The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar/Chapter 90
CHAPTER 90
REFRAINING FROM OFFENDING THE GREAT ONES
891. The greatest care of a man that looketh to his safety should be to guard himself carefully from offending the Great Ones.
892. If a man slighteth the Great Ones, their power will bring down on him miseries without end.
893. Dost thou seek thy annihilation ? then close thy ears to good counsel and offer provocation to men who have the power to destroy thee when they please.
894. Behold the weak man slighting men of might and power : it is as if he beckoneth to the God of Death to come to him.
895. Behold the men who provoke the wrath of princes of the mighty arm : wheresoever they go they will not thrive.
896. Even men who are caught in a conflagration may escape alive: but there is no safety for men who wrong the mighty ones.
897. Where will be thy life with its varied glories and thy wealth with all its splendour, if sages, strong in the strength of the spirit, are incensed against thee ?
898. Behold the princes who look as if they are established on an everlasting foundation : even they will perish with all their kin if men who are mighty as the mountain but will their doom.
899. Even the king of the Gods will fail from his place and lose his sovereignty if men of holy vows look on him in anger.
900. Even men who rest upon the most solid of supports will not be saved if men of great spiritual power frown on them.
