Intrepidity in the Face of Misfortune
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ilakka muṭampiṭumpaik keṉṟu kalakkattaik / kaiyāṟāk koḷḷātā mēl.
Knowing that embodied life is exposed to pain, the discerning do not make panic their only response when hardship arrives.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“'Man's frame is sorrow's target', the noble mind reflects, / Nor meets with troubled mind the sorrows it expects.”
“The wise know that the body is a target unto misfortune: and so they worry themselves not when they meet with a calamity.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
உடம்பு இடும்பைக்கு இலக்கம் என்று= நாற்கதியினும் உள்ள உடம்புகள் இடும்பை என்னும் வாளுக்கு இலக்கு என்று தெளிந்து; கலக்கத்தைக் கையாறாக் கொள்ளாதாம் மேல்= தம்மேல் வந்த இடும்பையை இடும்பையாகக் கொள்ளார் அறிவுடையார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that the discerning recognise the body as a target exposed to the sword of pain. When suffering arrives, they therefore do not adopt agitation as their helpless default. This is not neglect of pain: it means recognising bodily harm and seeking treatment, safety, rest, and support without letting panic become the only response.