Tirukkural-On Virtue-Family Life-Kural 50

Add as a preferred source on Google

Vaiyattul valvanku valpavan vanuraiym
teyvattul vaikkap patum

A man who leads an ideal life in this world,
Will be ranked amongst the Gods in heaven.

This is one of the Kurals of Valluvar, which is oft-quoted to praise and honour a person, who has lived the full span of householder's life in the manner it should be, with love and virtue, eschewing all the evils that beset life, and at the same time practicing 'Aram'. Valluvar himself is believed to have led such an ideal life. He could himself be described as 'Sanroan.

Such a man has certainly achieved life's purpose, which is also people's acclamation of his virtue on earth, as much as eternal reward received at God's hands. The passage from Seneca's on Mercy Book-I, quoted under Kural 34 is relevant here again, for it recognizes virtue itself as the most fitting reward for the virtuous but still asks 'Have I of all mortals…been chosen to serve on earth as the vicar of the Gods?' Similarly in Book-I On Providence, Seneca says 'Between good men and the Gods there exists a friendship brought about by virtue'. Seneca therefore goes half the Valluvar way.

The special feature of this Kural is that it reconciles the full and purposeful living on earth, which is rewarding in itself and the sublimation of that life to earn eternal reward.