Declaring the Excellence of Love
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kaṇṇuḷḷār kātalavarākak kaṇṇu / meḻutēṅ karappāk kaṟintu.
He lives inside her eyes, so she will not do even the small ordinary thing that would hide him for a few minutes. Love is measured here by what she quietly refuses to cover over.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“My love doth ever in my eyes reside; / I stain them not, fearing his form to hide.”
“My beloved dwelleth ever within my eyes: so I do not paint them even lest I lose sight of him even for an instant.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
காதலவர் கண் உள்ளாராகக் கண்ணும் எழுதேம்= காதலர் எப்பொழுதும் எம் கண்ணின் உள்ளார் ஆகலான், கண்ணின் அஞ்சனத்தால் எழுதுவதும் செய்யேம்; கரப்பாக்கு அறிந்து= அத்துணைக்காலமும் அவர் மறைதலை அறிந்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads this couplet as the woman's own words. Her lover is always present inside her eyes, and so she does not paint her eyes with kohl at all, because she knows that for the whole time the painting lasts he would be hidden from her.