Praising Her Beauty
.
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matiyu maṭantai mukaṉu maṟiyā / patiyiṟ kalaṅkiya mīṉ.
Her face is so bright that the stars in the sky can no longer tell it apart from the moon — and, unable to decide which is which, they wander out of their fixed places in confusion.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The stars perplexed are rushing wildly from their spheres; / For like another moon this maiden's face appears.”
“The stars of the heavens wander from their spheres for that they cannot tell which is the moon and which her face.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மீன்= வானத்து மீன்கள்; மதியும் மடந்தை முகனும் அறியா= வேறுபாடு பெரிதாகவும், தம் மதியினையும் எம் மடந்தை முகத்தினையும் இதுமதி இது முகம் என்று அறியமாட்டாது; பதியின் கலங்கிய= தந்நிலையினின்றும் கலங்கித் திரியாநின்றன.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that the stars of the sky, though the difference between the moon and the face of the woman the lover calls his own is great, cannot tell which is the moon and which is her face; and so they have strayed from their own fixed positions and wander about in confusion.