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Kural-23
Five are the duties of the householder, namely, the offering of oblations to the pitris, the
performance of sacrifices to the Gods, the doing of hospitality, the rendering of help unto
relations, and the looking after of one’s own self.
Kural-24
Behold the man who feareth the reproof of the wise and doth charity before eating his meal:
his seed decayeth never.
Kural-25
If love aboundeth in the home and righteousness doth prevail, the home is perfect and its end
is all fulfilled.
Kural-26
If a man fulfilleth aright the duties of the householder, where is the need for him to take up
other duties?
Kural-27
Among those that seek after salvation, the greatest are they who lead a virtuous family life,
performing aright all the duties that belong to it.
Kural-28
Behold the householder who helpeth others in the abservance of their vows and who leadeth
a virtuous life himself: he is a greater saint than those who betake themselves to a life of
fasting and prayer.
Kural-29
Righteousness belongeth especially to the married life: and a good name is its ornament.
Kural-30
The householder who liveth as he ought to live will be looked upon as a god among men.
A new section of the book commences here, treating especially of Domestic Virtue,
the first chapter being on home
life or the domestic state, which is explained as ‘the
excellence of living in union with a wife.’ The poet in this chapter especially, talks about the
attributes that a householder should possess. He says that a true householder is a firm support
to the virtuous of the three orders in their good path and will flourish in domestic virtue if he
were to aid the forsaken, the poor and the departed (The service to the dead refers to the
performance of the last rites). The ‘three orders’ referred to are the three orders outside the
order
of domestic life, namely, Brahmachari, Vanaprastham, Sannyasi. These have to be
supported by the householder (Grihastham). The chief duty of the householder is to preserve
the five-fold rule of
conduct towards the abandoned, the Gods, his guests, his relations and
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himself. The poet says that if the married life possesses love and abounds in virtue, the home
would then be perfect and that would be the reward in itself. The poet also distinctly declares
the sufficiency and adequacy of home-life in the sense that, if lived all right it is in no way
inferior to the ascetic calling. According to him, domestic life, bearing its own sorrows and
those of others, is as full of endurance as a life of ascetic austerity.
The poet is also of the
opinion that among all those that labour for future happiness, the person who lives well in the
household state is the greatest, and theat such a person who on earth has lived in the conjugal
state as he should live, will be placed among the Gods who dwell in heaven.
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