Chapter 7: The Blessing of Children

Verse 70
A proud father stands smilingly with his accomplished sons before a crowd. All are impressed by the sons’ closeness and humility.

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Verse 61

Of all blessings we know of none greater than
the begetting of children endowed with intelligence.

Verse 62

Those who bear children of blameless character
will be untouched by evil for seven births.

Verse 63

It is said that children are a man’s real wealth,
and that this wealth is determined by his deeds.

Verse 64

Far sweeter than divine nectar is simple boiled rice
stirred by the small hands of one’s own child.

Verse 65

The touch of one’s children is a delight to the body,
and listening to them chatter is a joy to the ear.

Verse 66

“Sweet are the sounds of the flute and the lute,” say those
who have not heard the prattle of their own children.

Verse 67

A father benefits his son best by preparing him
to sit at the forefront of learned councils.

Verse 68

What pleasure it is to human beings everywhere
when their children possess knowledge surpassing their own!

Verse 69

When a mother hears her son heralded as a good and learned man,
her joy exceeds that of his joyous birth.

Verse 70

The son’s duty to his father is to make the world ask,
“By what great austerities did he merit such a son?”

Chapter 6: The Good Wife

Verse 58
From morning to night the good wife is in constant service to her husband and family, washing, feeding, healing and assisting with the sacred daily puja.

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Verse 51

She is the helpful wife who possesses the fullness of
domestic virtues and spends within her husband’s means.

Verse 52

Family life, however full, remains empty
if the wife lacks the lofty culture of the home.

Verse 53

What does a man lack if his wife is worthy?
And what does he possess if she is lacking worth?

Verse 54

What is more majestic than a woman
who preserves the prodigious strength of chastity?

Verse 55

Even the rains will fall at her command
who upon rising worships not God, but her husband.

Verse 56

A married woman is one who vigilantly guards herself,
cares for her husband and protects their unblemished reputation.

Verse 57

Why do guardians protect women by confinement
when her own resolute chastity is a woman’s best protection?

Verse 58

A woman deeply devoted to the man who wed her
will be worthy of great rewards in the world where Gods delight.

Verse 59

Unless the wife pursues praiseworthy purity,
the husband cannot stride before critics like a proud lion.

Verse 60

It is said a worthy wife is the blessing of a home,
and good children are its precious ornaments.

Section II: The Way of The Householder

Chapter 5: Family Life

Verse 47
Striving towards liberation in family life, different stages of life are shown: Namakarana samskara, childbirth, marriage, old age and Pranava Upadesha.

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Verse 41

He alone may be called a householder who supports
students, elders and renunciates pursuing well their good paths.

Verse 42

The virtuous householder supports the needs
of renunciates, ancestors and the poor.

Verse 43

The foremost duty of family life is to serve duly these five:
God, guests, kindred, ancestors and oneself.

Verse 44

The posterity of householders who gather wealth without misdeeds
and share meals without miserliness will never perish.

Verse 45

When family life possesses love and virtue,
it has found both its essence and fruition.

Verse 46

If a man masters the duties of married life,
what further merits could monkhood offer him?

Verse 47

Among those who strive for liberation, the foremost are they
who live the blessed state of family life as it should be lived.

Verse 48

The householder dedicated to duty and to aiding
ascetics on their path of penance endures more than they do.

Verse 49

Domestic life is rightly called virtue. The monastic path,
rightly lived beyond blame, is likewise good.

Verse 50

He who rightly pursues the householder’s life here on Earth
will be rightfully placed among the Gods there in Heaven.

Chapter 4: Asserting Virtue’s Power

Verse 31
There are different virtues as we age from youth to adulthood to advanced age. The elderly woman is surrounded by family, the fruits of her virtuous life. Two devas shower flower petals from above to bless her virtue.

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Verse 31

Virtue yields Heaven’s honor and Earth’s wealth.
What is there then that is more fruitful for a man?

Verse 32

There is nothing more rewarding than virtue,
nor anything more ruinous than its neglect.

Verse 33

Be unremitting in the doing of good deeds;
do them with all your might and by every possible means.

Verse 34

Keep the mind free of impurity. That alone is
the practice of virtue. All else is nothing but empty display.

Verse 35

Virtue is living in such a way that one does not fall
into these four: envy, anger, greed and unsavory speech.

Verse 36

Don’t tell yourself you’ll be wise enough to practice virtue tomorrow.
Do it now, for it will be your deathless companion when you die.

