Austerities lead to wealth?

Ilar Palar aagiya kaaranam norpaar silar palar nolaadhavar - Tirukkural

Many are poor and few rich because the few do austerities and the many do not - Loose Translation

It's a ticklish thing when it comes to translating words in Tamil (or Sanskrit, as I have had reason to bemoan when I wrote 'Maya-Is it all Illusion') into English. This word - austerities - for example. Or, even, these words 'poor' and 'rich' which I have used for 'have nots' and 'haves'. The meanings can all be misleading.

I mean, like, when in Tamil we talk of a 'have' or 'have not', it can be wealth OR knowledge OR ability depending on context. Likewise, though austerities normally mean the disciplined rigor (AND the frugal life, too, yes)  as applied to the pursuit of the divine, it can (and in the current case possibly does) mean that sort of disciplined and unwavering pursuit of your goals, keeping aside the pursuit of your pleasures. In that, a man who is keen on achieving his goals should be as much the yogi as any saint is.

Thus, while Tiru may seem to be saying that Wealth comes to he who is devout, it is more likely that he says that success crowns unwavering effort. And the reason why few are successful and many are not is because very few pursue their goals with the requisite rigor.

Now THAT can open a can of worms these days. "What price privilege?" some scream! "Nepotism rules" cry out others. Quite true of the way the world is. But, the point is that you can either use the lack of privilege as an excuse or you can strive to win. And, among people with the same level of privilege, those who succeed are more likely to be those who strive than those who complain.

Does that then mean that fighting Nepotism is useless? Come on, IF THAT is what you are out to do, do it with the same rigor as Tiru suggests. His point is that you should concentrate on what you do and do it with unwavering devotion. So fight Nepotism with vigor alright when you are doing that, but do not just sit back and complain that you never made a go of coding or banking or whatever because of lack of privilege.

Though it appears like Tiru is saying that all failure is due to lack of effort, it is not true. You should note that he is attributing the low PROPORTION of successful people to the fact that few really strive with all their heart. If everyone did so strive, then the PROPORTION of successful people would be higher, which does not mean that EVERYONE who strives will succeed.

So, yes, lack of privilege may prove a barrier to success. Whether the barrier seems like an obstacle to be overcome or a wall that stops you will depend on you. And, yet, your lack of privilege or your misfortune could keep you from succeeding. The difference is whether you failed despite your best efforts or you failed because you did not even start trying.

Unless, of course, you are like me. Pursuing idling with all the vigor at your disposal and giving reasons for not doing better just to keep the rest of the world off your back! In which case, you ARE succeeding in what you chose to do.