Need to spend

There are times when a philosopher can surprise you by the very fact that he makes sense to you readily. I mean, you tend to think of philosophers as chaps whose advice takes a couple of interpreters to understand; not commonsense that readily penetrates your brain. (AND, yes, as readily departs the brain too, going by how uncommon 'commonsense' is in the daily actions of the 'common man'!) Yet, sometimes, such miracles actually happen.

It happens more often than not with Tiru, since the chap was also writing about governance and, even, love. Here he does with

Seyarpaala seyya dhivariyaan selvam uyarpaala dhanrik kedum - Tirukkural

The wealth of a miser, who fails to spend when necessary, shall be destroyed - Loose Translation

You sort of expect that the MISER will be destroyed if he does not spend when necessary and ends up starving to death. But, it is true that the wealth can itself be destroyed. Even in the case of the chap merely hoarding his coins, if he fails to spend on protecting it, he will lose it to robbers.

If, say, the miser is earning from Agriculture. He needs to spend on fertilising his lands; spend on labor; spend on storing water if his lands are vast enough...there is a lot of necessary expenditure to keep the wealth flowing, failing which his lands will become worthless. Wealth destroyed!

OR, if he is running a production unit. You need to maintain machinery, you need to keep your key employees happy, you need to spend on your logistics...if you fail to spend where needed, your wealth will vanish.

Or, as in the case of the rulers who Tiru was primarily addressing...if you fail to spend on infrastructure, on defense, on law enforcement, on...you get the picture.

AND, as in the case of us mango people, it seldom helps to keep the money under the mattress. Inflation is a silent stealer of wealth.

Wealth NEEDS to be put to use. Stagnant wealth finds a way to evaporate!