More fearsome than fire?

There are times when what the philosopher says is too tough to follow. AND there are these other times when the philosopher seems to consider as tough what you see as dead easy...simply because he fears what you think of as inconsequential things. Which is why it always seems like the philosophers seem to live in a different world altogether.

Tiru also acts in consonance with other philosophers. As in this...

Theeyavai theeya payaththalaal theeyavai theeyinum anjappadum - Tirukkural

Because evil deeds yield evil fruits, evil deeds are more fearsome than fire - Loose Translation

On face value, it all seems fine. Like the deeds pare 'evil', they yield 'evil' fruits and, therefore, they are to be feared. But, you know, real life is a lot more complicated than that.

I mean, like, what's the harm in bad-mouthing your competitor when that made it possible for you to get the promotion ahead of him? How has the guy got evil fruits when he hoodwinked his neighbor and bought his plot for a song? How does it...well, you get the picture. In real life (IRL, for those who do not get full words), it is a lot more difficult to understand what IS a 'evil' deed; tougher by far to accept that it yields 'evil' fruits; and, so, there is no question of fearing it more than fire.

The fact, though, is that you can earn a reputation for bad faith. It is also true that he who is untrustworthy finds it tough to trust others. You may live by the dictum that it is enough to follow the eleventh commandment - 'Thou shall not get caught' - but the point also is that you could largely be living a life which walks the tightrope of not getting caught. All this makes for a life where your human relations with others is less than satisfactory. Which does not make for a great life.

And, yet, there could well be some whose evil deeds have not yielded evil fruits. Whom Karma has not yet 'got'. Not outwardly where the world can see effects of the evil fruits and not even inwardly where the person could suffer insecurities, depression and loneliness. Maniacs of various sorts live among us after all. Tiru, when he makes his sweeping assertion that evil deeds beget evil fruits for the one who does them, is probably not taking into account these people.

But is it only the maniacs? More fearsome than fire only means the dangers of wild fire. AND humans...we seem to feel confident that we can even maintain tame nuclear fires. By extension, what would we think of 'evil deeds'...that we can evade the 'evil fruits'?

Perhaps there is a maniacal gene in all of us Homo Sapiens!