Verse 37

It is utterly superfluous to inquire about virtue’s benefits, so
evident in the difference between the palanquin’s rider and bearer.

Verse 38

Not allowing a day to pass without doing some good
is a boulder that will block your passage on the path to rebirth.

Verse 39

Only virtuous deeds abound in true joy.
All other deeds are empty and devoid of distinction.

Verse 40

Virtue is merely that which should be done in life,
and vice is merely that which should be avoided.

Chapter 3: The Greatness of Renunciates

Verse 27
A sadhu is seated on the mountaintop his right leg raised over a rock. The five senses of human consciousness are personified below him, senses he has perfectly controlled. Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing.

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Verse 21

The Scriptures exalt above every other good
the greatness of virtuous renunciates.

Verse 22

Attempting to speak of the renunciate’s magnitude is like
numbering all the human multitudes who have ever died.

Verse 23

Behold those who have weighed the dual nature of things and
followed the renunciate’s way. Their greatness illumines the world.

Verse 24

He whose firm will, wisdom’s goading hook, controls his five senses
is a seed that will flourish in the fields of Heaven.

Verse 25

Such is the power of those who subdue the five senses, that even Indra,
sovereign of spacious Heaven’s celestials, suffered their curse.

Verse 26

The magnificent ones are they who can dispatch the most
difficult tasks; the insignificant ones are they who cannot.

Verse 27

Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing are the senses–
he who controls these five magically controls the world.

Verse 28

Their own subtle sayings reveal to the world
the greatness of men whose words prove prophetic.

Verse 29

It is impossible to endure, even for a second, the wrath of those
who have scaled and stand upon the mountain called virtue.

Verse 30

Pious men are called the priestly ones,
for they are clothed in robes of compassion for all life.

Chapter 2: The Importance of Rain

Verse 11
In a lush green rainforest of flowers and fruits, birds, bees and various animals, a man is sipping falling rainwater with his cupped hands.

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Verse 11

It is the unfailing fall of rain that sustains the world.
Therefore, look upon rain as the nectar of life.

Verse 12

Rain produces man's wholesome food;
and rain itself forms part of his food besides.

Verse 13

Though oceanic waters surround it, the world will be deluged
by hunger's hardships if the billowing clouds betray us.

Verse 14

When clouds withhold their watery wealth,
farmers cease to ply their plows.

Verse 15

It is rain that ruins, and it is rain again
that raises up those it has ruined.

Verse 16

Unless raindrops fall from the sky,
not a blade of green grass will rise from the earth.

Verse 17

The very nature of oceans, though vast, would diminish
if clouds ceased to take up water and replenish rain's gifts.

Verse 18

Should the heavens dry up, worship here of the heavenly ones
in festivals and daily rites would wither.

Verse 19

Unless the heavens grant their gifts, neither the giver's generosity
nor the ascetic's detachment will grace this wide world.

Verse 20

No life on Earth can exist without water,
and water's ceaseless flow cannot exist without rain.

Part I: On Virtue

Section I: Prologue

Chapter 1: Praising God

Verse 1
The first four letters of the Tamil alphabet are seen here: A, AH, E, EE. This is the dancing Siva who creates. He is shown without ornamentation or man-made things. He is in all of nature, dressed with pearl necklace, simple cotton yarn sacred thread (poolnul. He is dancing over the world of birds, animals, plants and nature in her abundance.

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Verse 1

"A" is the first and source of all the letters. Even so is
God Primordial the first and source of all the world.

Verse 2

What has learning profited a man, if it has not led him
to worship the Good Feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?

Verse 3

The Supreme dwells within the lotus of the heart. Those who reach
His Splendid Feet dwell enduringly within unearthly realms.

Verse 4

Draw near the Feet of Him who is free of desire
and aversion, and live forever free of suffering.

Verse 5

Good and bad, delusion's dual deeds, do not cling to those
who delight in praising the Immutable, Worshipful One.

Verse 6

A long and joyous life rewards those who remain firmly
on the faultless path of Him who controls the five senses.

Verse 7

They alone dispel the mind's distress
who take refuge at the Feet of the Incomparable One.

Verse 8

They alone can cross life's other oceans who take refuge
at the Feet of the Gracious One, Himself an Ocean of Virtue.

Verse 9

The head which cannot bow before the Feet of the Possessor of
eight infinite powers is like the senses lacking the power to perceive.

Verse 10

The boundless ocean of births can be crossed, indeed,
but not without intimate union with Infinity's Holy Feet.