The Way of Acquiring Wealth
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illārai yellāru meḷḷuvar celvarai / yellāruñ ceyvar ciṟappu.
People of every relation may despise those without wealth and defer to those who possess it—a diagnosis of biased social treatment, not a measure of human worth.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Those who have nought all will despise; / All raise the wealthy to the skies.”
“The indigent are decried by all: but everyone exalteth the man of substance.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
உயரச்செய்தல்= தாம் தாழ்ந்து நிற்றல். இகழ்தற்கண்ணும் தாழ்தற்கண்ணும் பகைவர், நட்டார், நொதுமலர் என்னும் மூவகையாரும் ஒத்தலின், யாவரும் என்றார். பின்னும் கூறியது, அதனை வலியுறுத்தல் பொருட்டு.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says enemies, friends, and neutral people alike may join both in despising those without wealth and in lowering themselves before the wealthy. The repeated “everyone” intensifies this social diagnosis; it does not endorse the bias.