The Distress of Her Beauty
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kaṭāak kaḷiṟṟiṉmēṟ kaṭpaṭā mātar / paṭāa mulaimēṟ ṟukil
The cloth she has drawn across herself does the same work as the face-cover strapped over a rutting elephant: it takes nothing away from the power underneath, it only keeps that power from destroying the man looking. What covers a thing is not what weakens it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As veil o'er angry eyes Of raging elephant that lies, / The silken cincture's folds invest This maiden's panting breast.”
“The vestment that covereth the beauteous breasts of this fair one are even as the eye-cover on the eyes of the infuriate elephant.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மாதர் படாஅ முலை மேல் துகில்= இம்மாதர் படா முலைகளின் மேல் இட்ட துகில்; கடாஅக் களிற்றின் மேல் கட்படாம்= அவை கொல்லாமல் காத்தலின், கொல்வதாய மதக்களிற்றின் மேல் இட்ட முகபடாத்தினை ஒக்கும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains: the cloth laid over this woman's firm breast guards the beholder from being killed by them, and therefore that cloth is like the ornamented face-cover laid over the face of a rutting elephant, which would otherwise kill.