Thirukkural – 633
To divide foes, to strengthen bond with allies,
To reconcile with erstwhile friends – are a minister’s skills.
பிரித்தலும், பேணிக்கொளலும், பிரிந்தார்ப்
பொருத்தலும், வல்லது–அமைச்சு.
A good minister is one who is skillful in making sure that foes are divided, one’s alliances are strong and reconciling with former allies who have parted ways. By this he will be able to help his ruler rule the country.
பிரித்தல் – divide
பேணுதல் – to take care / strengthen bond
பிரிந்தார் – those who parted ways (erstwhile friends)
பொருத்தல் – to join
வல்லது – ability
அமைச்சு – minister
Old Tamil Poetry 
Hello Centhil, thank you for the amazing work you do. These translations are amazing!
I am a writer and have been researching Cankam poetry for some years now for some projects. While I’ve spoken Tamil pretty fluently for a long time, I recently learnt to read Tamil.
I was wondering, if possible, could you please post the English transliteration of the Tamil passages in your posts? It would be immensely helpful to read both and compare, also for people who might want to read in Tamil but don’t know the letters. Please do consider doing this.
Many thanks,
Deepa Bhasthi
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Hello, you can get the Latin transcriptions of Tamil at Google Translate. Paste any Tamil text in Google Translate and underneath it you will find transcriptions according to the ISO 15919 standard. It’s very handy for all scripts.
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Thanks very much.
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Awesome kural a good lesson on statecraft thanks
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