Penance?

There is a lot of problem translating some words from Indian languages to English. More often than not, it is because the word encapsulates a nuanced meaning for which there is no direct equivalent word and, thus, you need a phrase to get across the meaning. (AND before you start the war of which language is superior, I hasten to add that such an issue can arise the other way round as well.) I tend to get peeved when translations take the easy way out and drop the nuances in favor of a single word translation.

There are also times when this problem of translation occurs because the CONCEPT itself is alien to the culture to which the other language belongs. OR the concept is not totally alien but is rare enough for an exact word to have not been invented to identify it. To go so far as to say that the word I am slowly working my way around to IS a word for which the concept does not exist in English-speaking cultures requires the sort of chutzpah on my part that I do not have, given that I cannot claim to be any sort of expert on the culture. If I did, I'd be a shining star of the WhatsApp university, no?

So, getting around to what Tiru said which set me off on that meandering prologue...

Utra noi nondral uyirkkurukan seyyaamai atre thavatthir kuru - Tirukkural

To stoically endure your own suffering and to cause no pain to others is the nature of penance - Loose Translation

Now, that word 'penance' is where I get into translation trouble. Rightly or wrongly, penance always gives me the nuance of atonement for some sin. Whereas 'Thavam' is more a religious meditation, a state of being where your devotion to the Divine excludes everything else.

AND Tiru explains in what shape 'Thavam' manifests itself. That such a person endures stoically whatever sufferings are thrown his way AND the thought of causing pain to others does not cross his mind. It is not merely that the chap does not seek revenge; most of the sufferings in life do not have a villainous face against whom you can vent your ire. It is that he does not even think of merely passing on his pain to others like most of us are wont to do.

I mean, look, how often have you said, "Must have had a fight at home", when your boss spews venom at everyone who crosses his path? How often have YOU spewed venom - either at office or at home - merely because someone hurt you somewhere? THAT thing, this 'Saab ka mood karaab hai' issue does not happen with this sort of person.

Nor, indeed, does this sort of person destroy people in the path of achieving his own ambition. Well, in one form, he HAS no ambition since his mind is focused exclusively on the Divine. But, even where he sees it as his DUTY to do his best, his best does not automatically include riding rough-shod over others. If you ARE focused on the Divine, the idea of causing gratuitous hurt is anathema to you.

One keeps talking of the Divine here because the idea of Thavam automatically includes the idea of focusing on a larger power; else you talk of 'Dhyanam' for meditation and use the more 'secular' words like that.

Whether or not such people really exist is moot. Tiru, however, gives you one yardstick to assess people who claim to be such a person. Not that we are going to use it, of course. As usual, we will assess based on whether our circles endorse that person or revile him!