Folly
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kaḻāakkāl paḷḷiyuḷ vaittaṟṟāṟ cāṉṟōr / kuḻāattup pētai pukal.
“Like him who seeks his couch with unwashed feet, / Is fool whose foot intrudes where wise men meet.”
“Even as is the placing of an unwashed foot on the couch, even so is the entrance of the fool in an assembly of men of worth.”
A person who enters an assembly of the learned without fitting understanding or conduct is like placing an unwashed foot upon a clean, comfortable bed.
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Parimelazhagar’s commentary
13th century · public domainParimelazhagar’s own words come first, unaltered. The plain reading follows below.
சான்றோர் குழாஅத்துப் பேதை புகல்= சான்றோர் அவையின்கண் பேதையாயினான் புகுதல்; கழாஅக்கால் பள்ளியுள் வைத்தற்று= தூயவல்ல மிதித்த காலை இன்பந்தரும் அமளிக்கண்ணே வைத்தாற் போலும்.
Source: Tamil Wikisource
An uncouth, ignorant person intruding into an assembly of noble scholars is like placing unwashed, muddy feet directly onto a pristine, comfortable bed.