Transactional Relationships
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
potunalattār puṉṉalan tōyār matinalattiṉ / māṇṭa vaṟivi ṉavar.
Those whose learned understanding has matured through natural sound judgment do not seek what the source calls the base, ‘common’ beauty of women who offer desire to every payer.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“From contact with their worthless charms, whose charms to all are free, / The men with sense of good and lofty wisdom blest will flee;”
“Behold the men who add deep study to a clear understanding: they defile themselves not with the touch of women whose charms are free to all.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மதி நலத்தின் மாண்ட அறிவினவர்= இயற்கையாகிய மதிநன்மையான் மாட்சிமைப்பட்ட செயற்கை அறிவினையுடையார்; பொது நலத்தார் புன்னலம் தோயார்= பொருள் கொடுப்பார்க்கெல்லாம் பொதுவாய ஆசையினையுடைய மகளிரது புல்லிய நலத்தைத் தீண்டார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads ‘மதி நலத்தின் மாண்ட அறிவினவர்’ as people whose acquired understanding has been raised to excellence by the natural goodness of their judgment. His செயற்கை அறிவு means knowledge made through learning, training, and experience—not false knowledge, machinery, or modern artificial intelligence. He explains பொதுநலத்தார் as women whose desire is common to everyone who pays, calls their pleasure புன் நலம், ‘base beauty,’ and says people with such matured understanding do not seek it. This faithfully exposes an ancient male-centered sexual hierarchy that ranks women by commercial availability; it is not an acceptable modern measure of human worth. Sexual history, body, gender, occupation, relationship status, consensual paid work, and performance do not determine a person's value, and a paying patron is not innocent merely because payment occurred. A bounded modern analogy applies across genders only where claimed personal care conceals a motive of money, access, status, labor, or control. A transparent paid service or mutually understood exchange is not a counterfeit relationship claim.