Long-Standing Friendship
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viḻaitakaiyāṉ vēṇṭi yiruppar keḻutakaiyāṟ / keḷātu naṭṭār ceyiṉ.
If an established friend acts without asking through affectionate familiarity, people of discernment will welcome the act because it is genuinely desirable.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“When friends unbidden do familiar acts with loving heart, / Friends take the kindly deed in friendly part.”
“When friends rely on their intimacy and do a thing without leave, the warmhearted will think of their love and will take it in good part.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நட்டார் கெழுதகையால் கேளாது செயின்= தன் கருமத்தை நட்டார் உரிமையாற் கேளாது செய்தாராயின்; விழை தகையான் வேண்டி இருப்பர்= அச்செயலது விழையப்படுந்தன்மைபற்றி அதனை விரும்புவர் அறிவுடையார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that if an established friend acts in one’s concern without asking, through familiar liberty, the discerning welcome that act because the act itself possesses a quality worthy of desire.