Harmful Friendship
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amarakat tāṟṟaṟukkuṅ kallāmā vaṉṉār / tamariṟ ṟaṉimai talai.
Solitude is better than companions like an untrained horse that cuts off its support and throws its rider in the midst of battle.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“A steed untrained will leave you in the tug of war; / Than friends like that to dwell alone is better far.”
“There are men who are like the unbroken horse which throweth down its rider on the battlefield and gallopeth away: it is far better to be lonely than to have such men for friends.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
அமரகத்து ஆற்றறுக்கும் கல்லா மா அன்னார் தமரின் = அமர் வாராத போதெல்லாம் தாங்குவது போன்று, வந்துழிக் களத்திடை வீழ்த்துப்போம் கல்வியிலலாத புரவிபோல்வாரது தமர்மையில்; தனிமை தலை = தனிமை சிறப்புடைத்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that solitude is better than the company of people like an untrained horse that seems to carry its rider whenever battle is absent, but throws the rider and flees when battle actually comes.