Precautionary attitude?

There are things that are actually easy to do as well as important. Yet, people suffer, and suffer badly, because of not doing them. You know the stitch that saves nine? So easy to do but, often, so ignored that you kick yourself for not doing that one stitch only when the whole line of stitches gives way when you are in a party. Does that mean that the next time you will take care not to skip doing it? Not really, as experience proves.

And thus when Tiru says this seemingly easy thing to do, all you can do is groan.

Varumunnark kaavaadhaan vaazhkkai erimunnar vaiththooru polak kedum - Tirukkural

The life of he who guards not against misfortune/faults shall be destroyed like a haystack near fire - Loose Translation

Tiru gets cryptic quite often. This 'Varumunnark kaavaadhaan' translates merely to 'He who guards not before the coming'. The coming of what? Voldemort? Ragnarok? Left to interpretation. But, yes, it translates to some evil or the other. AND it is not necessarily always external evil.

Like, say, usage of addictive substances. It is easier to forbear from using them. Harder to give up even when you are a desultory user. Near impossible, depending on the substance, if you have become addicted. So, this kural will mean that it is best to 'stop before the coming of addiction' in this context.

Take the case of a credit card bill. It is easy to pay off in full every time (OR, of course, use it only to the extent where it is easy to pay off.) More difficult when you have maxed it out and are paying off just enough to keep it live. Near impossible once you have started defaulting. (Now THAT is a problem associated with ALL financial debt.) Tiru, therefore, says...

You can go on and on. 

About how small jobs timely done are easy but once you accumulate a ton of them...

About doing small wrongs (like, say, forgetting birthdays) and failing to apologise each time till...

About missing talking to your children all through their childhood till they hit their teens and...

It is easier to push yourself to do those things at the time they are required to be done. THAT is guarding off the evil that can come.

Failing that, your life will crash and burn like that haystack in front of a fire whether or not you realise why it is happening to you. THIS will be the answer to the question that you will then scream to the universe...

WHY ME?