Folly
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
orumaic ceyalāṟṟum pētai yeḻumaiyun / tāṉpuk kaḻuntu maḷaṟu.
“The fool will merit hell in one brief life on earth, / In which he entering sinks through sevenfold round of birth.”
“The fool hath the gift of sowing in one birth the seeds of misery for all his future incarnations.”
Within one birth, a person can commit a deed that, in the verse's moral cosmology, sinks them in hell through seven births.
Ask about this Kural
Answers are drawn only from this Kural's sourced text and named commentary, and always cite what they used.
Choose a section
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பேதை= பேதையாயினான்; எழுமையும் தான்புக்கு அழுந்தும் அளறு= வரும் பிறவிகள் எல்லாம் தான் புக்கு அழுந்தும் நிரயத்தினை; ஒருமைச் செயல் ஆற்றும்= இவ்வொரு பிறப்புள்ளே செய்துகொள்ள வல்லனாம்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
In a single fleeting lifetime, an unthinking fool manages to commit such grave misdeeds as will plunge them into misery across all seven future births.