Useless Wealth

The moment you see 'useless wealth' and I say it is something told by a philosopher you burst out with, 'So, what else is new? If you read philosophers they would have you believe that they would turn down the chance to be Jeff Bezos and choose to be Mother Teresa. Easy to say when the choice is not really available.' That, though, is not what this is all about.

Tiru IS a philosopher but he was not really into only telling you to live for the next world. He had quite a lot to say about how to live well in this world. (And 'well' meant not only good conduct but a happy life as we guys understand it.)

In fact, THAT is the thing about a lot of Indian philosophy. It is practical. I mean, where else in the world will you find a philosopher saying that the householder (i.e the man of the world) IS the mainstay of the ascetic, like Tiru has done somewhere. After all, the ascetic gets his food from the householder and is not being fed by passing birds, is he? So, yes, Tiru's advice is not all about ideal living which is impractical in the real world.

So it is not surprising to hear Tiru say,

Vaiththaanmai saandra perumporul aqdhunnaan seththaan seyakkidandhadhu il - Tirukkural

He who has heaped riches in his house but enjoys none of it, is as good as a dead man - Loose Translation

See what I mean. Tiru is not saying that you should be giving the wealth away. He says that You ought to enjoy the wealth; merely accumulating it without using it is the act of a man who does not really LIVE.

A person who is really ALIVE will be using the wealth, not merely accumulating it. Whether it is spent in revelry, in bettering the lives of others around him or to grow his enterprises...it will mean that the person is actively living his life. To merely take in the money and store it in his house...that's the act of a person who lives like a hog which knows nothing but to eat and become fat.

Now, Tiru is not really saying that you are a great person if you 'eat, drink and be merry'. Just that you are a better person than the guy whose idea of fun is to sit in his home and count his pennies. You may die tomorrow but you count as being alive today and the guy who merely accumulated counts as being as good as dead, that's all.

You see, not all that lives is good. Tiru will get you in some other Kural, make no mistake about it. Why do you think I am OFF all philosophers?