Araththaal Varuvadhe Inbam; Matrellaam Puraththa Pugazhum Ila - Thirukkural
Virtue alone gives true joy; everything else is neither joy nor fame - Loose Translation
Oh, Well! I suppose Tiru had to say this thing. Almost every Society tries to tell its people that the only true happiness lies in leading a virtuous life. And, invariably, the people who break the rules get ahead. At the end of it all, what it ends up with is that 'Virtue is its own reward', meaning that there is no other reward that you get out of being virtuous except for feeling 'virtuous'.
It is not like the A/c does not cool the room or the cognac turns acidic if you earn it out of 'vice', does it? People bow and scrape if you are wealthy, whether you made it by stealing from the proverbial 'widows and orphans' or by selling unnecessary products to people who never wanted them. So, exactly what happiness is not available, what fame is missing, when you fail in being a man of virtue? As long as you succeed, that is.
But, hey, I forget. Tiru's frame of reference is different. He is the chap who is into how things are in your MIND, all the time, never on how things are AROUND you. All this A/c, cognac, bowing and scraping people would count, in his lexicon as 'pleasure'; not 'joy'. Joy, for him, would only be when your mind is happy and free of stress. So, of course, if you have all that 'envy', 'greed', 'wrath' etc etc in your mind, it's not precisely like you are being free of stress, now, are you? In THAT sense, of course you are not happy by Tiru's definition. Come to think of it, not happy by mine, either. You...well, it's your lookout, isn't it?
As for fame...hmmm! I suppose, if you were motivated by interest in what you were DOING, any fame that comes your way is something you'd think of as fame. But, if you were motivated by 'greed' or 'envy' or some such...well, those are things that are never satiated. Whatever you have, at any point in time, seems less than what you want, for 'Greed' is a never-satiated monster. And 'envy'...well, it always finds a new target once the old one ceases to be worthy of envy. You probably never do accept that you are worthy of the 'fame' you have. So, perhaps, Tiru does have a point.
As for me...well, first let me get the dratted 'fame'. IF I do, and since I am NOT a paragon of virtue, I'll let you know if I think of it as 'true fame' or I suffer from the 'Impostor Syndrome'. Till then, you are on your own!
