Impermanence
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kūttāṭṭavaik kuḻāt taṟṟē peruñcelvam / pōkku matuviḷin taṟṟu
Great wealth gathers like a crowd at a performance; its departure is like that crowd dispersing when the show ends.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As crowds round dancers fill the hall, is wealth's increase; / Its loss, as throngs dispersing, when the dances cease.”
“The crowd that assembleth to witness a village show, that is the symbol of great riches flowing on a man: and the dispersal of that same crowd is the type of its passing away.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பெருஞ்செல்வம் கூத்தாட்டு அவை குழாத்தற்று= ஒருவன்மாட்டுப் பெரியசெல்வம் வருதல் கூத்தாடுதல் செய்கின்ற அரங்கின்கட் காண்போர்குழாம் வந்தாற்போலும்; போக்கும் அது விளிந்துஅற்று= அதனது போக்கும் அக்கூத்தாட்டு முடிந்தவழி அக்குழாம் போயினாற் போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar compares the arrival of great wealth to spectators gathering in a theatre and its departure to their dispersal once the performance is over. The image concerns movement and impermanence, not a moral verdict on every wealthy person.