Ignorance

All of us, without an exception, have  preconceived notions about our abilities, and have this superiority complex that varies in degree with each person. We always have a normal mirror to show others but we have a mirror for ...

Pilaithunarndhum paethaimai sollaar ilaithunarndhTheendiya kaelvi yavar.Those who have absorbed flawless knowledge in searching enquiries through the faculty of listening,Will not foolishly slip up even while labouring under some error.The above translation is to some extent based on Rajaji’s interpretation.The kural implies ...

Vilankodu makkal anaiyar ilangunoolKatraaroadu eanai yavar.There is as much difference between the learned and the ignorant,As between human beings and beasts.There is little difference between human beings, without even the rudiments of education, and the beasts of prey, that roam about ...

Continued From Part I An opponent asks, "If everything is unreal then what is the status of the Vedas: the Scriptures? They point out different worlds and methods of attaining them. They also point out that we are in bondage ...

Maerpirandhaa raayinum kallaadhaar keelppirandhumKatraar anaithilar paaduMen with learning, even of lower birth, are of greater worth,Than ignorant men though high-born.Parimel Azhagar’s statement quoted in translation by K M Balasubramaniam is as follows, and is very relevant here.“This means that the superiority ...

There is Brahman of the nature of Existence-Consciousness, Bliss and it is I myself. To say 'I do not know myself' is ignorance. There must be a light of Consciousness because of which this statement is both recognized and expressed. This ...

Nallaarkan patta varumaiyin innaatheKallaar kan pattathiru.Poverty in men of learning is surely better,But far worse are riches with the ignorant.My translation is based to some extent on V V S Iyer’s. It is part of the tragedy of life that ...

Ularennum mathiraiyar allaal payavaakKalaranaiyar kallaa thavarThe ignorant just exist like the barren land,Which gives no yield to be counted fertile.It may be said about the people, who have no education that they just live a or mark an existence, which may ...

The self-esteem of the uneducated cannot stand the testOf a single direct discourse with the learned.The person, who has not gone through the process of educating himself, by learning at the feet of the great masters, or through their books, or ...

Kallaathavarum naninallar katraar munsolla thirukkap perinEven a man of no learning may be considered wise,If he holds his tongue in gatherings of the learned.Even a man of limited knowledge, or of comparative ignorance, may expect to be adjudged as wise, if ...

Kallaathaan sorkaa muruthal mulaiyirandumIllaathaal pen kaamut ratruThe ignorant person aspiring to speak in the councils of the learned,Is like the woman without breasts seeking the charms of love.A person of no learning wanting to display his knowledge and skills to an ...

Arankinri vattaadi yatre nirambiyaNoolinrik koatti kolalMen of no education holding forth to a learned audience resemble,The uninitiated playing chess without the board.The ignorant aspiring to participate in the counsels of the learned, without the requisite preparation for it, acquired from the ...