The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar/Chapter 101
CHAPTER 101
THE WEALTH THAT IS NOT PUT TO GOOD USE
1001. Behold the man who hath laid by in his home treasures in abundance but enjoyeth them not: he is as good as dead, for he maketh no use of them.
1002. Behold the miser that thinketh that wealth is all in all and hoardeth it without giving to any: he will be a demon in his next birth.
1003. Behold the men that are always after hoarding but care not for fame: their existence is a burden unto the earth.
1004. The man who careth not to earn the attachment of his neighbours, what doth he hope to leave behind him when he is dead ?[1]
1005. Behold the men that neither give unto others nor enjoy their wealth themselves: even if they possess tens of millions they really possess nothing.
1006. There is a man that enjoyeth not his wealth nor giveth freely to men of worth: he is a disease unto a great fortune.
1007. Behold the man that giveth not anything to the needy: the wealth in his hands is like a fair damsel that wasteth away her youth in loneliness.
1008. The fortune of the man that is not loved of men is like the fruiting of the poison tree in the midst of the village.
1009. The wealth that is made without any regard to love or righteousness, and by starving oneself, is hoarded only for the behoof of strangers.
1010. The distress of the man of wealth who hath emptied his resources by benefactions is only like the exhaustion of the rain-cloud : it will not continue for long.
- ↑ The grateful remembrance of neighbours, which can be earned only by freely helping others, is the only thing that can be said to really survive a man.