Truthfulness
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vāymai yeṉappaṭuva tiyāteṉiṉ yātoṉṟun / tīmai yilāta colal
What is truthfulness? It is speech that brings no harm at all to another life.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“You ask, in lips of men what 'truth' may be; / 'Tis speech from every taint of evil free.”
“What is truthfulness? It is the speaking of that which is free from even the slightest taint of evil.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
வாய்மை எனப்படுவது யாது எனின்= மெய்ம்மை என்று சிறப்பித்துச் சொல்லப்படுவதுயாதென்று வினவின்; தீமை யாது ஒன்றும் இலாத சொலல்= அது பிறிதோர் உயிர்க்குத் தீங்கு சிறிதும் பயவாத சொற்களைச் சொல்லுதல்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains truthfulness as speaking words that cause not even the slightest harm to another life.
This verse is in tension
Even false words belong with true ones, if what they produce is a good — for someone else — with no flaw in it.
A spy takes the appearance of one who has renounced, enters and searches places closed to others, and reveals nothing whatever is done to him.
AI draft · pending scholar review