Lack of Learning
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mēṟpiṟantā rāyiṉuṅ kallātār kīḻppiṟantuṅ / kaṟṟā raṉaittilar pāṭu
Though unlearned people are born into a ‘higher’ caste, they lack the honour possessed by learned people born into a ‘lower’ caste, the verse says.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Lower are men unlearned, though noble be their race, / Than low-born men adorned with learning's grace.”
“The fool though born of a higher family is esteemed much less than a learned man who is of inferior descent.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கல்லாதார் மேற்பிறந்தார் ஆயினும்= கல்லாதார் உயர்ந்த சாதிக்கண் பிறந்தாராயினும்; கீழ்ப்பிறந்தும் கற்றார் அனைத்துப் பாடு இலர்= தாழ்ந்த சாதிக்கண் பிறந்துவைத்தும் கற்றாரது பெருமை அளவிற்றாய பெருமை இலர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explicitly reads ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ birth as caste. The verse subordinates inherited prestige to learning, but its caste categories remain historically harmful; a modern edition must reject caste hierarchy itself and must not turn education into a new rank of human worth.