The Kural in life
Chaff among people.
Valluvar gives the idle talker a sharp name. Do not call a person who revels in useless words a 'man' in the full sense, he says; call him, rather, the chaff among people. Like the empty husk that mimics grain but holds no kernel, such a person has the outward form of a human but lacks the inner substance — sense — that the word should mean.
Parimelazhagar: a husk, for want of the kernel of sense.
Parimelazhagar explains the image directly: because the inner content called wisdom is missing, the verse calls such a one 'the chaff among people.' Form alone does not make a person; the grain is judged by its kernel, and a human by the sense within. Without it, the resemblance to a full human is only outward.
Substance is what fills the form.
The metaphor is unsparing but instructive: it locates a person's worth not in appearance or volume of speech but in the sense their words carry. To be 'grain' rather than 'chaff' is to have something real inside — judgement, knowledge, care — that your speaking conveys. The aim Valluvar sets is not to talk less for its own sake, but to ensure that when you do speak, there is a kernel there to be found.
One who revels in useless words is chaff — a human husk without the kernel of sense.
Valluvar gives the idle talker a sharp name: don't call one who revels in useless words a 'man' in full — call him the chaff among people. Parimelazhagar: because the kernel of wisdom is missing, he's a husk; form alone doesn't make a person, the grain is judged by its kernel and a human by the sense within.
Make sure your speech has a kernel to be found.
The metaphor is unsparing: a person's worth lies not in appearance or volume of speech but in the sense their words carry. To be 'grain' not 'chaff' is to have something real inside — judgement, knowledge, care — that your speaking conveys. The aim isn't to talk less for its own sake, but to ensure that when you do speak, there's a kernel there to find.