Bihar Board Class 10 · English · Matric exam 2027
Chapter 5: The Empty Heart — notes
The chapter’s 6 parts in the book’s order — the first idea of each and the points Medha Ma’am writes on the board — and the summary at the end. The full lesson and a check question for each part are in the app.
1. About the poem and the poet
Okay, so let's talk about this poem a little first.
- • Poet: Periasamy Thooran
- • Tamil name: Kurai Kudam
- • Theme: man's insatiable greed destroys him
2. The rich but discontented man
Okay, so let's look at this man in the poem.
- • Man: rich but not content
- • He prayed morning, noon, night
- • To: Kalpaka (Wish-yielding Tree)
- • Wish: 'All I want is a pot of gold'
3. The gift of seven pitchers, and the eighth, unkind, half-filled pot
Okay, so let's see what the Tree actually gave him.
- • Prayer granted sevenfold
- • 7 silver pitchers, filled to brim with gold coins
- • Tree added 8th pot - only half-full
- • Tree now called 'unkind'
4. Greed takes over: forgetting the seven full pots
Okay, so, the man looks at that eighth pot.
- • Thought: 'To fill this quick'
- • He forgot the seven full vessels
- • 'The demon Desire now made him mad'
5. What greed made him give up
Okay, so let's see what greed made this man give up.
- • Said good-bye to mother, wife, children
- • Rose before cock-crow, worked past midnight
- • Shirked eating, drinking, sleep
- • Wrecked health, sold conscience
- • Took each coin 'by hook or crook'
6. His death and the lesson: the void in the heart
Okay, so — think about this.
- • He died before filling the pot
- • 'Greed is endless, but life is not'
- • 'Nothing is wrong with a half-filled purse'
- • ''Tis the void in the heart that is the curse'
Summary
Okay, so let's finish with the poem, 'The Empty Heart' by Periasamy Thooran. There was a rich man, but he was still not content. He prayed to the Wish-yielding Tree, Kalpaka, for a pot of gold. The Tree gave him seven pitchers, filled to the brim with gold. But the unkind Tree added an eighth pot too — only half-full. Now, you'd think he'd be happy with seven full pots. But instead, the demon Desire seized him. He forgot his seven full vessels. He abandoned his family, wrecked his health, and sold his conscience, all chasing that one half-filled pot. And he died, before he could ever fill it. See, that proves something important — greed has no end, but life does. The poem closes with its real lesson, in these words — "nothing is wrong with a half-filled purse, for it is the void in the heart that is the real curse." So the purse being half-full was never the problem. It's the emptiness inside the man's own heart that destroyed him. That's how insatiable greed ultimately ruins a man. Tell me — if you were in his place, with seven full pots already, would you still have run after that eighth one?
AskMedha · Medha Ma’am — Bihar Board Class 10 English, Chapter 5. Written from the textbook, checked twice.
Questions parents and students ask
- How do I get the "The Empty Heart" notes as a PDF?
- Press "Save as PDF" — the phone’s print sheet opens; choose "Save as PDF" there. The PDF holds the notes only.
- Where are these notes written from?
- From the chapter’s own textbook text, part by part, in the book’s own terms; a second, independent model then checked every part against the book. The full lesson, a check question for each part and the practice are in the AskMedha app.
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