Chapters 109 to 120

The Tirukkural: Getting close to the original In Spirit, Content and Style The 'choicest' of all translations in English First edition in 2006; revised edition in 2024 This Tirukkural translation in English is drawn from translations by more than 25 different authors - mostly published in print, some unpublished and some in press. Twenty of these were either complete or partial translations and the remaining ten were isolated translations that appeared in articles, monographs and books authored by different scholars on the Tirukkural and Tiruvalluvar. The choicest translation of every couplet that is close to the original - in spirit, content and style - has been chosen for presentation. Preference has been given for brevity, simplicity and clarity. Emphasize was also laid on translations that manage to reflect, as much as possible, every word found in the original.  Sometimes translations of two authors were combined to produce the best reflection of the original. The translator or translators of every couplet have been acknowledged with their initials (eg. PS, SS, SB, VS, RM etc.) in a separate column. The initials have been expanded with the names of these translators at the end of every page, and the full citation of the source has been given at the end of all translations. When no translation was found particularly satisfactory, I chose to render them myself. These have been marked by initial NV. An astrix (*) at the end of a translation indicate that the rendering has been improved upon, either by adding/replacing words or deleting words found to be unnecessary. To know more on the process of this comparison and criteria of selection, click here: ComparingTirukkural translations to unfold the best.

Division III. Love

109	Fascination	Translators	Notes
1081	"A goddess, a rare peahen or a woman Decked with jewels?" My heart is amazed! *	PS
1082	She returns my look with looks that strike Like darts of an armed angel.	NV, KV
1083	I never knew yama before, but now I realize That it is feminine and has warring eyes. *	KK
1084	She may have that feminine grace But her look sucks life out of men who gaze. *	NV, SB
1085	Is it death's dart, or eye's beams, or fawn's glance? Her look has all these three. *	GU
1086	It’s only when her callous eyebrows bend and veil her eyes That my heart’s flutters cease. *	SI
1087	Like the veil over the face of a rutting elephant Is the vest that veils her buxom breasts.	SB, NV
1088	Ah, there goes all my might which foes dread in fight, When I face her brows beaming bright!	KV, GU
1089	What use are jewels to a damsel Adorned with modesty and meek looks of a hind? *	DL
1090	Wine delights only when imbibed, But never at mere look like love! *	VS, PS	Yes

Notes:
1090. Compare with 1201: “Love is sweeter than wine; its mere thought intoxicates” - PS and with also 1281: “To please with the thought and delight with the sight, belongs not to liquor but love” - PS

110	Reading hints	Translators	Notes
1091	Her painted eyes have a double effect: One glance brings pain and the other cures.	NV
1092	A single sneaky glance of her eyes Is more than half the pleasure of love. *	DL
1093	She looked, and dropped her head, And so watered the plant of love.	PS
1094	When I look, she looks to the ground. When I don't, she looks and gently smiles! *	PS
1095	Without looking straight, She passes a slanting glance and smiles. *	KK
1096	They may speak like strangers, but the words Will soon reveal their intimacy.	NV	Yes
1097	Words that look unfriendly and looks that look offending Are signs of love in disguise.	DZ, MS
1098	Her gentle smile to my pleading look Adds beauty to her gentle nature. *	PS, MS
1099	To look at each other as if they were strangers Belongs to lovers alone.	PS
1100	When eyes with eyes commingle, What do words avail?	PS

Notes:
1096. Compare with 1099 for similar ideas. 

111	Bliss of union	Translators	Notes
1101	In her alone, my jewel, can I find the five senses of Sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. *	PS
1102	The cure for a disease is always different. But this jewel is both disease and cure.	DL, PS	Yes
1103	Is heaven sweeter than slumbering On the soft shoulders of the women you love?	SM
1104	Whence did she get the fire Which burns when far, and cools when near?	PS	Yes
1105	Her flower-decked shoulders Give me whatever I need, then and there.	MS, PS
1106	Her shoulders must verily be nectar For they refresh my life whenever I touch. *	KV
1107	Like sharing one’s food at one’s own home Is the embrace of this fair maid. *	KK
1108	Sweet indeed is that embrace Wherein not a breath comes between.	PS
1109	To fall out, make up, and unite again are the gains Reaped by those obsessed with love. *	PS, DL
1110	The more you indulge, the more you realize your ignorance. Be it love or learning.	NV

Notes:
1102. Compare with 1275. “The trickery caused by the braceleted one carries the medicine to cure my ills as well” * - KV
1104. Compare with 1159. “Can fire, which hurts when touched, hurt like the passion of love even untouched?” - NV

