Compassion
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
maṉṉuyi rōmpi yaruḷāḷvāṟ killeṉpa / taṉṉuyi rañcum viṉai
The wise say that no deed which makes one's own life fear arises for one who protects enduring living beings and is governed by compassion.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Who for undying souls of men provides with gracious zeal, / In his own soul the dreaded guilt of sin shall never feel.”
“The results of actions at which the soul trembleth pursue not him who is kind and merciful to all life.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மன் உயிர் ஓம்பி அருள் ஆள்வாற்கு= நிலைபேறுடைய உயிர்களைப் பேணி அவற்றின்கண் அருளுடையனாவானுக்கு; தன் உயிர் அஞ்சும் வினை இல் என்ப= தன் உயிர் அஞ்சுதற்கு ஏதுவாகிய தீவினைகள் உளவாகா என்று சொல்லுவர் அறிந்தோர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that a person who safeguards the living beings that continue in the world and lives under compassion does not produce the harmful deeds that would give their own life reason to fear. The claim concerns the moral consequence of cruelty, not magical immunity from accident, illness, violence, or justified accountability.