Date: 14 FEBRUARY 2018

Time uploaded in London- 21-39

Written by London swaminathan

Post No. 4744

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Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar has sung about Envy (jealousy) in his work Tirukkural, which was praised as Tamil Veda by his contemporaries.

Tiruvalluvar says,

‘’None has grown richer by envying

Ans no one has lost by not envying’’ (Kural 170)

In another couplet he says

‘’If an envious man accumulates wealth, and a virtuous man

Comes by misfortune, both these need scrutiny’’ – 169

‘He who is envious needs no enemies to ruin him’ – 165

‘The Goddess of Fortune shuns the envious’-  167

‘Envy destroys one’s wealth’ – Kural 168

Here is a story about envying told by C Hayavandana Rau in a book published 100 years ago. I have summarised it:

“A poor man with numerous children to support was daily begged by his wife to try his luck in a different town. At last he yielded to her request and started on a long trip. Overjoyed at his determination, his wife, who was a thoughtful woman, prepared him some dishes and packed them in a box.

Half way through his travel he wanted to take rest and so placed everything under a tree and went to wash his hands and feet in the nearby river. He suspended his meal box in a tree branch after looking around and making checks for monkeys and other animals.

Siva- Uma Rangoli by Mangalam srinivasan

Since it was evening, Parvati and Parameswar were on their usual round. The soft breeze carried the sweet smell of the dishes to the gods. Parvati, being a woman wanted to taste the food and get the recipe. Parameswar (Siva) agreed.

Before the person came back they ate the food and replaced the bronze box with a golden box with magical powers.

When the person came back from the river he was very hungry and so spread the banana leaf and tried to empty the box. Nothing was inside but he noticed the box is a golden box now. And he turned it over on the leaf before him, and his plate (leaf) was full of the tastiest food in the world. Now he realised it was a gift with magic powers sent by the gods. He returned home hurriedly to tell his wife and others the story. Just to thank the deities who gave him the magic box husband and wife arranged a big party for the villagers.

Everybody heard the story about the bronze box becoming a golden box and it gave food for everyone and it never runs out. The word about miracle spread far and wide and he had a very jealous couple in the very next door. The jealous wife asked her husband to go on travel like him. She expected a bigger golden box. She also made pack lunch for him and asked to do everything the same way his neighbour did. He went on a trip and took rest like his neighbour. At that time a Brahma Rakshas ( Ghosts) couple were travelling along that path. When the jealous man went to take a bath the ghosts took his bronze box with food and left him a lead box with evil powers. When the jealous man saw the change in the bundle ran to his wife saying the box had changed. Without checking, his wife invited all the villagers for a lunch. When she emptied the box, the ghosts (brahma rakshas) appeared before everyone and cut off the persons’ nose.

The moral of the story is ‘Jealousy brings punishment in its train’.

–Subham-