Just Rule
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antaṇar nūṟku maṟattiṟku mātiyāy / niṉṟatu maṉṉavaṉ kōl.
The king's just sceptre stands as the sustaining cause of the Veda belonging to the Brahmins (antaṇar) and of the virtue taught by it.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Learning and virtue of the sages spring, / From all-controlling sceptre of the king.”
“The sceptre of the prince is the mainstay of the science of the Brahmans and of righteousness also.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
அந்தணர் நூற்கும் அறத்திற்கும் ஆதியாய் நின்றது= அந்தணர்க்கு உரித்தாய வேதத்திற்கும், அதனாற் சொல்லப்பட்ட அறத்திற்கும் காரணமாய் நிலைபெற்றது; மன்னவன் கோல்= அரசனாற் செலுத்தப்படுகின்ற செங்கோல்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains that the just sceptre exercised by the king stands as the sustaining cause of the Veda belonging to the Brahmins (antaṇar) and of the virtue taught by that Veda. In this commentary, ‘the text of the antaṇar’ specifically means their Veda, not learning in general.