Abstaining from Flesh
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taṉṉūṉ perukkaṟkut tāṉpiṟi tūṉuṇpā / ṉeṅṅaṉa māḷu maruḷ
How can compassion govern someone who, to enlarge their own flesh, eats the flesh of another living being?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“How can the wont of 'kindly grace' to him be known, / Who other creatures' flesh consumes to feed his own?”
“How can he feel pity, who eateth other flesh in order to fatten his own?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தன் ஊன் பெருக்கற்குத் தான் பிறிது ஊன் உண்பான்= தன் உடம்பை வீக்குதற்பொருட்டுத் தான் பிறிதோர் உயிரின் உடம்பைத் தின்பவன்; எங்ஙனம் ஆளும் அருள்= எவ்வகையான் நடத்தும் அருளினை.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar expands the verse as a question: how can compassion direct a person who eats the body of another living being in order to build up that person's own body? The contrast is intentionally bodily—one's own flesh against another creature's flesh. The Kural tests whether compassion is truly governing an ordinary appetite; it does not license contempt for people whose food choices are constrained by health, disability, poverty, culture, geography, or dependence on others.