Tirukkural-On Virtue-On Right Conduct-Kural 133

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The crisp and elegant translation given here is adapted from K Srinivasan.

Right conduct is true nobility;
The absence of it is just ignoble.

The implication is that a well-ordered life ennobles the man whatever his status in life. If such regulation is wanting, a noble parentage is of no avail. The great French dramatis Moliere said that 'Virtue is the first title of nobility' while Benson and Forster would rate 'Sincerity' and 'Considerateness' as the determinants of true aristocracy. In this Kural Thiruvalluvar has moderated and evened out, by standards of righteous conduct, the then ubiquitously prevalent 'Varnashrama Dharma'. He would say that a person born in a higher varna will be degraded by unrighteous conduct, while one from a lower varna will be ennobled by righteous conduct. Valluvar, therefore, envisaged a two-way social mobility.

The verse of Kambaramayanam cited under Kural 131 is also relevant here

Kulam Surakum olukkam kudikelaam

(Kamba : Naatup.38)