Shame and Self-Respect
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karumattā ṉāṇuta ṉāṇut tirunuta / ṉallavar nāṇup piṟa.
Shrinking from an act because the act is base — that is the shame the good have. The shame of the lovely-browed good ones is another thing.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“To shrink abashed from evil deed is 'generous shame'; / Other is that of bright-browed one of virtuous fame.”
“The blush of the worthy is for action that become them not: it is therefore quite different to the blush of the fair.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
நாணுக் கருமத்தால் நாணுதல்= நன்மக்கள் நாணாவது இழிந்த கருமம் காரணமாக நாணுதல்; பிறதிருநுதல் நல்லவர் நாணு= அஃதன்றி மன மொழி மெய்கள் தொடுக்கத்தான் வருவனவோ எனின், அவை அவரளவல்ல, அழகிய நுதலினை உடைய குலமகளிர் நாண்கள்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar begins by fixing the term: நன்மக்கள் நாணாவது இழிந்த கருமம் காரணமாக நாணுதல் — the நாண் of good people is shrinking on account of a base act. He then raises the obvious objection himself and answers it: அஃதன்றி மன மொழி மெய்கள் தொடுக்கத்தான் வருவனவோ எனின், அவை அவரளவல்ல, அழகிய நுதலினை உடைய குலமகளிர் நாண்கள் — as for the நாண்s that come from the composure of mind, speech and body, those are not of their measure; they are the நாண்s of women of good family with beautiful brows. Two assumptions sit underneath that division: that women stand outside the நன்மக்கள் whose virtue is being defined, and that a modesty of bearing is the form of நாண் that belongs to women. His words are given here unchanged because he wrote them, and this project does not accept either assumption. The identification of the second group as women is his and not the couplet's: what stands in the verse is நல்லவர், a common-gender form. What carries forward is the definition alone — that நாண் is measured by the act it draws back from, and not by who is feeling it.