Dread of Evil Deeds
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tīyavai seytār keṭutal niḻaltaṉṉai / vīyātu aṭiyuṟain taṟṟu
The ruin of those who do harmful deeds is like a person's shadow: it does not leave but comes and settles at the feet.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Man's shadow dogs his steps where'er he wends; / Destruction thus on sinful deeds attends.”
“As the shadow leaveth not a man but doggeth his steps wherever he goeth, even so do evil deeds pursue their author and work his destruction.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தீயவை செய்தார் கெடுதல் = பிறர்க்குத் தீவினைகளைச் செய்தார் தாம் கெடுதல் எத்தன்மைத்து எனின்; நிழல் தன்னை வீயாது அடிஉறைந்தற்று = ஒருவன் நிழல் நெடிதாகப் போயும், அவன் தன்னை விடாது வந்து அடியின்கண் தங்கிய தன்மைத்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Asked what the ruin of people who have done evil deeds is like, Parimelazhagar compares it to a person's shadow: though it stretches far, it does not leave the person and comes to rest at the feet. This is the Kural's moral image of attached consequence. It is not proof that every ruined or suffering person did evil, and a past deed need not become a permanent human identity.