Tirukural – Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Not Coveting Another’s Wife
Verse 148
A man is talking to a friend who is seated on the porch of their house with his wife. In order to be proper and not covet her, he is casting his gaze at her feet and not into her eyes. The clear light of his aura reflects his purity of thought.
You can access the entire text, in Tamil and English here:
Weaver’s Wisdom
Verse 141
Those who know virtue’s laws and marital rights
never indulge in the folly of desiring another man’s wife.
Verse 142
Among those who stand outside virtue, there is no greater fool
than he who stands with a lustful heart outside another’s gate.
Verse 143
No different from the dead are those who
wickedly desire the wife of a friend.
Verse 144
Though a man’s measure be mountainous, what good is it
if, without the minutest concern, he takes another’s wife?
Verse 145
A man who seduces another man’s wife, knowing she is easy,
suffers a shame that neither dies nor diminishes.
Verse 146
Hatred, sin, fear and disgrace–these four
never forsake the man who commits adultery.
Verse 147
He is decreed a worthy householder who holds
no desire for the womanly charms of another’s wife.
Verse 148
The chivalry that does not look upon another’s wife
is not mere virtue–it is saintly conduct.
Verse 149
In a world encircled by the awesome sea, to whom do good things
belong? To men never impassioned to caress a married woman.
Verse 150
Though a man deserts virtue and indulges in vice, he keeps
some decency by not wanting another’s wife’s womanliness.
One Response to “Tirukural – Chapter 15”
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
December 20th, 2020 at 6:11 pm
“AUM”!.