Abstaining from Intoxicants
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
kaḷittāṉaik kāraṇaṅ kāṭṭutal kīḻnīrk / kuḷittāṉait tītturīi yaṟṟu.
To set out reasons for a man sunk in drink is like searching, torch in hand, for one who has gone down beneath the water.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Like him who, lamp in hand, would seek one sunk beneath the wave. / Is he who strives to sober drunken man with reasonings grave.”
“Behold the man who reproveth one who is intoxicated: he is like a man who searcheth torch in hand one who is immersed under water.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
களித்தானைக் காரணம் காட்டுதல்= கள்ளுண்டு களித்தான் ஒருவனை, இஃது ஆகாது என்று பிறன் ஒருவன், காரணம் காட்டித் தெளிவித்தல்; நீர்க் கீழ்க் குளித்தானைத் தீத்துரீஇயற்று= நீருள் மூழ்கினான் ஒருவனைப் பிறன் ஒருவன் விளக்கினால் நாடுதலை ஒக்கும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that when one person tries to bring clarity to a man who has drunk and become intoxicated—setting out reasons why this is not fitting—it is comparable to one person searching with a lamp for another who has plunged beneath the water. On both sides of the comparison the instrument is sound: a lamp gives light, and a reason gives clarity. But just as light does not travel to what lies under water, a reason does not reach an understanding submerged in intoxication. The commentary does not question the adviser's sincerity or the truth of what is said; it identifies only that this is not an hour in which it can arrive.