586. Ten Gold Coins

"We have come to another country on a spiritual mission. We should confine ourselves to carrying out our activities and take care to ensure that we don't get involved in any controversy or contentious issue" said Swami Santhananda.

His three disciples nodded their heads in acceptance.

A few days after their settling down in that country, Santhananda and his three disciples were arrested by security guards and taken to the Chief of Security.

"Tell me the real reason for your visit to our country. If you speak the truth, I will ensure that you are given minimum punishment" said the Chief.

"Sir! We have come here to propagate our spiritual philosophy. If you don't like our spreading our message, we will go back to our country. Please set us free" pleaded Santhananda.

"How can we set you free? We have been coming across many cases of foreigners masquerading as spiritual teachers or saints and spying on our country. Even recently, we caught two such saints. When we interrogated them, they spit out the truth that they had come here not on a spiritual mission but on a mission of espionage" said the Chief, with a mischievous smile.

From the tone of the Chief's words and his use of the phrase 'spit out,' Santhananda and his disciples realized how the spies that were caught would have been made to spit out the truth.

"Just because some people who came to your country in the garb of spiritual masters were involved in espionage activities, is it fair to assume that all those who come to your country on a spiritual mission have the intention of intelligence gathering?" asked Santhananda.

"Our suspicions are not without any reason. We have information that a person, who could be a suspect, visited your monastery"

"I can say with certainty that no such person visited our place." 

"A guard had noticed a person leaving your place surreptitiously through the backdoor. When the guard called him to check on him, he ran away" said the Chief.

"Someone might have entered our place stealthily, intending to commit robbery and finding that there was nothing valuable to steal, might have run away through the backdoor, when he was sighted by your guard. We never allowed any visitor to leave through the backdoor" said Santhananda. 

"No. Our guard saw someone from your monastery talking to a person standing near the backdoor. Our guard also says that it seemed that the person from your monastery placed something on the palm of the suspect. We suspect that that man had given you some information and someone from your monastery gave him money in exchange for the information."

"This is preposterous" said Santhananda,

"I am going to award ten whiplashes to each of you. If you won't come out with the truth even after that, I will understand that you aspire for more rewards and shower more rewards on you. The rain of rewards will keep falling on you, till at least one of you come out with the truth" said the chief.

The Chief then signaled to a guard, who went inside to bring the whip.

"There is no need, sir. I will tell you the truth. The incident mentioned by you did happen. It was me who gave ten gold coins to that person and sent him out through the backdoor of our place" said Gunaseelan, one of the three disciples.

Santhananda and the other two disciples looked at Gunaseelan, with surprise and shock.

"Ten gold coins? What did that traitor sell you for such a low price?" asked the Chief, with indignation.

"Sir, he is a traitor alright. But, he didn't betray your country. He betrayed a poor man like me, by deceiving me and collecting ten gold coins from me!" said Gunaseelan.

"Tel me what happened, in detail" said the Chief, feeling impatient. 

"Sir! This is the second time I have visited your country. When I came here last year for the first time, I met a young woman called Poovizhi. She was working as a construction labourer. I fell in love with her. Even after returning to my country, I was tormented by my love for her and craved to meet her again. I had no money to travel to your country. I learnt that this saint was planning to visit your country. So, I became his disciple and came here along with him. After coming here, oneday, I went to a construction site and enquired about Poovizhi, hoping that someone would be able to give me information about her. A man working there told me that he knew Poovizhi. He offered to bring her to a specified place to meet me, if I paid him ten gold coins. Since I had no money with me, I asked him to come to the backdoor of our monastery at a specified time. I stole ten gold coins from the cash box at the monastery and gave it to him. But he never came back. I realized that he had cheated me after receiving the money from me" said Gunaseelan.

"You scoundrel! You have used the noble practice of asceticism to subserve your quest for lust. You have brought disrepute to me and to my other disciples by your deceptive act" said Santhananda, angrily.

The Chief told Gunaseelan "How do I know that you are speaking the truth? I am going to imprison all the four of you. Our guards will give a special treatment to you alone, by treating you to whiplashes, to see whether any more truth is coming out of you. In the meanwhile, if we are able to catch the person who ran away from your place, we will extract the truth from him." 

He then turned to Santhananda and told him in an apologetic tone, "If what your disciple says is verified to be true, I will apologize to you and send you back to your country, with all honours due to a saint. Till that time, you will be treated as a royal guest. That is to say, though you would be confined to a guest house and your movement restricted, you would be given all the facilities inside the guest house. Of course, you won't be given the 'rewards' your disciple is going to be given!"

Saying this, the Chief chuckled.

