Shame and Self-Respect
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piṟarnāṇat takkatu tāṉāṇā ṉāyi / ṉaṟanāṇat takka tuṭaittu.
If a man will not shrink from what those who saw it and those who heard of it are fit to shrink from, his not shrinking carries what virtue is fit to shrink from — and virtue draws away from him.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Thou know'st no shame, while all around ashamed must be: / Virtue will shrink away ashamed of thee!”
“If a man blush not for those things that call forth a blush in others, Righteousness will have cause to blush for him.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பிறர் நாணத்தக்கது தான் நாணான் ஆயின்= கேட்டாரும் கண்டாரும் நாணத்தக்க பழியை, ஒருவன் தான் நாணாது செய்யுமாயின்; அறம் நாணத்தக்கது உடைத்து= அந்நாணாமை, அவனை அறம் விட்டு நீங்கத்தக்க குற்றத்தினை உடைத்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
‘If he himself does not shrink from what others shrink from’ — that is, if a man commits, without shrinking, a பழி that both those who heard of it and those who saw it would shrink from. ‘It has that which virtue is fit to shrink from’ — that shamelessness of his carries a fault of the kind that warrants virtue departing and leaving him.