Non-Killing
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uyiruṭampi ṉīkkiyāreṉpa ceyiruṭampiṟ / cellāttī vāḻkkai yavar
Those living in diseased bodies and in an abject life of poverty are said by interpreters of karma to be people who removed lives from bodies in a former birth.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Who lead a loathed life in bodies sorely pained, / Are men, the wise declare, by guilt of slaughter stained.”
“Behold the man whose putrid body is festering with ulcerous sores: he must have been a shedder of blood in the past, say the wise.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
செயிர் உடம்பின் செல்லாத் தீவாழ்க்கையவர்= நோக்கலாகா நோய்உடம்புடனே வறுமைகூர்ந்த இழிதொழில் வாழ்க்கையினை உடையாரை; உயிர் உடம்பின் நீக்கியார் என்ப= இவர் முற்பிறப்பின்கண் உயிர்களை அவை நின்றவுடம்பினின்று நீக்கினவர் என்று சொல்லுவார் வினை விளைவுகளை அறிந்தோர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar records a karmic explanation: people with severe disease and degrading poverty are said by knowers of karmic effects to have killed in a former life. This claim must remain attributed, not asserted as evidence; illness, disability, disfigurement, pain, poverty, or stigmatized work never proves past guilt and must never reduce care, rights, or dignity.