Not Offending the Great and Powerful
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eriyāṟ cuṭappaṭiṉu muyvuṇṭā muyyār / periyārp piḻaittoḻuku vār
Even one burned by fire may find a way to survive; those who live by wronging the spiritually great will not escape.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Though in the conflagration caught, he may escape from thence: / He 'scapes not who in life to great ones gives offence.”
“Even men who are caught in a conflagration may escape alive: but there is no safety for men who wrong the mighty ones.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
எரியால் சுடப்படினும் உய்வு உண்டாம்= காட்டிடைச் சென்றான் ஒருவன் ஆண்டைத் தீயாற்சுடப்பட்டான்ஆயினும் ஒருவாற்றான் உயிர் உய்தல்கூடும்; பெரியார்ப் பிழைத்து ஒழுகுவார் உய்யார்= தவத்தாற் பெரியாரைப் பிழைத்து ஒழுகுவார் எவ்வாற்றானும் உயிருய்யார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that a traveller burned by fire in a forest may somehow survive, but one who lives after wronging people made great by ascetic discipline will not survive by any means. This is an absolute warning in religious-moral language, not an empirical prediction for every case. Spiritual eminence does not exempt anyone from truthful complaint, questioning, lawful investigation, or safeguarding.