HERE WE HAVE A MANUAL THAT IS INVALUABLE FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO TRAIN THEMSELVES TO BECOME USEFUL TO A PRESIDENT, PRIME MINISTER, king or any head of state, CEO of a corporation or to become a Senator, Congressman or military leader—all jobs that are today more complex and sophisticated than any prime minister’s in the courts of the weaver’s day. These verses are explicit, helpful and informative, even to managers and workers who aspire to be first-rate second men. It is amazing that Valluvar has been able to accomplish offering so much of practical advice in so few words. Any corporate manual would have used hundreds of pages to explain what he illumines in ten— a total of one hundred verses explaining everything from what a minister must do to attain and maintain his office to the necessity of having no dread of speaking to an audience.§
It is here that we can see into the politics of two thousand years ago and sense the society that existed in the centuries before Valluvar lived and, reaching its height, led to his making these observations so eloquently and pricelessly. This one section of the book has been memorized and taken to heart, put into practice, by councilmen, barristers and political personages as well as religious leaders and others whose mission it is to articulate their cause. Chapters 64 through 73 belong to everyone who has a calling. Actors, journeymen, salespeople, graduates and soon-to-be graduates of any field will find the verses in section six of Tirukural most helpful.§
It was the literary style in those far-off days to write concisely. The weaver chose a difficult form, usually four words in the first line and three in the second line—seven measures in all. This concise, disciplined style is easily memorized, placed into the subconscious mind to later manifest in action, for a change in beliefs makes a change in attitude, and this in turn changes the image of the person, to himself as well as to others. Finally, all that the verses so memorized contain become his personality, his mode of operation and who he is.§
We can do the same, now that the same verses are available in modern English. Choose those you want to mold yourself into. Memorize them, read and reread them nightly just before sleep. When you are most sleepy is the best time for their meaning to slip into the subconscious mind. Then, during the night, the mind of the soul, the superconscious, will work with the subconscious, and slowly, ever so slowly, a transformation into the new you will occur.§
In the chapter on associating with monarchs are invaluable bits of advice. Then we have the advice of intuiting another’s thoughts by reading facial expressions, body movements and all that is unspoken—a valued tool for any leader or one aspiring to a higher position in any occupation. For the public speaker, the weaver gives a lesson in judging an audience, describing all the good that will happen as well as all the problems to be expected by failure to heed this advice. Discussing how to deal with opposition as well as success, he advises, “Before acting, resolve all doubts by pondering five points: cost, means, time, place and the action itself.” Many a failed business, small or large, would still be in business today had the owners but known and followed these five points.§
In chapter 66 Valluvar explains the difference between good money earned by right means and bad money earned by wrongful means. This advice involves the never-flinching law of karma. Wrongful acquisition, such as accepting bribes or, worse, give them, slowly destroys the morality of the community. Money earned from illegal enterprises has bad karmic consequences: You can’t do good things with bad money. It can never, ever be cleansed.§
