The best safeguard

There you are again. The 'best' has made its appearance. I think hyperbole is the term in poetry when exggeration is used to make a point. You are not allowed to say 'But...but...in that last poem, you said that something else was the best.'. People will groan and look at you as though you just crawled out from under a stone and did not have the grace to stay unnoticed. 

So, NOW, Tiru says...

Aatruvaar aatral igazhaamai potruvaar potralul ellam thalai - Tirukkural

The chief safeguard against ill is for the guardians to never slight the powers of those capable of implementing their will - Loose translation

In other words, the leaders/kings who have the responsibility of safeguarding the well-being of their community/nation need various measures to do their duty of guarding against ill. The foremost of those measures is to keep capable people happy by not insulting their abilities. Because, without those people applying their efforts, how are the other measures to be implemented?

So, yeah, one of the foremost abilities of leadership is delegation. AND for delegation to work you need capable people to whom you can delegate the work; and for those capable people to continue to be trustworthy and diligent you need to ensure that they know that you know their abilities and appreciate them. Failing which, you will lose their diligence or their presence itself.

Whether or not it is the best safeguard against ill befalling you and your community, I leave it to you.

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 (I don't really know if benevolence is all that outdated considering that I have seen it in action in as late as the millenials.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.