Learning
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yātāṉu nāṭāmā lūrāmā leṉṉoruvaṉ / cāntuṇaiyuṅ kallāta vāṟu
For a person who learns, any country and any town can become a place of belonging; why, the verse asks, remain without learning until death?
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“The learned make each land their own, in every city find a home; / Who, till they die; learn nought, along what weary ways they roam!”
“Everywhere is his home to the learned man, and everywhere his native land: why then doth a man neglect instruction up to his dying day?”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
யாதானும் நாடாம் ஊராம்= கற்றவனுக்குத் தன்நாடும் தன் ஊருமேஅன்றி, யாதானும் ஒருநாடும் நாடாம், யாதானும் ஓர் ஊரும் ஊராம்; ஒருவன் சாம்துணையும் கல்லாதவாறு என்= இங்ஙனமாயின் ஒருவன் தான் இறக்கும் அளவும், கல்லாது கழிகின்றது என்கருதி?
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The commentary says learning allows a person to be received in every land and town, then asks why anyone would remain unlearned until death. Read the question as an invitation to lifelong learning, not shame: displacement, disability, labor, poverty, language policy, and exclusion can obstruct education, while no credential determines belonging or worth.