112	Expressing her charms	Translators	Notes
1111	Hail thee, aniccham, the soft flower! The damsel I dote is softer than thee! *	JN
1112	O heart, why get distracted seeing common flowers And match them with her eyes! *	PS, VS
1113	She has a slender frame, pearly smile, fragrant breath, Lancet eyes and bamboo shoulders. *	KK, JN
1114	Unable to match the eyes of this jewel, Lilies droop down earthwards in shame.	KK, KV
1115	The solemn drums will blare if her waist is crushed By the aniccham she wore with its stalk. *	JN	Yes
1116	The perplexed stars are all over the place, Unable to tell the moon from her face.	NV, PS
1117	Are there spots on my love’s face Like the spots on the shining moon?	NV, SB	Yes
1118	Hail O moon! If you could also shine as my love’s face, You too I shall love. *	PS
1119	O moon, if you imitate my flower-eyed jewel’s face, Stop revealing thyself to all.	NV
1120	Even aniccham flower and swan's down Are as nerunji fruit to my maidens’ feet. *	VS	Yes

Notes:
1115. aniccham – a flower known for its delicate nature. The idea here is that a woman’s waist is so delicate that it can’t even bear the weight of a delicate flower like aniccham if it is worn without removing its stalk.
1117. This couplet may look simple but has been translated differently. The word “அறுவாய்” has been usually taken to mean “variable, changing or inconstant” [PS, SB] and thereby interpreted by many as “waning and waxing moon” [JN, KK, GU, MS]. However, the very next word “நிறைந்த” [which means “filled with”] clearly implies that this word means the ‘spots or craters’ on the moon [“அறு” can mean “break, crack, split” and “வாய்” “mouth”].  Though the couplets in Kural are usually discrete and independent of each other, there are occasions – especially in division “LOVE” – where the succeeding ones appear in sequence [chapter 132 is a fine example]. Here it appears that the preceding couplet 1116 compares the lady’s face to the moon, with even the stars being unable to differentiate the two. This couplet takes the love’s face a step further and attempts to differentiate the two. Perhaps this is what is implied here: “Even the shining moon has spots of craters, but none on my love’s face”.  Commentator Manakkudavar’s gives a fitting explanation. He says: “இவள் முகத்து மறுவில்லை யாதலான், அது மதியோடு ஒவ்வாது என்று கூறியது”.
1120. Simply, it means: “Even flower petals and down feathers are prickly to my damsel’s feet”. Flower aniccham is known for its softness and the fruit nerunji for its thorns.

113	Excellence of love	Translators	Notes
He
1121	Like a mixture of milk and honey, Is the drool that drips through her pearly teeth.	NV
1122	The bond between me and this damsel Is like the union of body and soul. *	DL
1123	O pupil of my eye! Be gone, For there is no place for the maiden I love. *	MS
1124	Life is lively when she is around, But dreadful when she leaves.	NV	Yes
1125	Recollection is needed if only I forget. How can I forget her dazzling warring eyes!	NV
She
1126	So subtle is my lover’s form that he neither leaves my eyes Nor is he hurt when I wink. *	SB, VS
1127	I will not paint my eyes and so lose Even for a trice the sight of my love.	PS
1128	I dare not swallow anything hot Lest it hurt my lover within me!	PS
1129	My eyes don’t close for fear of losing him. Seeing this, folks blame him for desertion.	NV
1130	He dwells gladly forever in my heart. And the folks say he is loveless and has left me. *	PS

Notes:
1124. Other ways of translating this couplet: “She brings life to my life when together, but death when she leaves” – NV. “Being with my love is life, separation from her death” * - PS

114	Abandonment of reserve	Translators	Notes
1131	Those that enjoyed love and now mourn in affliction Have nothing but the madal for strength.	GU, PS
1132	Away with shame! Soul and body can bear no more, And will mount the madal.	PS
1133	Modesty and manliness once I owned, But now only the madal ridden by the lustful. *	DL
1134	Alas, the raft of modesty and manliness is swept away By the rushing tide of lust!	DL, GU
1135	The maiden with her armlets of garland Gave me the madal and the pangs of eventide. *	MS, SB
1136	Even at midnight I think of riding the madal, Unable to close my eyes because of her. *	PS, NV
1137	Nothing grandeur than women! Their love may rage like sea, Yet don’t mount the madal!	NV
1138	Pitiless love with no regard for modesty, Betrays itself to reveal the secrets public. *	SM, PS
1139	Perplexed is my passion that it roves in public With complaints of being unnoticed. *	JN, NV
1140	Fools laugh so as to be seen by us, Not having endured what we have.	DL, PS

Notes:
1131, 1132, 1133, 1135, 1136, 1137. madal [மடல்]: In the Tamil literary convention, a disappointed lover mounts a hobby horse made of dried palmyra leaves and has it dragged along the streets while he proclaims his intention to die if his lady-love continues to disappoint him. 

