Shame and Self-Respect
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piṟarnāṇat takkatu tāṉāṇā ṉāyi / ṉaṟanāṇat takka tuṭaittu.
“Thou know'st no shame, while all around ashamed must be: / Virtue will shrink away ashamed of thee!”
“If a man blush not for those things that call forth a blush in others, Righteousness will have cause to blush for him.”
If one feels no shame at what others shrink from, virtue itself shrinks from him in disgust.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
பிறர் நாணத்தக்கது தான் நாணான் ஆயின்= கேட்டாரும் கண்டாரும் நாணத்தக்க பழியை, ஒருவன் தான் நாணாது செய்யுமாயின்; அறம் நாணத்தக்கது உடைத்து= அந்நாணாமை, அவனை அறம் விட்டு நீங்கத்தக்க குற்றத்தினை உடைத்து.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
If a person commits without shame what onlookers would shrink from in disgust, such shamelessness is so abhorrent that virtue itself will abandon him in shame.