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The Holy Kural
Written over two millenia ago by Saint Tiruvalluvar,
translated under the guidance of Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
The Neglect of Learning |
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Verse 401
Speaking to a learned gathering without full knowledge,
Is like playing a dice game without the board.
Verse 402
An unlearned man desiring to be eloquent,
Is like a breastless women longing to be feminine.
Verse 403
Even the ignorant will be deemed wise
If they refrain from speaking in the presence of the learned.
Verse 404
However excellent an unlearned man's knowledge may be,
Knowledgeable men will never take it.
Verse 405
An unlearned man's self-conceit will shrivel
The moment he speaks to an assembly.
Verse 406
Like unproductive barren land is the man who has neglected learning.
All that can be said about him is that he exists.
Verse 407
The goodness and beauty of him whose knowledge
Is neither subtle nor penetrating are like that of a painted clay doll.
Verse 408
Even more wretched than a learned man's poverty
Is the unlearned man's wealth.
Verse 409
Though humbly born, a learned man's nobility
Transcends that of the unlearned noble man.
Verse 410
As men are to feral beasts, so are the luminaries
Of knowledge compared to unlearned men.
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The Holy Kural
Written over two millenia ago by Saint Tiruvalluvar,
translated under the guidance of Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
The Neglect of Learning |
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