Not Coveting
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naṭuviṉṟi naṉporuḷ veḵkiṉ kuṭipoṉṟik / kuṟṟamum āṅkē tarum
“With soul unjust to covet others' well-earned store, / Brings ruin to the home, to evil opes the door.”
“Behold the man who leaveth the right way and coveteth another man's wealth: his wickednesses will increase and his family will decline.”
If a man, abandoning fairness, covets another's goods, his greed ruins his own family and heaps wrongs on him at once.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நடுவு இன்றி நன் பொருள் வெஃகின் = பிறர்க்கு உரியன கோடல் நமக்கு அறன் அன்று என்னும் நடுவுநிலைமை இன்றி அவர் நன்பொருளை ஒருவன் வெஃகும் ஆயின்; குடிபொன்றிக் குற்றமும் ஆங்கே தரும் = அவ் வெஃகுதல், அவன் குடியைக் கெடச்செய்து, பல குற்றங்களையும் அப்பொழுதே அவனுக்குக் கொடுக்கும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
If, ignoring the fairness that says 'what belongs to another is not mine to take,' a person covets a neighbour's good property, that very greed ruins his own family and brings a host of faults on him at once.