They keep telling you that good advice is normally bitter. It's like food, you know. Whatever tastes good is bad for health and whatever you truly hate the sight of is what makes you healthy. (Yeah, yeah, I know that you could find people who drool at the sight of broccoli and are revulsed by the smells of baking but, really, what are the odds?) In like manner, anything that is pleasant for you to hear is, at best, useless and, at worst, bad for your character. And what IS good for you is exactly what you hate to hear. There has been some real mess up when they made the Universe, I tell you.
So, yes, you really cannot expect Tiru to swim against the tide there.
Idipparai illaadha yemara mannan keduppaar ilaanum kedum - Tirukkural
The king without critical advisers needs no enemies to be destroyed - Loose Translation.
Whether it is a king or leader or us ordinary mortals, it probably does not matter. I'm sure Tiru does not think that it is alright for us mango people to be surrounded by people who only sing your praises. Tiru talks only of kings simply because he is playing the odds himself. Like, really, you are of the mango people and you'll be surrounded by people singing your praises? Give me some of what you have been smoking. Us guys, we do not need to hunt for critics, they swarm out of the woodwork. It is kings/leaders who need to be careful not to let the sycophants drive away the ones who can offer honest criticism.
And Tiru, like all those who offer advice, says that if you fail to surround yourself with people who WILL offer honest criticism, your destruction is assured even if you have not a single enemy in this world. It is like you are a gambler with a system of your own devising playing the roulette table in a casino. You do not need any enemy to plot your destruction; you can jolly well plot it yourself and implement it because you have shed anyone who would advise you about the dangers of what you are doing.
Alas, what sort of world is this that you need to search for and surround yourself with people for the 'pleasure' of hearing them tell you what an ass you are!
