Chapter 101அதிகாரம் 101 போற்றுதல் Reverence

Where it is touched every day, an ornament grows dull; where it is left untouched, it has put on the colour of gold.

Even in a forest with no guard at all, those who call a tree the gods’ tree will not lay a hand on it.

Those who did not bow saw nothing but their own shadow the whole way along; those who bowed saw light.

He came to pick, and picks none, though the whole vine is in bloom: the eye that does not look on it as something to pick.

Those who do not bow see the whole world as goods; those who bow see it as a mystery.

Under the hands that plaster it, even dark clay becomes a temple; clay the hand lets go of is clay again.

In Tamil homes and shrines, earthen floors and walls are smoothed by hand with wet clay, often daily, as an act of care.

Those who bowed humbled their own hearts; it was not a stone they bowed to.

Shrine images may be made of stone. The Tamil verb can describe both bending low and bowing in reverence.

To bow the head to strength is trade; a mind that bows low even to the frail is life itself.

Open the temple to evil, and what stands open is the door of harm into the temple.

The Tamil uses one word, theemai, for both evil and harm.

Whoever bows to the vine and plucks holds a flower; whoever breaks the vine holds a stick.