Kural 21
The Scriptures exalt above every other good
the greatness of virtuous renunciates.
Kural 22
Attempting to speak of the renunciate’s magnitude is like
numbering all the human multitudes who have ever died.
Kural 23
Behold those who have weighed the dual nature of things and
followed the renunciate’s way. Their greatness illumines the world.
Kural 24
He whose firm will, wisdom’s goading hook, controls his five senses
is a seed that will flourish in the fields of Heaven.
Kural 25
Such is the power of those who subdue the five senses, that even Indra,
sovereign of spacious Heaven’s celestials, suffered their curse.
Kural 26
The magnificent ones are they who can dispatch the most
difficult tasks; the insignificant ones are they who cannot.
Kural 27
Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing are the senses–
he who controls these five magically controls the world.
Kural 28
Their own subtle sayings reveal to the world
the greatness of men whose words prove prophetic.
Kural 29
It is impossible to endure, even for a second, the wrath of those
who have scaled and stand upon the mountain called virtue.
Kural 30
Pious men are called the priestly ones,
for they are clothed in robes of compassion for all life.