணன் தாள்சேர்ந்தார்க் கல்லால்
பிறவாழி நீந்தல் அரிது

"Followers of-greatest moralist" alone;
overcome other principles

Vizhiyappan's Commentary: Only, the followers of "whose moral is as wide as sea" can successfully practice and overcome the other ethics related with "Valuable & Happiness".

(Likewise...)

Those who live by following "the people with a strict principle of not having illegal relationships"; will easily avoid both "Liquor & Gamble".

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Note: Probably, this is Kural is the best example to explain the difficulty of translating Thirukkural and maintain it's "high standard" poetic annotations. In this Kural, the writer use only two words such as "அறவாழி & பிறவாழி"; to differentiate different principles and by relating them with "Ocean". It is "highly impossible" to translate them - not just in English, but in any other language too - even with many words. Anyway, I am trying my level best to keep "at least a minimum impact" of the original version in each Kural.

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Link: Explanation in Tamil