Gunaseelan's body was rife with lacerations caused by whiplashes he was receiving every day. Gunaseelan continued to maintain that he was speaking the truth and that he had nothing more to add. The guards could not trace the person who ran away from the monastery.

After ten days, all the four of them were released, taken to the border of their country and made to step into the territory of their country.

"Welcome, Gunaseelan! Have your wounds healed?" asked Bhupathy, the Intelligence Chief, warmly receiving Gunaseelan, who came to meet him, a few days after returning to his country.

"That is not my name, Chief!" said Gunaseelan, smiling.

"You are right, Kathirvelan! You are no longer Gunaseelan, since Gunaseelan's mission has been completed! The intelligence you have gathered is highly useful. Congratulations. It was good of you to have sent me the full report through one of our agents immediately on returning to the country, with the message that you would meet me in person after your wounds healed to some extent. It was great of you to have protected Santhananda and his two disciples from being hurt by your captors, by telling the captors that they were not aware of your being an impostor."

"Yes, Chief. Though I was not a genuine disciple of my Guru, I believe that my saving him from being subjected to ill-treatment by my captors was a kind of Gurudakshina* to him.

*Gurudakshina - an offering made by a disciple to the Guru, as a token of his gratitude for the learning bestowed on him by the Guru.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 586 (in Tamil):

thuRandhAr padivaththAr Agi iRandhu ArAyndhu
en seyinum sOrvu iladhu oRRu.

Meaning:

A spy should be able to go incognito, posing as as an ascetic and others, infiltrate all places, and tirelessly gather intelligence by any means and never disclose his secret, whatever suffering or pain is inflicted on him.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'paththu poRkAsugaL' by the same author.) 

Verse 587 (Soon)
Verse 585

585. The Spy Who Went on A Tour

One week passed since Manimaran had entered the Ponni country. During this period, he visited several places, as a tourist.

When he was looking at the sculptures on the rock near a temple, someone tapped on his back.

Manimaran turned back. Two security guards were standing there.

"Our Chief wants to meet you. Come with me" one of them told Manimaran.

"I am a tourist coming from Azhagapuri" said Manimaran.

"We didn't ask you who you were! Come with us quietly!" said the other guard.

Manimaran was produced before the the Chief of the Guards. The Chief questioned him at length about his identity and the purpose of his visit to the country.

Manimaran answered his questions patiently.

"You answered my questions patiently and clearly. Now you can go" said the Chief. "To the prison" he added with a chuckle.

"Sir! Everything I said is true. Azhagapuri is a friendly country of yours. Why do you suspect me?" asked Manimaran.

"We don't care to which country you belong. We suspect that you came here to spy on our country. If you tell me the truth, you can save yourself from getting hurt" said the Chief.

"Sir! There can only be one truth. It won't change. I have already revealed the truth to you. I aver that I hail from Azhagapuri. I am interested in looking at the artworks and antique structures of various countries. I heard many people in our country speak highly of the artworks, sculptures and architectural wonders in your country. I was interested in looking at those treasures. That is why I have come to your country as a tourist. Is this how you will treat a guest?" said Manimaran.

"You are a guest, alright. That is why, we are going to treat you in a special way and offer you a sumptuous feast" said the Chief. with a smirk on his face.

The guards took Manimaran away and led him to the prison.

For the next few days, Manimaran was treated to a 'sumptuous feast' in the prison by the guards. The 'feast' included keeping him starved for a long time, denying even water and getting him whipped and caned several times.

After five days, Manimaran was released from the prison. The Chief of Guards apologized to him for the treatment he was given at the prison.

After Manimaran was released from the prison, he was given accommodation in a guest house attached to the palace and given the treatment due to a royal guest. 

The palace doctor treated his wounds. The experience of tasting the delicious food offered to him and sleeping on the luxurious bed in the guest house made Manimaran feel that he was transferred from the hell to the heaven.

After Manimaran's wounds were healed to some extent and he became fit to move, he was mounted on a horse and taken to the country's border with Azhagapuri and left there.

"Wonderful, Manimaran! You have passed the test. You have become qualified to be a spy" said the Intelligence Chief.

"Did I become qualified only now? I was already sent to the Ponni country as a spy!" asked Manimaran, perplexed.

"No, Manimaran. Our sending you to Ponni country was by way of a test, we make people who are recruited as spies to undergo. Ponni country being our friendly country, we have an arrangement with that country. We send our spy recruits to that country for training. It will send its recruits to our country. The training the recruits undergo is a practical training. Even before sending you to Ponni country, I had sent a message to the Intelligence Chief of Ponni country, giving details about you. From the moment you laid your foot on the country's soil, its guards were watching you. Before you returned to our country, the report about you had been received by me, from the Intelligence Chief of Ponni country. You passed the test" said the Intelligence Chief, smiling.

