Tirukkural-On Virtue-Charity-Kural 229

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Wretched is the man of poverty who begs; more wretched is he,Who meanly closes the door on the hungry and eats along.

The poor man who begs is wretched but the mean individual who eats alone is even more wretched than the poor beggar. The Biblical parallel is that of the rich man who ate alone, denying even the crumbs from his table to the poor man Lazarus, and the sequel thereof picturing Lazarus going to heaven and the rich man to the other place, is relevant in this context.

In Sangam literature the idea of eating alone, even if it were the very nectar from heaven, is scorned in 'Purananuru' thus,

'Thamiyar undalum ilarae'

(Purana: 182-3)

The point has also been sufficiently emphasised in the chapter on Hospitality (Ch.9).