No better virtue

I have had reason to say this about philosophers, especially philosopher-poets. They have this tendency to exaggerate the specific virtue or vice that they are talking of at the moment. Maybe it is something that is more true of this portion of the world. Like, you know, 'mother of all battles'. So, yeah, at any point in time, whatever we are talking of is the 'greatest virtue' or the 'worst evil' or whatever.

So, Tiru has this to say...

Puththe lulagaththum eendum peralaridhe oppuravin nalla pira - Tirukkural

No greater virtue exists in this world, or in the world of the gods, than benevolence - Loose translation

Yeah, I know, that sounds like a boomer uncle advice. But then Tiru antedates boomers by far, so he has the right to sound even more ancient than them. (I don't really know if benevolence is all that outdated considering that I have seen it in action in as late as the millenials. Though, yes, to be honest, ANY virtue these days seems to be solely expressed by vilifying those seen as bereft of the virtue than by being virtuous yourself.)

But, getting back to Tiru, he sees this attitude of seeking to do good to those around you as the biggest virtue...at least in this kural. Come to think of it, this one thing actually encompasses a whole host of virtues.

Firstly, you need to have empathy. See, Tiru is not talking charity here which can come after help is SOUGHT from you. He is talking benevolence...which does help those who seek help but ALSO sees the needs of others and helps without being sought. That requires empathy. To put yourself in their shoes and do what is needed by them.

Then it requires an element of selflessness. Whatever you give, you need to forego yourself. And, when Tiru places it so high, it is not merely because you would give what you yourself will not miss. It is because you will give even if at some cost to yourself. That willingness to sacrifice is why he exalts it so high.

Quite naturally, you cannot be benevolent while simultaneouly plotting to stab the other guy in the back. THAT would be a very peculiar type of benevolence indeed.

Thus, you see, you will find a multitude of virtues (I am sure you can build up that list for yourself beyond what I have listed) bundled into that single word - benevolence.

Perhaps Tiru was not exaggerating after all.

Destructive words

If there is a thing that almost all philosophers agree upon, it is the importance of controlling your tongue. Not surprising, really, since philosophers deal mainly in words that they should be very wary of how you speak words and the impact of ill-chosen words.

Tiru is no different. Especially when he says this...

Ondraanun theechchol porutpayan undaayin nandraaga dhaagi vidum - Tirukkural

If but one wrong word causes the smallest harm, all the good wrought by him will turn to evil - Loose Translation

Tiru allows for the fact that a misspoken word may not always be interpreted as causing harm. Thus, if in a negotiation, you use a wrong word, it may not always lead to hurt and its consequences. But, if you DO speak something hurtful AND it causes hurt in the other party, it has the potential to lose you the whole negotiation.

The problem with human interactions is that it almost always seems to exist on the basis of mutual mistrust. Each party strives to trust the other but falls back to distrust more easily than it leans forward into trust. This tendency to mistrust is stronger in some interactions and weaker in others...but, overall, it is easier to cause distrust than it is to gain trust.

AND exactly because distrust is easier than trust, a wrong word spoken at the wrong time causing hurt to the other has the potential to swing the entire mood of the interaction to distrust, thereby destroying the painstakingly built trust of all the work that preceded it.

It is not merely when groups of people are interacting with each other in negotiations. At the individual level, too, you build your friendships by building mutual trust. A person with a loose tongue will find it much more difficult to build and sustain good relationships, precisely because of his tendency to utter hurtful words.

Words are powerful. They need to be used with care.

Discardable friendships

You can never take anything for granted, especially with philosophers. I mean, there are these things that are almost holy cows. Things like love; like friendship. And, yet, you will find that philosophers will find a way to apply filters on them, like on everything else.

Like Tiru does here...

Paruguvaar polinum panbilaar kenmai perugalir kundral inidhu - Tirukkural

Enjoyable though the company may be, it is sweeter to diminish the friendship of the characterless than to allow it to flourish - Loose Translation

AND, thus, you can see that translation can be a bitch. I mean, I could have said 'Even if it be as much fun as a drinking bout, it's sweeter to reduce the friendship of the evil than to increase it'. But, then, I'd first of all get into unnecessary arguments about whether a drinking bout is actually fun or not. That's the problem with metaphors...and, these days, you cannot even use 'sweeter' without getting into debates about diabetes and carcinogens and what not.

Not to mention the fact that Tiru may not even have meant 'friendship of the evil' in this context. As in, yeah, it is true that the evil man IS to be shunned. People without integrity, who are undependable, who would cause intentional harm to those around  them either for their benefit or for their pleasure - people like that are to be avoided even if they are fun to be around when they want to be. But THAT is not all that Tiru is warning you about.

You see, how about the friend who loves having fun...and drags you along to movies even on the eve of important exams? How about a friend who loves experimenting on drugs and encourages you to 'live it up' without a care about possible future addiction? How about a friend who causes you to spend beyond your limits on frivolities while denigrating any impulse to caution?

You see, to CAUSE harm, people do not necessarily need to INTEND harm. It is enough that they are people who lack discipline and responsibility. Alas, these are the very guys who seem to be the most fun to be around. Till the time comes around to pay the bill. THEN you will know what irresponsible really means when YOU become answerable for their bills as well as yours. (AND I mean that metaphorically as well since all bills are not paid in money.)

It is best, therefore, to slowly withdraw yourself from such friendships before you get irrevocably dragged into the quicksand.

The priceless gem?

I have always been handicapped by the absence of an ability that people seem to take for granted. Like, if I am told 'Drop in any time', I take that as an invitation; people seem to understand it as a meaningless courtesy. I take words literally for what they mean. People seem to read in different meanings into the same words depending on when it is said; who is saying it; what their tone of voice is and so on and so forth. Never learnt all that, never will and now I have given up on understanding how to parse it and, even, why people do it.

So, yeah, when Tiru goes one step further and says this...

Kooraamai nokkak kuripparivaan enyandrum maaraaneer vaiyak kani - Tirukkural

He who, without words, understands with a look is a gem of this world girded by undrying seas - Loose Translation

I don't think that Tiru meant that such a person is but dross in a desert world like Dune. It's just that he needed to make a decent couplet of it and, so, rounded it off with that 'undrying seas'. So, I do not even have that solace. I mean, I cannot understand WITH words, so what are the odds that I'm going to understand with just a look at the other guy's face? So, yeah, no priceless gem, me!

I CAN understand how I might like that in a subordinate. I mean, there are times when you CANNOT say what you want. Like, you got this boring chap who's droning on and on; who you cannot unceremoniously chuck out; and then your assistant pops in saying that your boss wants you, just so you can give this bore a bum's rush without it appearing so...THAT's a benefit of having a guy who can understand a situation without your having to explain chapter and verse to him in single syllable words.

AND, perhaps, in Tiru's times, the King treasured a minister who could take a look at the frowning Queen's face and divine the cause of her anger AND find a way to redress the situation. (Yeah, yeah, any boss would like it but the Home Office concept does not give enough opportunities as the palace of yore did.) Given the almost congenital inability of men to understand their women, I can quite see how such a person would be counted as a Kohinoor among ministers.

The fact is that such a person will prove himself to be the most congenial of people and, thus, the most priceless. To be able to read the face to read the mood is to ensure that you do not speak the wrong words at the wrong time. That's not necessarily to be a lickspittle. It is to know WHEN to give the advice and how best to put it. The ability to know how the people around you are feeling is also the ability to be convincing because you will know how they are reacting to what is being said.

Alas! I'll be content to know what the words people say actually mean. Reading faces and tones and body postures...too much trouble!