Tiru Valluvar picture from H A Popley – 1931

Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,303

Date uploaded in London – 13 October 2026

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

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Echo of Vedic Thought; Tirukkural Encyclopaedia -Chapter 45- Help of the Great- பெரியாரைத் துணைக்கோடல்

Points to Ponder:

Kural 443, 444 echo Vedic advice for kings:

A king who lacks the guidance of a wise spiritual and political advisor—such as a Purohita  is viewed as incomplete, vulnerable, and cut off from cosmic order.

The Upholder of Sacred Law (Dharma): The Satapatha Brahmana (Kanda V, adhyaya 4, brahmana 4) notes that the king alone is not capable of all speech and all deeds. Both the king and the Śrotriya (the wise Brahmin learned in sacred texts) share the duty of upholding what is right

Without a Purohita leaves his realm unprotected—much like an elephant in battle without a driver or a kingdom lacking a surrounding defence.

yo vai rājā brāhmaṇādabalīyānamitrebhyo vai sa balīyānbhavati

if a king is not guided by wise, the number of his enemies increase-Satapata Brahmana 5-4-4-15 (850 BCE)

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Kural 447 and 448 follow Dhammapada style; In Dhamma pada , Buddha says something in negative and then in positive; each advice will be in two slokas in Dhammapada; Tiruvalluvar also followed that style in many of his couplets

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Part 63

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Following Translations are used:

1.A Aranganatha Mudaliyar – ANM+2 ( B.L. Aranganatha iyer and R. Srinivasa Desikan), Year 1933

2.S M Diaz, I G of Police- SMD, Year 2000

3.Rev.Dr.GU Pope – GUP, Year 1886

4.Suddhananda Bharathiyar- SB

5.EVS Publishers, Singapore- EVS, Year 1986

6.H A Popley – HAP (not full book; only selected couplets) Year 1931

7.Tamil Original

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Chapter 45-Seeking the Counsel of the Great- பெரியாரைத் துணைக்கோடல் 

441.Weigh the worth of the men of ripe wisdom and seek their fellowship- A Aranganatha Mudaliyar – ANM+2 ( B.L. Aranganatha iyer and R. Srinivasa Desikan), Year 1933

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441.The king should carefully and selectively opt for the friendship

Of ethically oriented and wise counsellors -S M Diaz, I G of Police – SMD, Year 2000

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441
As friends the men who virtue know, and riper wisdom share,
Their worth weighed well, the king should choose with care.
Let (a king) ponder well its value, and secure the friendship of men of virtue and of mature knowledge. Rev.Dr.GU Pope – GUP, Year 1886

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441.Weigh their worth and friendship gain
Of men of virtue and mature brain.- Suddhananda Bharathiyar – SB

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441.Weigh the worth and chose for friendship men of ripe wisdom who know the  law -EVS Publishers, Singapore- EVS, Year 1986

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441. அறனறிந்து மூத்த அறிவுடையார் கேண்மை
திறனறிந்து தேர்ந்து கொளல்.

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442.Cherish with ardour the friendship of those who remedy your present ills and guard you against future ones– ANM+2

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442.The king should cherish the friendship of wise and accomplished persons

For solving present problems and preventing future ills– SMD,

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442
Cherish the all-accomplished men as friends,
Whose skill the present ill removes, from coming ill defends.
Let (a king) procure and kindly care for men who can overcome difficulties when they occur, and guard against them before they happen– GUP.

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442.Cherish the help of men of skill
Who ward and safe-guard you from ill.      – SB 

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442.Cultivate amity and seek help from men who remove present ills  and guard you from future ills-. – EVS, Year 1986

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442. உற்றநோய் நீக்கி உறாஅமை முற்காக்கும்
பெற்றியார்ப் பேணிக் கொளல்.

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443.Cling to men of heroic mould and make them your kin; verily there is no greater blessing to you on earth– ANM+2

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443.It is the rarest of all privileges for a good king,

 To have the wise and the great as his true friends– SMD,

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443
To cherish men of mighty soul, and make them all their own,
Of kingly treasures rare, as rarest gift is known.
To cherish great men and make them his own, is the most difficult of all difficult things. – GUP

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443.Honour and have the great your own
Is rarest of the rare things known.    – SB   

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443.T please great men and make them one’s own is the rarest of all rare blessings-– EVS, Year 1986

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Of rare gifts it is the rarest gifts of all,

The great to cherish and to hold them as one’s kin- HAP (not full book; only selected couplets) Year 1931

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443. அரியவற்று ளெல்லாம் அரிதே பெரியாரைப்
பேணித் தமராக் கொளல்.

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444.Is there any force mightier to the sovereign than the alliance of the men of superior wisdom? – ANM+2

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444.A king, wise enough to have men of greater wisdom than he to advise him,

Shall be a really powerful ruler– SMD,

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444
To live with men of greatness that their own excels,
As cherished friends, is greatest power that with a monarch dwells.
So to act as to make those men, his own, who are greater than himself is of all powers the highest. – GUP

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444.To have betters as intimates
Power of all powers promotes. – SB      

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444.To esteem men who are greater than oneself and follow in their footsteps  is the highest of all powers– EVS, Year 1986

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It is chief of all powers that men may wield

To walk in friendship with the greater ones- HAP

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444. தம்மிற் பெரியார் தமரா ஒழுகுதல்
வன்மையு ளெல்லாந் தலை.