"May I know what was said about me in the report?" asked Manimaran.

"The report said that you conducted yourself in a way no one would suspect you. The guards there observed you for one week, by discretely following you. After satisfying themselves that you had passed the first level of the test, they arrested you and interrogated you. This was the second level of the test. You were calm and unperturbed during the interrogation. The third level of the test was imprisoning you and subjecting you to torture. You may be angry with me for subjecting you to pain and suffering. But, if you were to be caught while spying, this is what you would have to undergo. You endured the torture and remained strong, by not breaking and not revealing the truth about you. Congratulations!"

"Chief! You may remember that when you announced your decision to send me to Ponni country for spying, I asked you why you wanted to spy on a friendly country" said Manimaran.

"Yes, I do. I replied that we should keep an eye even on a friendly country."

"What you had said was proved right, Chief. Ponni country has begun to court Sitala country, which is inimical to us. This was the truth I uncovered during my brief stay in Ponni country. I have prepared a detailed report outlining the basis for my finding. It is my humble opinion that we should no longer be complacent while dealing with Ponni country, considering it a friendly country but be more circumspect in dealing with that country."

Manimaran handed the the pack of palm leaves, on which he had written his report, to the Intelligence Chief.

The Intelligence Chief quickly browsed through the manuscript.

After reading the report, he felt excited and hugged Manimaran, saying, "Even during your training, you have done a wonderful job. The inputs you have gathered are valuable and eye-opening. I will tell the king about your great job and recommend to him to reward you suitably."

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 585 (in Tamil):

kadA uruvodu kaN anjAdhu yANdum
ugAmai valladhE oRRu.

Meaning:

A spy should be capable of inconspicuous appearance,

fearlessly looking into others’ eyes and never disclosing critical facts.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'payaNa anubavam' by the same author.) 

Verse 586
Verse 584

584. After the Arrest

"I have been frantically trying to reach you. You didn't pick up the phone. And, you are returning home so late!" grumbled Sumathy, even as Sundararaman was stepping into his house

"What can I do, Sumathy? I am a Sales Executive. If my phone rings when I am talking to a prospect, he will say, 'Your phone is ringing. attend to it' and slip away, using the opportunity as an excuse. That is why I keep my phone in silent mode most of the time. I looked at the phone only when I was about to leave from the office and saw the missed calls from you. You had called me our or five times. What is the matter?" replied Sundararaman, loosening his tie.

"The police have arrested Rani's husband. She cried to me over the phone, saying, 'I don't have anyone else. Ask your husband to do something.' That is why I called you. But you didn't pick up the phone. And you are coming home at 9 p.m!" said Sumathy, half in grief and half in anger.

"What! They arrested your sister's husband! He is such a nice man. What wrong did he commit?"

"What wrong could he have committed? As you said, he is a gem of a person. They said that he was arrested for having links with some insurgents. He has been a quiet person, sitting at home and reading the newspaper. What connection could he have had with insurgents?"

"Sometimes, the police arrest the wrong person, due to some misunderstanding. I will go to the police station tomorrow morning with a lawyer and try to get him released on bail" said Sundararaman.

The next day, Sundararaman called up Sumathy and told her, "They have arrested your sister's husband under non-bailable sections. They say that he was in contact with some insurgents. They have remanded him for fifteen days. After that, they will produce him in the court, for extending his custody. The lawyer says we can apply for bail at that time. We can't do anything now."

"Congratulations, Sundararaman! Because of the intelligence gathered by you about Govindarajan, after you had suspected him of helping some insurgents and put him under surveillance, we were able to arrest him. You have done a commendable job by being dutiful, without giving any consideration to Govindarajan being closely related to you" said Kumaraswamy, Sundararaman's superior officer.

"It was tough, sir. I can't reveal to anyone that I am working in the Intelligence department and I have been lying to everyone including my wife that I am working as a sales executive in a non-existent company. I spied on my brother-in-law and after finding out that he had links with insurgents, got him arrested. And I deceived my wife by pretending to have made efforts to get him released on bail. Two years back, I gathered intelligence about a friend of mine who was engaged in drugs trade and got him arrested. Sometimes, I feel bad about exposing people close to me and lying to my family members about my job and activities!" said Sundararaman.

