Sad Remembrance
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eṉaittoṉ ṟiṉitēkāṇ kāmantām vīḻvār / niṉaippa varuvatoṉ ṟil.
Love is sweet in every single way. Only think of the one you love, and out of the whole separation not one grief can reach you.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“How great is love! Behold its sweetness past belief! / Think on the lover, and the spirit knows no grief.”
“The moment I recall the image of my loved one to my mind, that very moment all my sorrow is vanquished: ah, love is dear in all its aspects!”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தாம் வீழ்வார் நினைப்ப வருவது ஒன்று இல்= தம்மால் விரும்பப்படுவாரைப் பிரிவின்கண் நினைத்தால் அந்நினைவார்க்கு அப்பிரிவான் வருவதோர் துன்பம் இல்லையாம்; காமம் எனைத்து இனிது ஒன்றேகாண்= அதனாற் காமம் எத்துணையும் இனிதுஒன்றேகாண், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads the couplet as a single observation about separation. Think, in the parting, of the one you love, and of all the grief the parting could otherwise bring, not one grief reaches the person who is thinking. Separation is a thing that arrives loaded with sorrows; the act of remembering, he says, turns every one of them away. That is why the verse can call love sweet in every respect — not merely more sweet than sour, but yielding joy without letting a single trouble through.