The Kural in life
Be the balance-beam.
Valluvar gives impartiality its perfect image: the weighing-beam, which first hangs level by itself and only then weighs each load truly. Be like that, he says — so poised in yourself that you lean to no side. The wise are admired precisely for this steady, self-levelling equity that judges every case on its weight, not its owner.
Parimelazhagar: first level, then weigh.
Parimelazhagar draws out the comparison carefully. The scale first makes itself even, then measures; so the wise first hear all sides truly, by their own order, and then state what they found without hiding it — equally to enemy, stranger, and friend. The two halves of fairness, he shows, are an unbiased intake and an unbiased verdict; the beam pictures both.
Why a scale, not a sword.
Valluvar chose his image well. A scale has no stake in the outcome; it does not want one pan to win. To judge fairly is to make yourself like that — to set aside, for the moment, your own preference and let the weights speak. The hardest part is the first step the beam takes: becoming level in yourself before you presume to weigh anyone else.
Be a balance-beam — level in yourself first, then weighing each case truly.
Valluvar's image for impartiality is the weighing-beam: it hangs level by itself, then weighs each load truly, leaning to no side — and that poise is the ornament of the wise. Parimelazhagar: the two halves are unbiased intake (hear all sides truly) and unbiased verdict (state what you found, equally to foe, stranger, friend).
Level yourself before you weigh anyone else.
Before judging a dispute, do what the scale does first: set your own preference aside and become level in yourself. Then hear every side truly and say what you actually found — the same way whether it favours a friend or a rival. The hard part isn't the verdict; it's making yourself unbiased before you start.