Thirukkural-On Wealth-On Listening To The Wise-Kural-420

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People who have not experienced the delights of listening to the expositions of the learned,and relish only the tastes of the mouth, it matters little whether they live or die

This interpretation is adapted from V V S Iyer"s Kural translation as below":

“Behold the men that taste with the tongue but know not the taste of the ear, what doth it mater to the world whether they live or die?".

Kalingar gives an alternate reading as referring to food only and not the senses relating to the taste in the mouth.

Parimel Azhagar speaks of the tastes experienced by the ear, from words as well as substance. Each of these have their own respective characteristics of a higher order than the taste characteristic of the tongue.