Eating what you earn

உழைத்து உண்ணல் · Uzhaiththu Unnal

The Kural's plainest sentence on food: thin gruel earned by your own hands is the sweetest thing there is.

3 couplets

1035 Those who live by their hands

இரவார் இரப்பார்க்கொன்று ஈவர் கரவாது
கைசெய்தூண் மாலை யவர்.

Iravaar Irappaarkkondru Eevar Karavaadhu · Kaiseydhoon Maalai Yavar

Those whose nature is to live by manual labour will never beg but give something to those who beg

Kural 1035 · Chapter 104 உழவு (Uzhavu — Farming) · பொருட்பால்

1040 The earth laughs

இலமென்று அசைஇ இருப்பாரைக் காணின்
நிலமென்னும் நல்லாள் நகும்.

Ilamendru Asaii Iruppaaraik Kaanin · Nilamennum Nallaal Nakum

The maiden, Earth, will laugh at the sight of those who plead poverty and lead an idle life

Kural 1040 · Chapter 104 உழவு (Uzhavu — Farming) · பொருட்பால்

1065 Thin gruel, earned

தெண்ணீர் அடுபுற்கை ஆயினும் தாள்தந்தது
உண்ணலின் ஊங்கினிய தில்.

Thenneer Atupurkai Aayinum Thaaldhandhadhu · Unnalin Oonginiya Thil

Even thin gruel is ambrosia to him who has obtained it by labour

The Kural's philosophy of food in one line. The question is never how good it tastes, but where it came from.

Kural 1065 · Chapter 107 இரவச்சம் (Iravachcham — The Dread of Mendicancy) · பொருட்பால்

← All themes

Chapter	Name	Kurals	Book
104	உழவு Farming	1035, 1040	பொருட்பால்
107	இரவச்சம் The Dread of Mendicancy	1065	பொருட்பால்

Source and credit
Tamil text and transliteration: tk120404/thirukkural (Apache-2.0). English: the Drew-Lazarus prose gloss of 1885, public domain. The Hindi renderings and the notes are Bhojanveda's own, not taken from any published translation. The source's modern Tamil commentaries are still in copyright and are not reproduced.

Corrected readings
90: நோக்கக் குழையும் -- the source reads குநழ்யும், against its own transliteration and commentary
943: அளவறிந்து -- the source reads அறவறிந்து, against its own commentary, which glosses அளவு (measure)
89 (English): exercises -- the source reads excercises
229 (English): completed to ‘...much more painful than begging’ -- the source stops at ‘much more’, and the Tamil reads இரத்தலின் இன்னாது (worse than begging)
926 (English): resemble the dead -- the source reads ‘the deed’, which reverses the line