Eyes Worn Out with Grief
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
kaṇṭāṅ kaluḻva tevaṉkolō taṇṭānōy / tāṅkāṭṭa yāṅkaṇ ṭatu.
They themselves showed him to me, and that is the whole of how I came to know this grief that will not cool. What are these eyes weeping for now?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“They showed me him, and then my endless pain / I saw: why then should weeping eyes complain?”
“Why do my Eyes complain to me today? This inconsolable grief hath come even upon me only through their showing to me my beloved.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தண்டா நோய் யாம் கண்டது தாம் காட்ட= இத்தணியா நோயை யாம் அறிந்தது, தாம் எமக்குக் காதலரைக் காட்டலான் அன்றோ? கண்தாம் கழுல்வது எவன்கொல்= அன்று அத்தொழிலவாய கண்கள் இன்று எம்மைக் காட்டச்சொல்லி அழுகின்றது என்கருதி?
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The woman turns over how she came to know this grief that will not settle. It was her own eyes that showed her the man she loves, and Parimelazhagar's point is that everything began from there. Those same eyes did that work then. Today they weep, asking to be shown him again. What she asks is with what thought the very eyes that started the grief can now weep over it.