What does the following Thirukkural reiterate? “Who with deceitful mind in false way walks of covert sin, The five-fold elements his frame compose, deride within”

(“Vanja manathan Paditrolukkam Boothangal Aainthum agathe nagum”)

The correct answer is False behavior.

Key Points

Thirukkural about False behavior:

• Who with the deceitful mind in a false way walks of covert sin, The five-fold elements his frame compose, decide within
• The above line means: The five elements (of his body) will laugh within him at the feigned conduct of the deceitful-minded man.
• He also says: 
  • What gain, though virtue's semblance high as heaven his fame exalt, If heart dies down through sense of self-detected fault? Meaning: What avails an appearance (of sanctity) high as heaven, if his mind suffers (the indulgence) of conscious sin.
  • Cruel is the arrow straight, the crooked lute is sweet, Judge by their deeds the many forms of men you meet. Meaning: As, in its use, the arrow is crooked, and the curved lute is straight, so by their deeds, (and not by their appearance) let (the uprightness or crookedness of) men be estimated.
  • What's the worth of shaven head or tresses long, If you shun what all the world condemns as wrong? Meaning: There is no need of a shaven crown, nor of tangled hair, if a man abstains from those deeds which the wise have condemned.

Additional Information

Thirukkural:

• Tiruvalluvar is known as the author of the Tirukkural (“Sacred Couplets”), considered a masterpiece of human thought.
• Thirukkural contains 1330 couplets (kurals) that are divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets each. The text is divided into three parts with teachings on dharma, artha, and kama (virtue, wealth, and love).
• Tiruvalluvar’s couplets in the Tirukkural are highly aphoristic.
• Despite Tiruvalluvar’s reasonable tone, many of his ideas were revolutionary. He dismissed the caste system.
• The poet maintained that goodness is its own reward and should not be regarded as a mere means to a comfortable afterlife.