Quarrelling with the Heart
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tuṉpattiṟ kiyārē tuṇaiyāvār tāmuṭaiya / ṉeñcan tuṇaiyal vaḻi.
When trouble has come, who is there who could be an ally against it, if the heart a person owns as their own is not an ally?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“And who will aid me in my hour of grief, / If my own heart comes not to my relief?”
“Who will support a man in his grief, if the Heart of his beloved itself refuseth him help?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
துன்பத்திற்கு= ஒருவர்க்குத் துன்பம் வந்துழி, அது நீக்குதற்கு; தாம் உடைய நெஞ்சம் துணையல்வழி= தாம் உரித்தாகப்பெற்ற தம்முடைய நெஞ்சம் துணையாகாவழி; துணையாவார் யாரே= வேறுதுணையாவார் ஒருவரும் இல்லை, எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
When sorrow has come to a person, and the question is the removing of it, who is there who can stand by them as an ally? When their own heart, the one thing they hold as properly theirs, does not stand as an ally, there is no one else at all who can.