115	Spreading romours	Translators	Notes
1141	Rumours revive hope; Those that spread them Luckily don't know this.	PS
1142	Rumours have gifted me this flowery-eyed belle; The public know not her preciousness. *	JN
1143	Should I not welcome their rumours Which give that feel of owning whom I own not?	PS, NV
1144	Rumours enhance my love which might have Otherwise waned losing its power. *	KV
1145	Wine delights with every sip. So does love with every disclosure.	NV
1146	Our meeting was but for a day, but the outcry is As if a serpent has swallowed the moon. *	VS	Yes
1147	The village gossip manures my love, And my mother's reproaches water it.	PS
1148	To suppress love with scandal Is to put fire out with ghee!	PS
1149	He who said “fear not” has flared up rumour. Why then should I blush for this outcry? *	SB
1150	This village gossip is what we desire, For it serves the desire of my lover. *	NV, PS

Notes:
1146. In ancient India, a lunar eclipse was considered the outcome of a serpent swallowing the moon. An alternate translation would be: “An eclipse is much noised however brief. So my one day's meeting with my love” - PS. We see this belief being mentioned in other texts. For instance by Chanakya in Rajaniti-Sastra: “Brave men do not become sad when they beget trouble. Does not the moon which enters the dragon’s mouth come out again?” Tirumoolar uses this belief to good effect to depict upsurge of Kundalini: “The Kundalini serpent consumes kalas of Moon, the Fire consumes kalas of Sun……” [Tirumandiram 871].

116	Sufferings of separation	Translators	Notes
1151	Tell me if you are not leaving. Bid farewell to those Who can survive to see your return.	NV	Yes
1152	His mere look was once a delight; but now Even his embrace saddens, fearing separation. *	VS
1153	How hard it is to trust when even he who knows Breaks his word and goes!	PS
1154	How can I be blamed for trusting one Who left me after assuring “fear not”? *	KK
1155	If you would serve me, stop him going. Gone we shall not meet again.	PS
1156	When he is stubborn to announce separation, It is futile to hope for reunion. *	JN
1157	Do not the bangles sliding down my arms Forebode the departure of my lord? *	DL	Yes
1158	It is bitter to live among strangers. Bitter still is to part with one's love. *	PS
1159	Can fire, which hurts when touched, Hurt like the passion of love even untouched?	NV	Yes
1160	Strange how many can bear separation, Survive sorrow, and live!	PS

Notes:
1151. Another way of putting it: “What use is telling me of your departure? Inform that to those who survive to see your return”- NV]
1157. A convention in ancient Tamil poetry was that separation from her lover makes a woman’s hands thin and her bangles loose [Sundaram, 1989]. The idea is repeated in couplet 1277.
1159. Compare with 1104. “Whence did she get the fire which burns when far, and cools when near?” - PS

117	Love sickness	Translators	Notes
1161	I would hide this sickness, but it wells up Like water drawn from a spring. *	PS
1162	Hide this sickness, I cannot. To tell him who caused it, I am ashamed.	PS
1163	Love and shame hang poised on my life. My body unable to bear them.	PS
1164	There is indeed a flood of lust; But no safe raft to swim across it. *	DL
1165	If his friendship can bring so much misery, How will it be in enmity? *	GV, PS	Yes
1166	The pleasure of love is as vast as the sea. Vaster still is the sorrow of its hurt.	NV
1167	Whirling in the stormy sea of love, I find no shore; Even at midnight I am alone.	KK, PS
1168	Poor night, putting all things to sleep, Has only me for company.	PS
1169	Even crueler than my cruel lord Are the long nights of these days. *	PS
1170	If eyes could also reach him like the heart, They won’t be swimming in a flood of tears.	NV	Yes

Notes:
1165: An explanatory translation: “If in friendship he can hurt so much, imagine the fate when there is trouble?” - KK. Also compare with 1207:  “What will happen if I forget him, when his memory itself burns my heart?” * - SB
1170. Compare with 1244. “Rid me of these eyes, O my heart! For they, longing to see him, wear my life away” - GU

