Declaring the Excellence of Love
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karumaṇiyiṟ pāvāynī pōtāyām vīḻun / tirunutaṟ killai yiṭam.
He looks into his own eye, sees his own small reflection sitting in the pupil, and tells it to move out — the one place he wants her image to live is already occupied by himself. Love here is the willingness to hand over the last inch of yourself.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“For her with beauteous brow, the maid I love, there place is none; / To give her image room, O pupil of mine eye, begone!”
“O thou Image in the pupil of mine eye! Leave and give room to the fair one that I love, for there is no other abode that is worthy of her.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கருமணியிற் பாவாய் நீபோதாய்= என்கண்ணின் கருமணியின்கண் உறையும் பாவாய், நீ அங்குநின்றும் போதருவாயாக; யாம் வீழும் திருநுதற்கு இடம் இல்லை= போதராது இருத்தியாயின், எம்மால் விரும்பப்பட்ட திருநுதலை உடையாட்கு இருக்க இடம் இல்லையாம்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The man speaks to the tiny figure reflected in the dark pupil of his own eye, calling it the 'paavai'. He tells it to leave that place, because if it stays on there, the woman he loves, she of the beautiful brow, will have nowhere left to sit. That is how Parimelazhagar explains the couplet.