Shame and Self-Respect
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piṟarpaḻiyun tampaḻiyu nāṇuvar nāṇuk / kuṟaipati yeṉṉu mulaku.
Those who feel a disgrace that has fallen on somebody else exactly as they would feel their own, and shrink from it just the same — the world calls them the dwelling place of that restraining shame.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As home of virtuous shame by all the world the men are known, / Who feel ashamed for others, guilt as for their own.”
“Behold the men that blush as much for others’ disgrace as for their own: they will be called the very dwelling place of delicacy.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பிறர் பழியும் தம் பழியும் நாணுவார்= பிறர்க்கு வரும் பழியையும் தமக்கு வரும் பழியையும் ஒப்பமதித்து நாணுவாரை; உலகு நாணுக்கு உறைபதி என்னும்= உலகத்தார் நாணுக்கு உறைவிடம் என்று சொல்லுவார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar's reading turns on an equal estimation: the blame that comes to other people and the blame that comes to oneself are counted at one and the same value, and the person shrinks from both alike. The sentence that follows is a report rather than a pronouncement — it is the people of the world who say of such a person that here is where நாண் has its dwelling.