Abstaining from Intoxicants
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
uṇṇaṟka kaḷḷai yuṇiluṇka cāṉṟōrā / ṉeṇṇap paṭavēṇṭā tār.
Do not drink intoxicating liquor. If people insist on drinking, let them be those who do not wish to be held in the esteem of discerning people.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Drink not inebriating draught. Let him count well the cost. / Who drinks, by drinking, all good men's esteem is lost.”
“Let none drink: but if they desire, let those men drink who care not for the esteem of worthy men.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கள்ளை உண்ணற்க= அறிவுடையராயினார் அஃதிலர் ஆதற்கு ஏதுவாய கள்ளினை உண்ணாதுஒழிக; உணில் சான்றோரான் எண்ணப்பட வேண்டாதார் உண்க= அன்றியே உண்ணல்வேண்டுவார் உளராயின், நல்லோரால் எண்ணப்படுதலை வேண்டாதார் உண்க.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads ‘do not drink liquor’ as an instruction to knowledgeable people not to consume what can make knowledge absent. ‘If one drinks, drink’ is not safe-use permission. It is a sharp conditional concession: if people insist on drinking, let them be those who do not want to be considered by the good. The worthy are not merely the popular; their regard is grounded in discernment. This classical condemnation must not become an identity label, amateur diagnosis, forced disclosure, or shame presented as treatment. Immediate safety and appropriate confidential support remain humane modern responses.