Parental duty?

Some advice can get dated. As in, what was wisdom at some point in history may sound like rank folly at others. It is tough, however, to  write finis to the advice because...well, because, things CAN make a comeback. To be sure, bell-bottoms in trousers have never made a comeback...and a good thing too...but you never know. What will be the fate of THIS piece of advice by Tiru remains to be seen.

Thandhai magarkaatru nandri avaiyaththu mundhi iruppach cheyal - Tirukkural

The best boon a father can confer on his son is to make him foremost among the wise - Loose Translation

Now THAT opens a real can of worms, doesn't it? In the first place, the very idea that a father (Boomer!!!) has ANY wisdom to offer to the son is...I don't know...a LMAO+ROFL concept. As far as the sons of the day are concerned, if the fathers just got out of the way and KEPT out, with their mouths shut...THAT would be the best boon! (In the (1A) place is the fact of talking only about sons, and not daughters, but we shall pass lightly over that considering the times of Tiru. Yeah, that 'magar' could be interpreted to mean 'daughter' also but THAT's not the way almost ANY interpreter of Tiru has seen it, so...)

The next thing is this risible idea that making the son foremost among the 'wise' is the 'BEST' boon. I mean, come on, would Mukesh Ambani want to exchange places with ANY Nobel Laureate you can think of? Would he think that Dhirubhai did worse than the father of ANY such wise man? AND reverse the question and see how THAT goes. Ask ANY Nobel Laureate...Foremost among the WEALTHY is laudable; foremost among the WISE? ONLY if it lead to wealth.

There would be those who could claim that 'avaiyaththu' need not only be a congregation of the wise...it could well just be taken to mean 'Society' and, thus, daddy dear had the duty to place the son foremost in whatever was the measure best suited to the society of the day. It just so happens that, in Tiru's day, it is wisdom that counted.

The thing, though, is that wisdom is what the philosophers seem to value above wealth...without regard to the mores of the day. To possess wealth is one thing; to keep it is another; to be a happy person is yet another; and to have and to retain the respect of society is a further stretch. AND wisdom works better than just wealth for all of that. (AND, yes, it IS lack of wisdom that makes you think that just because I am advising wisdom I'm asking you to live in poverty. Making everything an 'either this or that' question IS the hallmark of a moron. THERE is such a thing as a bit of both) Wealth you earn for yourself IF daddy-dear equips you with wisdom.

So, yeah, this may not be as dated as I thought. Or, perhaps, I too have become dated!