Abstaining from Flesh
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avicorin tāyiram vēṭṭali ṉoṉṟa / ṉuyircekut tuṇṇāmai naṉṟu
Better than pouring offerings into fire and performing a thousand sacrifices is refusing to eat flesh obtained by taking even one creature's life.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Than thousand rich oblations, with libations rare, / Better the flesh of slaughtered beings not to share.”
“To abstain from the killing and eating of living things is better than to perform a thousand sacrifices in the sacrificial fire.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
அவி சொரிந்து ஆயிரம் வேட்டலின்= தீயின்கண் நெய் முதலிய அவிகளைச் சொரிந்து ஆயிரம் வேள்வி வேட்டலினும்; ஒன்றன் உயிர் செகுத்து உண்ணாமை நன்று= ஒருவிலங்கின் உயிரைப் போக்கி அது நின்ற ஊனை உண்ணாமை நன்று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains the comparison as follows: pouring ghee and other offerings into fire and performing a thousand sacrificial rites is outweighed by not eating the flesh left after one animal's life has been taken. The verse ranks direct ethical restraint above ceremonial quantity. It addresses sacrificial offering in its source context; it should not be expanded into contempt for every religious practice, practitioner, feast, donation, or form of collective celebration.