GOOD BIRTH

The -sprouts indicates the nature of the soil. So does softness of speech indicate a good family.

Harshness raises doubts as to good birth.

i.e., his mother's chastity may be questioned.

An instinctive aversion to evil is the secret of a happy and virtuous life. Courteous behaviour is the essential characteristic of good birth:

Kulam venndin if you desire the advantage of good birth, which means, if you desire not to lose it. Yarkkum panivu brings out the need of the spirit of true humility, which are the essence of courteous conduct, towards not only those placed above, but equals and those below. A proper humility is the best adornment of aristocracy of any kind. nalam is ‘good', in both the moral and the Shylockian sense of 'good'; naanam is a sensitive conscience whereby the repugnance to evil is made part of the physical organism and the reaction is quick and unconscious. 

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