Noble Excellence
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ūḻi peyariṉun tāmpeyarār cāṉṟāṇmaik / kāḻi yeṉappaṭu vār.
Those spoken of as the shore to the sea that is noble excellence do not shift, though an aeon shift — and the commentary adds that even the ordinary sea fails to stay within its shore as time turns.
▸Other translations · Pope (1886) & Aiyar (1916)
“Call them of perfect virtue's sea the shore, / Who, though the fates should fail, fail not for evermore.”
“Behold the men that would not swerve from the path of rectitude even if all else should change in a general convulsion: they will be called the very palladium of worth.”
Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
சான்றாண்மைக்கு ஆழி எனப்படுவார்= சால்புடைமையாகிய கடற்குக் கரை என்று சொல்லப்படுவார்; ஊழி பெயரினும் தாம் பெயரார்= ஏனைக் கடலும் கரையுள் நில்லாமல் காலத்தான் திரிந்தாலும் தாம் திரியார்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
Those spoken of as the shore to the sea that is noble excellence do not shift, though an aeon shift. (That the ordinary sea does fail to stay within its own shore is Parimelazhagar's addition.)