The Excellence of an Army
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ulaiviṭat tūṟañcā vaṉkaṇ ṭolaiviṭattut / tolpaṭaik kallā laritu.
The hardiness to stand without shrinking from injury when the force is depleted and the ruler is in battlefield distress is rarely found except in an army of long institutional continuity.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“In adverse hour, to face undaunted might of conquering foe, / Is bravery that only veteran host can show.”
“It is only veterans that can hold out in desperate situations with grim determination, regardless of decimating attacks.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
தொலைவிடத்து உலைவிடத்து ஊறு அஞ்சா வன்கண்= தான் சிறிதாய வழியும் அரசற்குப் போரின்கண் உலைவு வந்தால் தன் மேல் உறுவதற்கு அஞ்சாது நின்று தாங்கும்வன்கண்மை; தொல்படைக்கு அல்லால் அரிது= அவன் முன்னோரைத் தொடங்கிவரும் படைக்கல்லது உளதாகாது.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar says that when an army has been reduced and the ruler is under battlefield distress, the hardiness to stand and bear injury is rare except in a force continuing from earlier generations. The claim concerns accumulated institutional tradition, not ancestry or caste superiority.