Shame and Self-Respect
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nāṇvēli koḷḷātu maṉṉō viyaṉñālam / pēṇalar mēlā yavar.
Those who stand high keep, as their hedge, the mind's drawing back from a base act; on terms that would take it down they do not even want the wide earth.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Unless the hedge of shame inviolate remain, / For men of lofty soul the earth's vast realms no charms retain.”
“The worthy refuse to acquire even kingdoms save by means for which they shall not have to blush.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மேலாயவர், வேலி நாண் கொள்ளாது= தமக்கு ஏமமாக நாணினைக் கொள்வதன்றி; வியன் ஞாலம் பேணலர்= அகன்ற ஞாலத்தைக் கொள்ள விரும்பார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads it as: the great, otherwise than by taking நாண் as their ஏமம் — their safeguard — do not desire to possess the broad earth. Two of his words carry the reading. ஏமம் makes நாண் a protection rather than an ornament, and விரும்பார் keeps the whole matter at the level of wanting: he does not say they refuse the earth, he says they do not desire it. That the wanting gives way rather than being overcome is this edition's reading of that word, not a further claim of his. Pope keeps the hedge but makes it a condition on the earth's appeal; Aiyar shifts the weight to the means of acquisition and turns the earth into kingdoms. The difference is left standing rather than smoothed over.