Thirukkural- On Virtue- Hypocrisy-Kural-271

At the hypocritical conduct of a false-hearted man,Even the five elements inside will laugh derisively.

A man (ascetic) who is not true to himself and behaves hypocritically will evoke derisive laughter even from the five elements within him. Such behaviour is a 'futile fraud'. It is not only the Omniscient God, who is all pervading witness to it, but also the very elements that constitute a man's make-up. In this context, the poet particularly had in mind apparently the shameful crime of the ascetic breaking the law of celibacy

A similar sentiment was expressed in a larger context, by R L Stevenson in his Lay Morals, when he said, 'The evading of the Police cannot long satisfy an active conscience or a thoughtful mind'. The sentinels of this 'conscience and mind', shaped by the five perceptive senses, are obviously referred to here by Valluvar as 'the five internal watching elements', and not necessarily the chemical elements forming the man's physical constitution or the five basic elements of the Indian way of thinking-earth, water, fire, air and ether, (Gita, 7:4) which constitute all matter.