Lack of Learning
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kallātāṉ coṟkā muṟutaṉ mulaiyiraṇṭu / millātāḷ peṇkāmuṟ ṟaṟṟu
The verse uses a harsh premodern body-and-gender comparison to condemn an unlearned person's desire to display eloquence in an assembly; its direct target is speech sought without the learning needed for it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Like those who doat on hoyden's undeveloped charms are they, / Of learning void, who eagerly their power of words display.”
“Behold the man without learning who desireth to be called eloquent: he is like unto a woman without busts who yearneth to be admired of men.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கல்லாதான் சொல் காமுறுதல்= கல்வி இல்லாதான் ஒருவன் அவையின்கண் ஒன்று சொல்லுதலை அவாவுதல்; முலை இரண்டும் இல்லாதாள் பெண் காமுற்றற்று= இயல்பாகவே முலையிரண்டும் இல்லாதாள் ஒருத்தி பெண்மையை அவாவினாற் போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains the verse's exact and uncomfortable analogy: an uneducated man's desire to speak in the assembly is compared with a woman without two breasts desiring womanhood. This is a premodern, harmful body-and-gender valuation that must be represented rather than concealed, but not repeated as truth about any body or woman's dignity. The chapter's supported point is the mismatch between unacquired learning and the desire to perform eloquence.