Rejoicing in the Embrace
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piṇikku maruntu piṟama ṉaṇiyiḻai / taṉṉōykkut tāṉē maruntu.
Every other ache has a cure that is something other than itself; this one does not. The person who causes the longing is the only thing that ends it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Disease and medicine antagonists we surely see; / This maid, to pain she gives, herself is remedy.”
“The cure of all disease lieth in some other thing than that which causeth it: but the pang that this damsel causeth, she alone can heal.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பிணிக்கு மருந்து பிற மன்= வாத முதலிய பிணிகட்கு மருந்தாவன அவற்றிற்கு நிதானமாயினவன்றி மாறாய இயல்பினை உடையனவாம்; அணியிழை தன் நோய்க்குத் மருந்து தானே= அவ்வாறன்றி இவ்வணியிழையினை உடையாள் தன்னின் ஆய பிணிக்கு மருந்தும் தானே ஆயினாள்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
What serves as medicine for illnesses such as rheumatism is never of the same nature as the illness itself; the remedy is always of an opposite nature to the cause. But for the sickness that arises from this woman of bright ornaments, this same woman became the medicine as well, explains Parimelazhagar.