Divisive Hostility
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ikalkāṇā ṉākkam varuṅkā lataṉai / mikalkāṇuṅ kēṭu taraṟku.
When gain is on its way, one overlooks hostility; when bringing ruin upon oneself, one seeks to magnify it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Men think not hostile thought in fortune's favouring hour, / They cherish enmity when in misfortune's power.”
“When fortune is about to smile on a man he will ignore all provocation: but when Destiny hath decreed him ruin, he will set no bounds to his defiance of his neighbours.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
ஆக்கம் வருங்கால் இகல் காணான்= ஒருவன் தன்கண் ஆக்கம் வரும்வழிக் காரணமுண்டாயினும் இகலை நினையான்; கேடு தரற்கு அதனை மிகல் காணும்= தனக்குக் கேடு செய்துகோடற்கண் காரணம் இன்றியும் அதன்கண் மிகுதலை நினைக்கும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that when conditions for gain are present, a person does not dwell on hostility even if some occasion exists. In the opposite course—bringing ruin upon oneself—the person seeks to magnify hostility even without cause. This is not prosperity theology and does not blame people who suffer; it warns that gratuitous antagonism can deepen a decline.