Non-Killing
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kolaiviṉaiya rākiya mākkaḷ pulaiviṉaiyar / puṉmai terivā rakattu
People whose occupation is killing are regarded as workers in a degraded trade in the minds of those who understand its baseness.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Whose trade is 'killing', always vile they show, / To minds of them who what is vileness know.”
“Those who live by slaying are likened by the discriminating to eaters of carrion.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கொலை வினையர் ஆகிய மாக்கள்= கொலைத்தொழிலை யுடையராகிய மாந்தர்; புன்மை தெரிவார் அகத்துப் புலை வினையர்= அத்தொழிலின் கீழ்மையை அறியாத நெஞ்சத்தர் ஆயினும், அறிவார் நெஞ்சத்துப் புலைத்தொழிலினர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says people engaged in killing work are judged practitioners of a despised occupation by those who perceive its baseness. The source's language carries occupational and caste degradation; preserve its condemnation of killing while refusing hereditary stigma, dehumanization, harassment, or blame toward workers constrained by poverty, coercion, military systems, or state policy.