118	Languishing eyes	Translators	Notes
1171	Why the same eyes that showed him to me And caused this fever, now cry in anguish?	NV	Yes
1172	Why do these eyes, once thoughtlessly looked at him, Now not repent but grieve?	PS, NV
1173	Funny the very same eyes that once Eagerly looked at him are now in tears!	NV
1174	Having driven me to this incurable fever, My eyes have dried up, drained of all tears. *	SI
1175	My eyes plunged me in a raging sea of love And for this must suffer sleepless pain. *	PS
1176	How nice! The eyes that caused this torment Are themselves tormented. *	PS
1177	Let tears dry up pining and pining in the eyes That eyed him longing and longing.	SB
1178	He made love with words, not with heart. Yet my eyes pine, seeing him not. *	SB, PS
1179	Sleepless when he is not here, sleepless when he is, Either way my eyes never rest.	PS	Yes
1180	With eyes that drum up and declare my grief, It is hard to conceal secrets from these folks! *	JN

Notes:
1171. An interesting alternate translation, but not close to the original: “My eyes only showed him and filled me with passion. Why now filled with tears?” * - KV
1178. Compare with 1283. Five of the seven seers (metrical feet) between these two couplets are same! “Let him neglect me and do what he will. My eyes will not rest till they see him”
1179. Compare with 1295 for style and word play. “Anxious of not getting and of losing when got, either way my heart is always anxious” - NV, PS

119	The hues of pallor	Translators	Notes
1181	Having agreed to part my love, How can I complain of my pallor to others? *	SB, SI	Yes
1182	Claiming that it begot through him, Pallor creeps over my body with pride. *	SB
1183	He robbed me first of my beauty and shame, And gave in exchange sickness and pallor.	PS
1184	His words I recollect and prowess I chant. Yet, how does pallor sneak in?	DZ, PS
1185	There goes my lover and here comes the pallor To creep over my body. *	KV
1186	Darkness lies in wait for the lamp to go out, And pallor for the embrace to break.	PS
1187	Locked in embrace, I turned a little. Seizing that moment, pallor seized me in full. *	PS, JN
1188	"Pallid has she become” blame everyone, But none say “He parted her”.	NV
1189	If my lord who left me remains free of guilt, My pallor is worth all the grief. *	DL, DZ
1190	I don’t mind being called pallid, so long as They don’t blame him for causing it. *	SI, SB

Notes:
1181. An alternate translation, but not close to the original is given by PS. “I agreed to part and so have lost the right to complain of my pallor”.

120	Torture of loneliness	Translators	Notes
1191	Only those blessed with the love of being loved Are blessed with the seedless fruit of love. *	JN, SI
1192	Like the heavenly showers to living men Is the blessing of grace by lovers to their beloved. *	GU
1193	They alone can have the pride of living together Who are loved by their beloved. *	VS
1194	Even if loved by others, they are luckless Unless loved by those they love. *	PS
1195	What more can I expect of my lord If he does not love me as much as I love him?	KV
1196	One-sided love pains like lopsided kavadi. It is sweet only when shared by both sides.	NV	Yes
1197	Can't the god of Love, lodged in me alone Causing distress, see my pallor and pain? *	PS
1198	Hard is the heart that can survive this world Without a word of love from the beloved. *	PS
1199	Though my beloved bestows nothing, Still any news about him is sweet to my ears. *	DL
1200	O heart, why pour your concerns to the unconcerned? As well dump into the sea! *	SI, NV	Yes

Notes:
1196. The word “kaavadi” [காவடி, appearing as “கா” in Kural] refers to the shoulder pole used to carry heavy articles on either side.
1200. There are differing renderings of this couplet. The word “உறார்க்கு” is sometimes taken to mean “strangers or people” and the word “செறாய்” to mean “not to be angry or furious”.  

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Key to the initials of different translators:

CR - C. Rajagopalachari	KS - Kasthuri Sreenivasan	SI - K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar
DL -W.H. Drew and  J. Lazarus	KV - K. Krishnaswamy & Vijaya Ramkumar	SM -S. Maharajan
DZ - S.M. Diaz	MS - M.S. Poornalingam Pillai	SS - Satguru  Subramuniyaswami
EL - F.W. Ellis	NC - Norman Cutler	TD - S. Thandapani Desikar
GU - G.U. Pope	NV - N.V.K. Ashraf	TK - T.K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar
GV - G. Vanmikanathan	PS - P.S. Sundaram	VC - V.C. Kulandai Swamy
JN - J. Narayanaswamy	SB - Shuddhananda Bharatiar	VR  - V. Ramasamy
KK - K. Kannan	SD - S.D. Rajendran	VS - V.V.S. Aiyar
KN - K.N. Subramanyam	SG - G. Siromoney, S. Govindaraju & M. Chandrasekaran,

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