Noble Excellence
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
iṉṉācey tārkku miṉiyavē ceyyākkā / leṉṉa payattatō cālpu.
If pleasant things are not done even for those who did painful ones, what use was this fullness of character? — and the commentary makes the question narrower by asking what other use it had.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“What fruit doth your perfection yield you, say! / Unless to men who work you ill good repay?”
“Where is the superiority of the worthy man if he doth not do good even unto those that work him injury?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
இன்னா செய்தார்க்கும் இனியவே செய்யாக்கால்= தமக்கு இன்னாதவற்றைச் செய்தார்க்கும் சால்புடையார் இனியவற்றைச் செய்யாராயின்; சால்பு என்ன பயத்தது= அச்சால்பு வேறு என்ன பயனை உடைத்து?
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar glosses both halves directly and adds a single word. The first he expands as: if those possessed of fullness of character do not do pleasant things even for those who did them painful ones. The second he closes as: what other use has that fullness? The addition is the one word other, and it changes the question, since asking what use a thing has is open whereas asking what other use it has has already removed one.