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445.Ministers are the eyes of the monarchs; let them be chosen with jealous care– ANM+2

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445.As the king’s counsellors are effectively his own eyes,

He should choose them wisely- SMD,

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445
The king, since counsellors are monarch’s eyes,
Should counsellors select with counsel wise.
As a king must use his ministers as eyes (in managing his kingdom), let him well examine their character and qualifications before he engages them. – GUP

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445.Ministers are the monarch’s eyes
Round him should be the right and wise. – SB     

*** 

445.The leader should bring around him right men of wisdom as ministers; for  they are his eyes – EVS, Year 1986

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445. சூழ்வார்கண் ணாக ஒழுகலான் மன்னவன்
சூழ்வாரைச் சூழ்ந்து கொளல்.

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446.The wise king, whose court is adorned with men of wisdom, need not fear his foes– ANM+2

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446.A king, who is guided by worthy and true friends

Need no fear of harm from his enemies- SMD,

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446
The king, who knows to live with worthy men allied,
Has nought to fear from any foeman’s pride.
There will be nothing left for enemies to do, against him who has the power of acting (so as to secure) the fellowship of worthy men. – GUP

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446.To move with worthy friends who knows
Has none to fear from frightful foes.      – SB 

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446.The leader who has worthy friends and acts ably, has nothing to fear from terrible enemies-– EVS, Year 1986

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446. தக்கா ரினத்தனாய்த் தானொழுக வல்லானைச்
செற்றார் செயக்கிடந்த தில்.

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447.Is there an enemy that can work evil to a wise ruler who turns not away from the wholesome taunts and reproaches of his far-seeing ministers? – ANM+2

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447.Where the king’s counsellors possess the courage to reprove him when necessary

Nothing on earth can bring about such a king’s ruin– SMD,

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447
What power can work his fall, who faithful ministers
Employs, that thunder out reproaches when he errs.
Who are great enough to destroy him who has servants that have power to rebuke him ? – GUP

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447.No foe can foil his powers
whose friends reprove him when he errs– SB

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447.Which enemy can ruin the leader whose faithful friends reprove him  when he goes wrong?

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447. இடிக்குந் துணையாரை ஆள்வாரை யாரே
கெடுக்குந் தகைமை யவர்

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448.Kings bereft of the bitter-sweet advice of their counsellors, perish by themselves; they need no foe from without– ANM+2

***

448.Without courageous counsellors to point out his faults and so protect him,

A king will ruin himself, even without foes– SMD,

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448
The king with none to censure him, bereft of safeguards all,
Though none his ruin work, shall surely ruined fall.
The king, who is without the guard of men who can rebuke him, will perish, even though there be no one to destroy him. – GUP

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448.The careless king whom none reproves
Ruins himself sans harmful foes.        – SB

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448.No enemies need harm him; the careless leader who is not sharply rebuked shall ruin himself– EVS, Year 1986

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448. இடிப்பாரை இல்லாத ஏமரா மன்னன்
கெடுப்பா ரிலானுங் கெடும்.

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449.Profit is built on capital: the stability of a sovereign rests on the wise counsel of his ministers– ANM+2

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449.Without capital there is no return, and no stability

Without the support of the wise & virtuous– SMD,

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449
Who owns no principal, can have no gain of usury;
Who lacks support of friends, knows no stability.
There can be no gain to those who have no capital; and in like manner there can be no permanence to those who are without the support of adherents. – GUP

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449.No capital, no gain in trade
No prop secure sans good comrade.      – SB 
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449.There is no profit without capital; there is no stability for a leader without strong supporters-– EVS, Year 1986

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Without some capital, all gain is impossible;

Without good friends’ support, no surety can there be -HAP

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449.முதலிலார்க்கு ஊதியம் இல்லை மதலையாஞ்
சார்பிலார்க்கு இல்லை நிலை.

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450.To abandon the fellowship of the great is ten times more injurious to the king than to incur the hatred of the many– ANM+2

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450.It is foolish surely to incur enmity of many foes,

But ten times worse to lose righteous friends– SMD,

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450
Than hate of many foes incurred, works greater woe
Ten-fold, of worthy men the friendship to forego.
It is tenfold more injurious to abandon the friendship of the good, than to incur the hatred of the many. – GUP

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450.To give up good friends is ten times worse
Than being hated by countless foes.       – SB

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450.To lose good ministers and friends is ten times worse than facing countless enemies– EVS, Year 1986

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450. பல்லார் பகைகொளலிற் பத்தடுத்த தீமைத்தே
நல்லார் தொடர்கை விடல்.

—SUBHAM—

TAGS- பெரியாரைத் துணைக்கோடல், Tirukkural Encyclopaedia -Chapter 45- Help of the Great