Thirukkural · பொருட்பால் · நட்பு

Thirukkural 784

Kural 784

நகுதற் பொருட்டன்று நட்டல் மிகுதிக்கண்
மேற்செனறு இடித்தற் பொருட்டு.

Nakudhar Poruttandru Nattal Mikudhikkan
Mersenaru Itiththar Poruttu

Nor for laughter only friendship all the pleasant day, But for strokes of sharp reproving, when from right you stray

Meaning

Friendship is to be practised not for the purpose of laughing but for that of being beforehand in giving one another sharp rebukes in case of transgression.

Plain English meaning from the 19th-century prose translation by W. H. Drew and John Lazarus. The verse above is G. U. Pope's translation (1886).

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