సుమతి శతకం 7

నడువకుమీ తెరువొక్కట
గుడువకుమీ శత్రునింట కూరిమి తోడన్
ముడువకుమీ పరధనముల
నుడువకుమీ యొరుల మనసు నొవ్వగ సుమతీ

naduvakumI teruvokkata
guduvakumI satruninta kUrimi tOdan
muduvakumI paradhanamula
nuduvakumI yorula manasu novvaga sumatI

నడువకుమీ = don’t ever walk
తెరువు = the path
ఒక్కట = alone
గుడువకుమీ = don’t ever eat
శత్రునింట = in the enemies house
కూరిమి తోడన్ = with friendship
ముడువకుమీ = don’t ever pile up
పరధనముల = others wealth
నుడువకుమీ = don’t ever utter
యొరుల = other’s
మనసు = heart
నొవ్వగ = pain
సుమతీ = the wise one

The padyams in Sumati satakam are either a comment on the ways of the world or a piece of advice. This present poem is under the latter kind.
Poet advices us to desist from four things, that we may do without much thinking.

He asks us not to travel alone. In the good old days when there were not many facilities of conveyance, it was either by foot or a horse that people travelled. At best it could have been a cart. In all such cases if one is alone, there is every possibility that when there is a problem, there is no one to lend a helping hand. So, the advice is to travel in groups. In the present adys when one is either in the car or on a two wheeler, it is always advisable that you have company. It only means that the poet’s advice holds good even now.

Next things he cautions us is about not eating in the house of an enemy, even if the enemy shows a lot of friendly nature. It was a time when people were not secure. These days we rarely eat in other’s house and never in an enemy’s house. When you know that somebody is an enemy, we have to be cautious, even when they act like making friends with us.

The next advice is one about good nature. We all pine for money. We want to make money this way or that. In the name of making a quick buck, we may forget that ethics. As it is rightly said, there aren’t any free lunches available. We should work and expect some returns. There could be some other ways of making money. The poet cautions that trying to usurp the money of other people by any way is to be avoided. Naturally when you take other’s money, it is very likely that someone else will try taking it away from you. Hence the advice.

The last thing the poet cautions about is another thing that we may do without knowing what we are doing. We do talk. We talk our heart out without considering whether what we said would hurt the feelings of others, whether present there or away. Poet says we should desist from hurting others with our words. This is the worst thing we always commit and not even be aware that we have done it. This matter needs not much of detailing.