Gambling
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vēṇṭaṟka veṉṟiṭiṉuñ cūtiṉai veṉṟatūun / tūṇṭiṟpoṉ mīṉviḻuṅki yaṟṟu.
Do not desire gambling, even if you can win. What you won is the fish swallowing the hook's metal, taking it for food.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Seek not the gamester's play; though you should win, / Your gain is as the baited hook the fish takes in.”
“Take not to gambling even if thou win: for thy wins are even as the baited hook that the fish swalloweth.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
வென்றிடினும் சூதினை வேண்டற்க= தான் வெல்லும் ஆற்றல் உடையனாயினும் சூதாடலை விரும்பாதொழிக; வென்றதூஉம் தூண்டில் பொன் மீன்விழுங்கியற்று= வென்ற பொருள் எய்துவார் உளராலெனின், அவ்வென்ற பொருள்தானும் இரையான் மறைந்த தூண்டில் இரும்பினை இரையெனக் கருதி மீன் விழுங்கினாற் போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that even a man who has the ability to win should give up wanting to gamble. If it is objected that some people do obtain what they win, the answer is that the winnings themselves are like a fish swallowing the iron of a hook concealed by bait, taking it for food. The commentary does not deny that winning happens; it locates the hook inside the winning. The fish is not being careless — bait and iron present themselves to it as a single object, and there is no way to take the one without the other.