"This is our job, Sundararaman. We can't help it. Did I not expose my colleague Ramani who was helping drug smugglers, get him arrested and convicted? In the Gita, Krishna says, 'In the battle field, we shouldn't give room for thoughts about someone being our relative or friend. This advice will be appropriate to our profession of surveillance and intelligence gathering as well" said Kumaraswamy. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 584 (in Tamil):

vinai seyvAr tham suRRam vENdAdhAr enRu Angu
anaivaraiyum ArAyvadhu oRRu.

Meaning:

Having everyone – officials, kin and foes,

under surveillance is the job of a spy.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kaidhukkuk kAraNam' by the same author.) 

Verse 585 (Soon)
Verse 583

583. The Home Minister

Guruchandar was elected to be the Chief Minister by the legislators belonging to his party. But, the dominance of other leaders in the party created difficulties for Guruchander in selecting his cabinet colleagues and allocating portfolios to them.

After prolonged deliberations within the party forums and among the senior leaders of the party, the cabinet formation was finalized.

Some of the leaders who were expecting cabinet posts were disappointed. Among those who got cabinet posts, some did not get the portfolios they had asked for.

However, those who were given berths in the cabinet realized that they needed to make some compromises, if they wanted to retain their cabinet posts, grudgingly accepted the portfolios given to them and assumed office.

"It is customary for the Chief Minister to hold the Home portfolio. But you remained firm in your demand for the Home portfolio and got it. This is a significant victory for you" Satish, a supporter, told Home Minister Ganeshbabu.

"What do you think? I could have made a claim for the Chief Minister's post. But I think the time is not ripe for it. If I have the Home portfolio, I will be able to do things favourable to our supporters in the party, keep our rivals in the party at bay and strengthen our faction. That way, it will be easy for me to climb the throne, when the right circumstances develop" said Ganeshbabu, feeling euphoric.

"Is there not a practice of the Intelligence Chief giving a report to the Home Minister, on a daily basis, highlighting the important information gathered by the department?" Ganeshbabu asked the Director General of Police (DGP).

"Yes, there is" said the DGP.

"It has been a week since I assumed office as the Home Minister. The Intelligence Chief made a courtesy call on me the day I assumed office. But, after that, he never reported to me."

"I don't know about it, sir. As you are aware, though the Intelligence Chief is my sub-ordinate officer, he functions autonomously. I cannot interfere in his functioning. I won't be able to question him. It will be appropriate, if you can summon him and ask him about it."

Ganeshbabu did not want to share with the DGP that he had summoned the Intelligence Chief a couple of times, but that he ignored the minister's summons, realizing that if he did, he would only be sharing his humiliation with the DGP.

"Ok. I will take care of it" said Ganeshbabu.

Chief Minister Guruchandar warmly received Ganeshbabu, who entered his cabin.

"The Intelligence Chief doesn't respect me. He doesn't give me the daily report, as required. I had summoned him twice, but he ignored my summons. I suggest that you replace him immediately" Ganeshbabu told the Chief Minister, in a demanding voice.

"If I replace him with another person, the new person will also act in the same way!" said the Chief Minister, smiling.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"It was my directive that the Intelligence Chief report to me alone, and not to any other minister or the DGP."

"Why? Is it not customary for the Intelligence Chief to report to the Home Minister?"

"Yes. But, it is also customary for the Home portfolio to be held by the Chief Minister. With that custom having been broken by my ceding the home portfolio to you, I thought it appropriate to change the other custom also!" said Guruchandar.

"But why?"

"Mr. Ganeshbabu! It is the Chief Minister's prerogative to allocate the portfolio to the cabinet ministers. But, because of the factional pulls in our party, I could not do so. I had to accept quite a few compromises. But, unless I know what is happening in the country through the daily reports given by the Intelligence department, I won't be able to run the government effectively. That is why I made this arrangement."

"If the Intelligence chief submits the reports to me, I will definitely share them with you" said Ganeshbabu, climbing down from his belligerent stance and striking a conciliatory note.

"Of course, you will. But I think, from the point of governance, it will be better that I receive the report directly from the Intelligence Chief and share with you what is relevant to your department, rather than you receiving the report from the Intelligence Chief and deciding what parts of the report are to be shared with me" said Guruchandar, in a firm tone.

"In future, if you become the Chief Minister - I know that you have that ambition - and the Home portfolio is held by another minister, you will find this idea useful!" he added, with a smile. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 583 (in Tamil):

oRRinAn oRRip poruL theriyA mannavan
koRRam koLak kidandhadhu il.

Meaning:

There is no way a king can succeed, if he does not gather intelligence on the happenings in the country, using surveillance and taking action as per his assessment of the situation revealed by such intelligence.

 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'uLavuththuRai' by the same author.) 

Verse 584
Verse 582

582.The King's Friend

"How are you, Your Majesty!" asked Narheeran.

