Kural 981
It is said that all good things are natural to those
who know their duty and walk the path of perfect goodness.
Kural 982
Perfect men hold as good their own good character.
They count no other goodness so genuinely good.
Kural 983
Love, modesty, propriety, a kindly eye and truthfulness–
these are the five pillars on which perfect goodness rests.
Kural 984
Penance is the goodness that refrains utterly from killing.
Perfection is the goodness that refuses to utter others’ faults.
Kural 985
Humility is the strength of the strong
and the instrument the wise use to reform their foes.
Kural 986
The touchstone of perfect character is
accepting with dignity defeat from one’s inferiors.
Kural 987
Of what gain is perfect goodness if it does not do good to all,
even to those who have done painful things to others?
Kural 988
Deprived of all else, one remains undisgraced
if still endowed with strength of character.
Kural 989
Destiny’s last days may surge with oceanic change,
yet perfectly good men remain, like the shore, unchanged.
Kural 990
Should the perfect virtue of perfect men ever diminish,
this mighty Earth would bear our burdensome weight no more.
