Traits of the righteous.

 Tamil work Thrikadukam lists three things necessary for one’s own good, elaborated R. Narayanan in a discourse. One must earn money with a view to helping others. One must speak sweet words. One must live a virtuous life. These three qualities will save a man from hell, says Thrikadukam. Thirukkural, which offers a lot of valuable advice, also talks about how we should come to conclusions. We may hear a lot of things from various sources about some incident, or about a person. We must not jump to conclusions on the basis of what we hear. Thirukkural says that it is our responsibility to check out the veracity of the statements coming from various people, and then arrive at a conclusion.

Sirupanchamoolam says that we should share our wealth with others, and also learn to curb anger. These are the characteristic traits of righteous people. The world is kept alive and thriving only because of the presence in it of virtuous people. If not for such people, the world would have ceased to exist long ago, says another verse in Thirukkural.

There were rules to be followed even in warfare, and a verse in Purananuru brings this out. Before the war began, a drum would be sounded, warning women and children to go to safe places, for war was about to begin. It was also the norm that civilian areas, places where people gathered, temples and places where food was served to the needy, would be outside the war zone. Poet Avvaiyar says in Nalvazhi that when a river runs dry, one can walk across it, and at such times, one finds the sand scorching at midday. But if you dig the river bed a little, the water under the surface is cool. Likewise, generous men, even when they lose their riches, will continue to give to others whatever they can.