Virtue (அறத்துப்பால்) — Domestic Virtue (இல்லறவியல்) — Duty to Society (ஒப்புரவறிதல்)

Kural 211:
கைம்மாறு வேண்டா கடப்பாடு மாரிமாட்டு
என்ஆற்றுங் கொல்லோ உலகு.
kaimmaaRu vaeNtaa katappaatu maarimaattu
en-aatrung kolloa ulaku
English couplet:
Duty demands no recompense; to clouds of heaven,
By men on earth, what answering gift is given?.
Explanation: Benevolence seeks not a return. What does the world give back to the clouds ?.

Kural 212:
தாளாற்றித் தந்த பொருளெல்லாம் தக்கார்க்கு
வேளாண்மை செய்தற் பொருட்டு.
thaalaatrith thandha poruLellaam thakkaarkku
vaeLaaNmai seydhaR poruttu
English couplet:
The worthy say, when wealth rewards their toil-spent hours,
For uses of beneficence alone 'tis ours.
Explanation: All the wealth acquired with perseverance by the worthy is for the exercise of benevolence.

Kural 213:
புத்தே ளுலகத்தும் ஈண்டும் பெறலரிதே
ஒப்புரவின் நல்ல பிற.
puththae Lulakaththum eeNdum peRalaridhae
oppuravin nalla piRa
English couplet:
To 'due beneficence' no equal good we know,
Amid the happy gods, or in this world below.
Explanation: It is difficult to obtain another good equal to benevolence either in this world or in that of the gods.

Kural 214:
ஒத்த தறவோன் உயிர்வாழ்வான் மற்றையான்
செத்தாருள் வைக்கப் படும்.
oththa thaRavoan uyirvaazhvaan matraiyaan
seththaaruL vaikkap padum
English couplet:
Who knows what's human life's befitting grace,
He lives; the rest 'mongst dead men have their place.
Explanation: He truly lives who knows (and discharges) the proper duties (of benevolence). He who knows them not will be reckoned among the dead.

Kural 215:
ஊருணி நீர்நிறைந் தற்றே உலகவாம்
பேரறி வாளன் திரு.
ooruNi neernhiRainh thatrae ulakavaam
paeraRi vaaLan thiru
English couplet:
The wealth of men who love the 'fitting way,' the truly wise,
Is as when water fills the lake that village needs supplies.
Explanation: The wealth of that man of eminent knowledge who desires to exercise the benevolence approved of by the world, is like the full waters of a city-tank.

Kural 216:
பயன்மரம் உள்ளூர்ப் பழுத்தற்றால் செல்வம்
நயனுடை யான்கண் படின்.
payanmaram uLLoorp pazhuththatraal selvam
nayanutai yaan-kaN patin
English couplet:
A tree that fruits in th' hamlet's central mart,
Is wealth that falls to men of liberal heart.
Explanation: The wealth of a man (possessed of the virtue) of benevolence is like the ripening of a fruitful tree in the midst of a town.

Kural 217:
மருந்தாகித் தப்பா மரத்தற்றால் செல்வம்
பெருந்தகை யான்கண் படின்.
marundhaakith thappaa maraththatraal selvam
perundhakai yaan-kan patin
English couplet:
Unfailing tree that healing balm distils from every part,
Is ample wealth that falls to him of large and noble heart.
Explanation: If wealth be in the possession of a man who has the great excellence (of benevolence), it is like a tree which as a medicine is an infallible cure for disease.

Kural 218:
இடனில் பருவத்தும் ஒப்புரவிற்கு ஒல்கார்
கடனறி காட்சி யவர்.
itanil paruvaththum oppuraviRku olkaar
katanaRi kaatchi yavar
English couplet:
E'en when resources fall, they weary not of 'kindness due,'-
They to whom Duty's self appears in vision true.
Explanation: The wise who know what is duty will not scant their benevolence even when they are without wealth.

Kural 219:
நயனுடையான் நல்கூர்ந்தா னாதல் செயும்நீர
செய்யாது அமைகலா வாறு.
nayanutaiyaan nalkoorndhaa naadhal seyumnheera
seyyaadhu amaikalaa vaaRu
English couplet:
The kindly-hearted man is poor in this alone,
When power of doing deeds of goodness he finds none.
Explanation: The poverty of a benevolent man, is nothing but his inability to exercise the same.

Kural 220:
ஒப்புரவி னால்வரும் கேடெனின் அஃதொருவன்
விற்றுக்கோள் தக்க துடைத்து.
oppuravi naalvarum kaetenin aqdhoruvan
vitrukkoaL thakka thudaiththu
English couplet:
Though by 'beneficence,' the loss of all should come,
'Twere meet man sold himself, and bought it with the sum.
Explanation: If it be said that loss will result from benevolence, such loss is worth being procured even by the sale of one's self.