Harmful Friendship
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uṟuvatu cīrtūkku naṭpum peṟuvatu / koḷvāruṅ kaḷvaru nēr.
Friendship weighed only by what may be obtained is, in that instrumental method, like the historical paid-sex exchange focused on payment and like theft watching only for opportunity.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“These are alike: the friends who ponder friendship's gain / Those who accept whate'er you give, and all the plundering train.”
“Behold the men that calculate how much they can gain by a friend: they are of the same class with harlots and thieves.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
உறுவது சீர்தூக்கும் நட்பும்= நட்பளவு பாராது அதனால்வரும் பயனளவு பார்க்கும் நட்டாரும்; பெறுவது கொள்வாரும்= கொடுப்பாரைக் கொள்ளாது விலையைக் கொள்ளும் பொதுமகளிரும்; கள்வரும்= பிறர் கேடுநோக்காது அவர் சோர்வு நோக்கும் கள்வரும்; நேர்= தம்முள் ஒப்பர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar compares friends who ignore the measure of friendship and look only to its gain with the explicitly historical analogy of paid sexual exchange focused on payment rather than the giver, and with thieves watching opportunity without regard for another’s harm. The likeness is limited to instrumental extraction, not human worth.