Old Tamil Poetry

Naaladiyaar – 219

Enmity is better than friendship of the fickle;
death is better than incurable sickness;
killing is better than cruel ridicule;
criticism is better than false praise.

தெளிவு இலார் நட்பின் பகை நன்று; சாதல்
விளியா அரு நோயின் நன்றால்; அளிய
இகழ்தலின் கோறல் இனிதே; மற்று இல்ல
புகழ்தலின் வைதலே நன்று.

This poem in Naaladiyaar (anthology of poems by Jain monks, dated around 2nd Century CE) is under the chapter “Choosing friends”. Enmity of the fickle minded person is better than their friendship. The next three lines imply why it is so, without explicitly stating it. My interpretation is as follows. A fickle minded friendship is like an incurable sickness. Death is preferable to that. A friend who ridicules heartlessly is worse than one who kills you. A friend who heaps false praise is worse than one who criticises.

Naaladiyaar – 161

Oh ruler of hills where waterfalls roar!
Thinking ‘he’ll bear it’, one shouldn’t upset
flawless men among us; once they’re upset,
it’s hard for anyone to set it right.

‘பொறுப்பர்’ என்று எண்ணி, புரை தீர்ந்தார் மாட்டும்
வெறுப்பன செய்யாமை வேண்டும்; வெறுத்தபின்,-
ஆர்க்கும் அருவி அணி மலை நல் நாட!-
பேர்க்குதல் யார்க்கும் அரிது.

This poem is under the chapter பெரியாரைப் பிழையாமை – ‘Not finding fault with Great men’. Just because a genius / great man bears with it, people shouldn’t upset him by their actions. Once a great man is upset, it is difficult for any one to clear the harm caused by it. Upsetting great men will cause much grief to the country. So the ruler and people should be considerate and not hurt them.

Naaladiyaar – 140

Of all available knowledge, if one learns
just worldly books and not books of wisdom-
it makes meaningless noise but is of no use
in removing confusion.

அலகுசால் கற்பின் அறிவுநூல் கல்லா(து)
உலகநூ லோதுவ தெல்லாங் – கலகல
கூஉந் துணையல்லாற் கொண்டு தடுமாற்றம்
போஒந் துணையறிவா ரில்.

This Naaladiyaar poem talks about learning for wisdom and not just for worldly purposes. Those worldly books will make much noise but are of no use in setting one on the path of righteousness and removing confusion. Since Naaladiyaar is an anthology by Jain monks after the Sangam period, it is tempting to think that they were dissing the earthliness of the previous era.

அலகு – limit, சால் – full. This phrase has been treated either as boundless knowledge or limited knowledge and the previous commentaries are all over the place. I have decided to go with ‘boundless’ – hence used ‘all’.