It may seem that no evil attaches to the acquisition that comes by
swerving from the pati of rectitude. But do not be tempted. Give up the thought at once.
Who lived a life of rectitude and who did not can be seen from how the children they have
left behind fare. Your life will impress itself on your child's character, and if you wish
well for your child beware and walk in the path of rectitude, says the poet.
Parimelazhagar construes the verse to mean that good men will be
blessed with progeny and that bad men will be denied that joy can mean either from the
fact of being blessed with progeny or by seeing how the progeny fare in life. My view is
that the phrase can more easily mean what has been said above and this interpretation is
more in consonance with Tiru-Valluvar's rational ethics.
