The Wealth of Children
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magaṉ tandaikku āṟṟum udavi ivaṉ tandai / eṉ nōṟṟāṉ kol eṉum sol
In its father-son frame, the child's finest return is to live with such understanding and conduct that people wonder what merit the parent earned to receive such a child. This is praise, not a debt children must repay.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“To sire, what best requital can by grateful child be done? To make men say, 'What merit gained the father such a son?'”
“What is the duty of the son to his father? It is to make the world ask, For what austerities of his hath he been blessed with such a son?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தந்தைக்கு மகன் ஆற்றும் உதவி = கல்வியுடையனாக்கிய தந்தைக்கு மகன் செய்யும் கைம்மாறாவது; இவன்தந்தை என் நோற்றான்கொல் எனும் சொல் = தன் அறிவும் ஒழுக்கமுங் கண்டார், இவன் தந்தை இவனைப் பெறுதற்கு என்ன தவஞ் செய்தான்கொல்லோ என்று சொல்லுஞ் சொல்லை நிகழ்த்துதல். (இதனாற் புதல்வன் கடன் கூறப்பட்டது.)
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The repayment a child owes the parent who raised and taught them is this: to live so well that people, seeing the child's wisdom and good conduct, ask, 'What good did this one's parent do, to be blessed with such a child?' A child's finest return is to make the parent honoured through their own worth.