Transactional Relationships
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Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
āyu maṟiviṉa rallārk kaṇaṅkeṉpa / māya makaḷir muyakku.
Learned authorities say that the embrace of women skilled in deceiving through appearance, speech, and action strikes those who lack searching discernment like a supernatural affliction.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“As demoness who lures to ruin woman's treacherous love / To men devoid of wisdom's searching power will prove.”
“Behold the men who have not a discriminating understanding: the embraces of wily women are to them even as the fascination of the siren of the solitudes.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
மாய மகளிர் முயக்கு= உருவு சொற்செயல்களான் வஞ்சித்தலை வல்ல மகளிரது முயக்கத்தை; ஆயும் அறிவினவர் அல்லார்க்கு அணங்கு என்ப= அவ்வஞ்சனை ஆராய்ந்தறியும் அறிவுடையர் அல்லார்க்கு, அணங்குதாக்கு என்றுசொல்லுவர் நூலோர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar explains ‘the embrace of deceptive women’ as the embrace of women skilled in deceiving through appearance, speech, and action. The other half says that, for people without the discernment to investigate that deception, learned authorities call it an ‘அணங்கு attack.’ அணங்கு belongs to an ancient Tamil supernatural and poetic frame. It is not modern permission to call any woman, person, sexuality, disability, or mental condition demonic. A bounded modern analogy applies only when appearance, words, and conduct coordinate a false claim that causes harm because the receiver does not examine it.