The Kural in life
If you love yourself, keep clear of wrong.
Valluvar makes self-regard an argument for goodness. If a person truly holds himself dear, he says, let him not draw near an evil deed even in the smallest measure. Because harm done to others returns as suffering to you, real self-love and the smallest cruelty cannot occupy the same life — to harm another is, in the end, to harm the self you claim to cherish.
Parimelazhagar: because harm rebounds, the self-loving avoid it.
Parimelazhagar links the two halves as cause and counsel: since wrong done to others ripens into pain for oneself, the verse opens with 'if a man loves himself' — the love of self is the very reason to avoid the smallest evil. He stresses ' எனைத்து ஒன்றும்,' any amount at all, however tiny: there is no quantity of harm small enough to be safe for the one who does it.
Self-interest, rightly understood.
This verse meets even a purely self-interested reader on his own ground. You need not begin from compassion; begin from caring about your own welfare, follow the logic of consequence honestly, and you arrive at the same place — do no harm. Genuine self-love is not indulgence but foresight: it refuses the small cruelty precisely because it can see, down the line, the cruelty's return address. To guard yourself well is to wrong no one.
If you truly love yourself, don't go near even the smallest wrong.
Valluvar makes self-regard an argument for goodness: if you truly hold yourself dear, don't draw near an evil deed even in the smallest measure. Parimelazhagar: since harm done to others ripens into pain for oneself, self-love is the very reason to avoid even 'எனைத்து ஒன்றும்,' any amount at all. To harm another is, in the end, to harm the self you claim to cherish.
Let rightly-understood self-interest lead you to harm no one.
This verse meets even a purely self-interested reader on his own ground. You needn't begin from compassion; begin from caring about your own welfare, follow consequence honestly, and you arrive at the same place — do no harm. Genuine self-love isn't indulgence but foresight: it refuses the small cruelty because it can see the cruelty's return address. To guard yourself well is to wrong no one.