Abstaining from Flesh
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ceyiriṉ talaippirinta kāṭciyār uṇṇār / uyiriṉ talaippirinta ūṉ
Those whose discernment is freed from the fault of delusion do not eat flesh separated from life.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Whose souls the vision pure and passionless perceive, / Eat not the bodies men of life bereave.”
“Behold the men who have escaped from the bonds of illusion and ignorance: they eat not the flesh from which life hath flown out.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
செயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த காட்சியார்= மயக்கம் ஆகிய குற்றத்தின் நீங்கிய அறிவினை உடையார்; உயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த ஊன் உண்ணார்= ஓர் உயிரின் நீங்கி வந்த ஊனை உண்ணார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains two linked separations. `செயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த காட்சியார்` are people whose discernment has separated from the fault called delusion; they do not eat `உயிரின் தலைப்பிரிந்த ஊன்`, flesh that has come away from a living being. The parallel is ethical and conceptual, not proof that a diet makes every judgment infallible or that anyone who has eaten flesh lacks intelligence in every domain.