Abstaining from Flesh
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tiṉaṟporuṭṭāṟ kollā tulakeṉiṉ yārum / vilaipporuṭṭā lūṉṟaruvā ril
If the world did not kill for the purpose of eating, no one would supply flesh for the purpose of receiving a price.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“'We eat the slain,' you say, by us no living creatures die; / Who'd kill and sell, I pray, if none came there the flesh to buy?”
“If the world desireth not meat for eating, there will be none to offer it for sale.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தினல்பொருட்டால் = பேதைமை காரணமாக அல்லது, ஊன் தின்கை காரணமாக; உலகு கொல்லாது எனின்= உலகம் கொல்லாதாயின்; விலைப் பொருட்டால் ஊன் தருவார் யாரும் இல்= பொருள் காரணமாக ஊன் விற்பார் யாவரும் இல்லை.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that if people did not kill because flesh is eaten, no seller would supply flesh for material gain. The verse traces a demand-and-price chain from eating to killing to commercial supply; it refuses the eater's claim that the upstream act is wholly unrelated. A modern application should preserve that responsibility without pretending one purchase changes production instantly or ignoring contracts, inventories, subsidies, worker livelihoods, food access, and institutional policy.