The Wealth of Children
The seventh chapter of the Kural, literally 'the gaining of children.' Having praised domestic life and the life-companion, Valluvar turns to children as a household's deepest joy and truest wealth. The verses celebrate well-raised, understanding children as a blessing beyond all others — their touch sweeter than ambrosia, their lisping speech sweeter than any music — and they name the reciprocal duties of love: a parent's task to make a child worthy of honour, and a child's task to live so well that people ask what merit earned such a child. Read in its own age these verses centre the begetting of sons; read for their enduring sense, they honour the love between children and parents of any kind.
10 of 10 narratives drafted · all Tamil, Pope & Parimelazhagar sourced
பெறுமவற்றுள் யாமறிவ தில்லை அறிவறிந்த
மக்கட்பே றல்ல பிற
“Of all that men acquire, we know not any greater gain, Than that which by the birth of learned children men obtain.”
எழுபிறப்புந் தீயவை தீண்டா பழிபிறங்காப்
பண்புடை மக்கட் பெறின்
“Who children gain, that none reproach, of virtuous worth, No evils touch them, through the sev'n-fold maze of birth.”
தம்பொரு ளென்பதம் மக்கள் அவர்பொருள்
தந்தம் வினையான் வரும்
“'Man's children are his fortune,' say the wise; From each one's deeds his varied fortunes rise.”
அமிழ்தினு மாற்ற வினிதேதம் மக்கள்
சிறுகை யளாவிய கூழ்
“Than God's ambrosia sweeter far the food before men laid, In which the little hands of children of their own have play'd.”
மக்கண்மெய் தீண்ட லுடற்கின்ப மற்றவர்
சொற்கேட்ட லின்பஞ் செவிக்கு
“To patent sweet the touch of children dear; Their voice is sweetest music to his ear.”
குழலினிதி யாழினி தென்பதம் மக்கள்
மழலைச்சொற் கேளா தவர்
“'The pipe is sweet,' 'the lute is sweet,' by them't will be averred, Who music of their infants' lisping lips have never heard.”
தந்தை மகற்காற்று நன்றி யவையத்து
முந்தி யிருப்பச் செயல்
“Sire greatest boon on son confers, who makes him meet, In councils of the wise to fill the highest seat.”
தம்மிற்றம் மக்க ளறிவுடைமை மாநிலத்து
மன்னுயிர்க் கெல்லா மினிது
“Their children's wisdom greater than their own confessed, Through the wide world is sweet to every human breast.”
ஈன்ற பொழுதிற் பெரிதுவக்குந் தன்மகனைச்
சான்றோ னெனக்கேட்ட தாய்
“When mother hears him named 'fulfill'd of wisdom's lore,' Far greater joy she feels, than when her son she bore.”
மகன்றந்தைக் காற்று முதவி யிவன்றந்தை
யென்னோற்றான் கொல்லெனுஞ் சொல்
“To sire, what best requital can by grateful child be done? To make men say, 'What merit gained the father such a son?'”