The Ambassador
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nūlāru ṇūlvalla ṉākutal vēlāruḷ / veṉṟi viṉaiyuraippāṉ paṇpu.
The envoy who must present a victory-bearing action among spear-wielding kings should be a master of political learning even among learned ministers.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Mighty in lore amongst the learned must he be, / Midst jav'lin-bearing kings who speaks the words of victory.”
“Behold the man who undertaketh to speak before princes words that shall profit his master: he shall be a scholar among scholars.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
வேலாருள் வென்றி வினை உரைப்பான் பண்பு= வேலையுடைய வேற்றரசரிடைச் சென்று தன்அரசனுக்கு வென்றிதரும் வினையைச் சொல்லுவானுக்கு இலக்கணமாவது; நூலாருள் நூல்வல்லன் ஆகுதல்= நீதி நூலையுணர்ந்த அமைச்சரிடைத் தான் அந்நூலை வல்லனாதல்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that the one sent among spear-bearing foreign kings to state an action bringing victory to his own king must excel in political learning even among ministers who know those texts. A modern analogy preserves the high-power contest while translating textual mastery into command of the relevant law, rules, and subject matter.