Abstaining from Intoxicants
.
Tap an underlined Tamil word to explore its sound, meaning, and use.
nāṇeṉṉu nallāḷ puṟaṅkoṭukkuṅ kaḷḷeṉṉum / pēṇāp peruṅkuṟṟat tārkku.
The noble woman called Shame turns her back on those who bear the greatly despised fault called intoxicating drink.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Shame, goodly maid, will turn her back for aye on them / Who sin the drunkard's grievous sin, that all condemn.”
“Behold the man who is addicted to the low vice of drunkenness: the fair one called Shame turneth her back upon him.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கள் என்னும் பேணாப் பெருங்குற்றத்தார்க்கு= கள்ளென்று சொல்லப்படுகின்ற யாவரும் இகழும் மிக்க குற்றத்தினையுடையாரை; நாண் என்னும் நல் ஆள் புறம் கொடுக்கும்= நாண் என்று சொல்லப்படுகின்ற உயர்ந்தவள் நோக்குதற்கு அஞ்சி அவர்க்கு எதிர்முகமாகாள்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Parimelazhagar reads ‘the greatly despised fault called drink’ as an offense condemned by everyone. The next phrase personifies moral shame or modesty as a noble woman who is afraid to look at its bearers and therefore turns away. The female figure is a literary personification of நாண், not a claim that women guard another person's honor. The conduct and the loss of moral inhibition are condemned; dependency is not reduced to defective character, and public humiliation or family shame is not prescribed as treatment.