Learning
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kaṇṇuṭaiya reṉpavar kaṟṟōr mukattiraṇṭu / puṇṇuṭaiyar kallā tavar
Classical praise calls the learned sighted and, in a deliberately harsh contrast, calls the unlearned face's eyes wounds.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Men who learning gain have eyes, men say; / Blockheads' faces pairs of sores display.”
“The learned alone can be said to possess eyes: the unlettered have but two sores in their head.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கண் உடையர் என்பவர் கற்றோர்= கண்ணுடையர் என்று உயர்த்துச் சொல்லப்படுவார் கற்றவரே; கல்லாதவர் முகத்து இரண்டு புண் உடையர்= மற்றைக் கல்லாதவர் முகத்தின்கண் இரண்டு புண்ணுடையர், கண்ணிலர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads the verse as a forceful contrast: learning makes the physical eyes worthy of their name, whereas absence of learning is pictured as two wounds. This historical rhetoric must be taught critically; it is not a literal statement about blindness, illiteracy, intelligence, access, or anyone's human worth.