Aatrin ozhukki aranizhukkaa ilvaazhkkai
Norpavarkku ellaam thavam.
Domestic life that flows on the right path and does not stray from virtue is the highest penance for all ascetics.
சரியான வழியில் நடந்து அறத்திலிருந்து விலகாத இல்வாழ்க்கை, தவம் செய்வோர் அனைவருக்கும் தவமாகும்.
A virtuous domestic life IS the highest penance. Valluvar provocatively equates householder virtue with ascetic tapas (penance). The self-discipline required to live rightly within a family — with all its demands and temptations — is comparable to, or even exceeds, forest asceticism. Domestic life done right is the hardest and highest penance.