The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar/Chapter 116

by Thiruvalluvar

SECTION ii

CHASTITY

CHAPTER 116

THE PANGS OF SEPARATION

SHE

1151. If there is anything about not parting, speak it to me : but if it is only thy quick return, tell it to those who will survive till then.

1152. His mere look was once a delight unto me : but now even his embrace saddeneth, for that I fear that he is to part.

1153. It is impossible to put trust in any, seeing that the thought of separation lurketh somewhere even in the heart of him who knoweth my heart.

1154. If he who bade me be of good cheer consenteth to part from me, can I be blamed for having placed my trust in his solemn promise ?

1155. If thou wouldst save my life, O my maid, prevent the master of that life, from going : for if he part from me, I despair of our meeting again.

1156. When he hath the hardness to say to my very face, I shall depart, I give up all hope of his ever coming back to save me.^[1]

1157. Would not my close-fitting bracelets themselves that have slipped from my wrists raise the bruit of the parting of my lord ?^[2]

1158. Bitter is life in a place where there are no bosom friends : but bitterer far is separation from the beloved one.

1159. Hath fire, which burneth only when it is touched the power, like love, to burn when it is far away ?

1160. Many there are, are there not, who live through the pangs of leave-taking and of separation, and survive till the return of the beloved!

1. See 1160 below.
2. The fancy is that her grief at the very thought of his parting is so intense that her arms have lost flesh and allowed the bracelets to slip of themselves.