Not Fearing the Assembly
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kallā tavariṉ kaṭaiyeṉpa kaṟṟaṟintu / nallā ravaiyañcu vār
“Who, though they've learned, before the council of the good men quake, / Than men unlearn'd a lower place must take.”
“Behold the men that possess learning but fear to face an assembly of learned men: they will be esteemed lower than even the ignorant.”
Those who have learned and understood yet fear the assembly of good people are classically judged below the unlearned, because their learning is not used there.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
கற்று அறிந்தும் நல்லார் அவை அஞ்சுவார்= நூல்களைக் கற்று வைத்தும், அவற்றாற் பயன் அறிந்து வைத்தும் நல்லார் இருந்த அவையினை அஞ்சி ஆண்டுச் சொல்லாதாரை; கல்லாதவரின் கடை என்ப= உலகத்தார் கல்லாதவரினும் கடையர் என்று சொல்லுவர்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
The world declares that those who have studied deeply yet cower in fear before an assembly of noble scholars are lower even than the unlettered.