Praising Her Beauty
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aṉiccamu maṉṉattiṉ ṟūviyu māta / raṭikku neruñcip paḻam.
She is so delicate that even the softest things in the world press against her like thorns. It is not a report on her body; it is a measure of how closely he watches her.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The flower of the sensitive plant, and the down on the swan's white breast, / As the thorn are harsh, by the delicate feet of this maiden pressed.”
“Even the anitcha flower and swan’s down are as nettle to the feet of this fair one.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
அனிச்சமும் அன்னத்தின் தூவியும்= உலகத்தாரான் மென்மைக்கு எடுக்கப்பட்ட அனிச்சப்பூவும், அன்னப்புள்ளின் சிறகுமாகிய இரண்டும்; மாதர் அடிக்கு நெருஞ்சிப் பழம்= மாதர் அடிக்கு நெருஞ்சிப்பழம் போல வருத்தம் செய்யும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that the anicham flower and the swan's feather, the two things the world holds up as the very measure of softness, cause pain to this woman's feet the way a thorny neruñci fruit would.