Tiruvalluvar wrote The Tirukkural and it is considered a literary masterpiece. It was composed in Tamil, by Tiruvalluvar sometimes between 2 BCE and 5 CE. These are succinct couplets which describe nature and life. Kural means short verse.

Knowing the Place

527 – The crow crows when it lights on food and caws, “Come kin and join”
Good and only good will come if we sit with kin to dine.

491 – Ringing the enemy is vital, closing his routes of escape
If knowing his guts, you do that you’ve caught him by his nape.

493 – An army’s size matters, yes, but is by no means all
What matters is vantage, hideouts that lie deep and lookouts that stand tall.

495 – In waters deep and dark the crocodile murders at will
But outside his own water-fort he’s himself an easy kill.

496 – The vessel matters but only where it can head on
The chariot’s useless on water, the boat on land is carrion
Might matters as do guts but what matters most
Is the right plan to use on mountains, forest coast.

500 – A tusker of fearless eye and matchless foot if trapped in a slough
A cunning jackal will spot and in its canine jaws devour.

Aim Hrim Klim

Picture by Darisi sumanth – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link