Divisive Hostility
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ikalāṉā miṉṉāta vellā nakalāṉā / naṉṉaya meṉṉuñ cerukku.
From hostility arise all forms of pain; from fellowship arises the great wealth called good justice.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“From enmity do all afflictive evils flow; / But friendliness doth wealth of kindly good bestow.”
“From defiance springeth all that is bitter: but good will yieldeth the glorious fruit of peace and harmony.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இகலான் இன்னாத எல்லாம் ஆம்= ஒருவனுக்கு மாறுபாடு ஒன்றானே இன்னாதன எல்லாம் உளவாம்; நகலான் நன்னயம் என்னும் செருக்கு ஆம்= நட்பு ஒன்றானே நல்லநீதி என்னும் பெருஞ்செல்வம் உளதாம்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that hostility alone can give rise to every kind of pain. Friendship, by contrast, produces the great wealth called good justice. Here fellowship need not mean forced closeness or concealing wrongdoing; it is the constructive social relation through which people can deal fairly.