Sulking
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nōta levaṉmaṟṟu nontāreṉ ṟaḵtaṟiyuṅ / kātala rillā vaḻi.
What does the suffering get anybody, when the loving one who would know 'this was borne for my sake' is not to be had?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“What good can grieving do, when none who love / Are there to know the grief thy soul endures?”
“Of what avail is my grieving when there is no loving one nigh to see how much I suffer?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நொந்தார் என்று அஃது அறியும் காதலர் இல்லாவழி= இவர் நம்பொருட்டாக நொந்தார் என்று, அந்நோவினை அறியும் அன்பு உடையாரைப் பெறாவழி; நோதல் மற்று எவன்= ஒருவர் நோகின்றதனால் பயன் என், எ-று.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar supplies one phrase, and the whole couplet turns on it. Where the Tamil has only அஃது, 'that', he writes இவர் நம்பொருட்டாக நொந்தார் என்று — 'that this person suffered for our sake'. What has to be known, on his reading, is not merely that there is pain but on whose account it was undergone. Second, he glosses காதலர் as அன்பு உடையார், those who possess love: he names a quality, not a relationship. Third, he replaces இல்லாவழி with பெறாவழி, 'where such a person is not obtained' — the claim is about what this sufferer does not have, not about what the world does not contain. Finally he opens எவன் as பயன் என், 'what is the benefit'. He does not ask why anybody grieves. He asks what the grieving gets.