Giving

Kural-221
Call that a gift to needy men thou dost dispense,
All else is void of good, seeking for recompense.
Meaning : To give to the destitute is true charity. All other gifts have the nature of (what is done for) a measured return.
Kural-222
Though men declare it heavenward path, yet to receive is ill;
Though upper heaven were not, to give is virtue still.
Meaning : To beg is evil, even though it were said that it is a good path (to heaven). To give is good, even though it were said that those who do so cannot obtain heaven.
Kural-223
'I've nought' is ne'er the high-born man's reply;
He gives to those who raise themselves that cry.
Meaning : (Even in a low state) not to adopt the mean expedient of saying "I have nothing," but to give, is the characteristic of the mad of noble birth.
Kural-224
The suppliants' cry for aid yields scant delight,
Until you see his face with grateful gladness bright.
Meaning : To see men begging from us in disagreeable, until we see their pleasant countenance.
Kural-225
'Mid devotees they're great who hunger's pangs sustain,
Who hunger's pangs relieve a higher merit gain.
Meaning : The power of those who perform penance is the power of enduring hunger. It is inferior to the power of those who remove the hunger (of others).
Kural-226
Let man relieve the wasting hunger men endure;
For treasure gained thus finds he treasure-house secure.
Meaning : The removal of the killing hunger of the poor is the place for one to lay up his wealth.
Kural-227
Whose soul delights with hungry men to share his meal,
The hand of hunger's sickness sore shall never feel.
Meaning : The fiery disease of hunger shall never touch him who habitually distributes his food to others.
Kural-228
Delight of glad'ning human hearts with gifts do they not know.
Men of unpitying eye, who hoard their wealth and lose it so?
Meaning : Do the hard-eyed who lay up and lose their possessions not know the happiness which springs from the pleasure of giving ?
Kural-229
They keep their garners full, for self alone the board they spread;-
'Tis greater pain, be sure, than begging daily bread!
Meaning : Solitary and unshared eating for the sake of filling up one's own riches is certainly much more unpleasant than begging.
Kural-230
'Tis bitter pain to die, 'Tis worse to live.
For him who nothing finds to give!
Meaning : Nothing is more unpleasant than death: yet even that is pleasant where charity cannot be exercised.