Not Stealing
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kaḷvārkkut taḷḷu muyirnilai kaḷḷārkkut / taḷḷātu puttē ḷulaku
For those who practise theft, even the stability of embodied life will fail; for those who do not steal, the divine world will not fail.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The fraudful forfeit life and being here below; / Who fraud eschew the bliss of heavenly beings know.”
“He that deceiveth others is not master even of his own body: but the world of the Gods itself is a never-failing inheritance unto the men that are righteous.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கள்வார்க்கு உயிர்நிலை தள்ளும்= களவினைப் பயில்வார்க்குத் தம்மின் வேறல்லாத உடம்புந் தவறும்; கள்ளார்க்குப் புத்தேள் உலகு தள்ளாது= அது செய்யாதார்க்கு நெடுஞ்சேணதாகிய புத்தேள் உலகும் தவறாது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
For people habituated to theft, even the body that seems inseparable from them will fail; for those who refrain from theft, the distant world of the gods will assuredly not fail, according to Parimelazhagar.