Not Offending the Great and Powerful
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kuṉṟaṉṉār kuṉṟa matippiṟ kuṭiyoṭu / niṉṟaṉṉār māyvar nilattu.
“If they, whose virtues like a mountain rise, are light esteemed; / They die from earth who, with their households, ever-during seemed.”
“Behold the princes who look as if they are established on an everlasting foundation: even they will perish with all their kin if men who are mighty as the mountain but will their doom.”
If those who stand like mountains resolve to bring someone low, even those firmly rooted on earth will perish with their whole lineage.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
குன்றன்னார் குன்ற மதிப்பின்= குன்றத்தை ஒக்கும் அருந்தவர் கெட நினைப்பாராயின்; நிலத்து நின்றன்னார் குடியொடு மாய்வர்= அப்பொழுதே இந்நிலத்து நிலைபெற்றாற் போலும் செல்வர் தம் குடியொடும் மாய்வர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
If those of mountain-like spiritual stature resolve that an offender should be brought low, even people who appear permanently entrenched in power will perish along with their lineage.