"I was fine, till a moment ago!" quipped King Makutapathi.

"Sorry. I seem to have come at a wrong time" said Narkeeran, somewhat taken aback.

"Stupid fool! Shall I not feel hurt, if a dear friend addresses me 'Your Majesty'?" said Makutapathy, laughing and putting his hand on Narkeeran's shoulder, by way of showing his affection for his friend.

"Thank God! For a moment, I was upset thinking that I came to meet you at a wrong time. Though we are childhood friends, the fact remains that you are the king and I am an ordinary citizen."

"Friendship comes first. Wealth, position, power and social status can only rank below friendship. This is what our teacher taught us in Gurukulam*. Have you forgotten it?"

"Well, when I was in Gurukulam, I never focused on learning. Having got as my classmate the crown prince of my country, I didn't consider education important to me. Now, let me come to the purpose of my visit. Though I am your friend, I shouldn't be wasting the precious time of the king. My daughter's marriage has been fixed. I came here to hand you the invitation for the wedding. My wife and I extend our warm invitation to the king and the queen."

Narkeeran looked at his wife, who was standing a few feet behind him. Taking his cue, she advanced a few steps and stood next to her husband, holding a tray on which were some flowers, marriage invitation, and tiny cups filled with sandalwood paste and saffron powder. Narkeeran and his wife held the tray together and presented it to the king and the queen standing near him.

The king picked up the invitation and both the king and the queen, following tradition, applied a peck of sandal paste and saffron powder on their foreheads

"I am very happy, Narkeeran. I am sure that you would have chosen a worthy gentleman as your daughter's bridegroom" said Mukutapathy.

"The practice of parents choosing the match for their siblings seems to have ended with our generation. The young lads and lasses of today prefer to choose their life-partners, by themselves" said Narkeeran, with a sigh.

"I am sure that your daughter has selected a good person, suitable to her. Otherwise, you wouldn't have given your consent for the marriage!" said Makutapathy, looking at Narkeeran's wife with a smile.

After Narkeeran and his wife took leave of the king and queen. Queen Thilakavathy asked her husband, "You told me a few days back that Narkeeran's daughter was in love with a merchant. But you talked to your friend, as if you were not aware of it!"

"I got that information through our intelligence service. How can I tell my friend that I spied on his daughter?" asked Makutapathy, laughing. 

"You spied on the family members of your friend! This is atrocious" said Thilakavathy, shocked by the king's reply.

"Thilakavathy! Our enemies can infiltrate among people close to us also. After infiltrating, they will use the contacts in various ways. They may try to get confidential information about me and my regime, or cause harm to our country by manipulating their contacts to perform seemingly innocuous tasks, designed to cause some kind of harm to our country, or by using their friendship in some other undesirable ways. What if the merchant who loved Narkeeran's daughter had a motive of learning some secrets about me or my regime, by getting close to Narkeeran? I was able to confirm that he was a good person, with no ulterior motives, only by having our intelligence service spy on Narkeeran's daughter and ascertain facts about her lover. Only through surveillance, a king will be able to identify who is good, who is wicked, whether there is any infiltration etc. It is the job of the spy to look at everyone with suspicion, till the time that person is cleared of all suspicions" explained the king.

"I don't know whether it is a coincidence, but when you have been talking to me about your intelligence set up, the Intelligence Chief has arrived at your doorstep to meet you. I will retire to the queen's quarters. Hopefully, you won't ask him to spy on me!" said Thilakavathy, mockingly.

She smiled at her husband and withdrew from the room.

"Come in Intelligence Chief" Makutapathy welcomed the Intelligence Chief, who was standing at the doorsteps of the King's room. "Give me the updates" he said, after the Intelligence Chief entered the room.

"As per your instruction, we put the Queen's brother under surveillance. I have confirmed that the foreigners he met are traders, not spies" said the Intelligence Chief.

"What a relief! You have taken a heavy load off my chest, by dispelling my concerns!" said Makutapathy, 

*Gurukulam is a system of education followed in ancient India, in which the students stayed at the teacher's home and learnt, while also doing service to the teacher in various ways.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 582 (in Tamil):

ellArkkum ellAm nigazhbavai ejnAnRun
vallaRidhal vEndhan thozhil.

Meaning:

It is the duty of a king to learn (through spies) what all happens, amongst all men, quickly, on a continuous basis.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'naNbarE AnAlum' by the same author.) 

Verse 583 (Soon)
Verse 581

581. The Humiliated Minister

"Your Majesty! As per your wish, you have stepped down as the king and crowned your son. I will serve your son with the same sense of loyalty with which I served you" said Viswarupan, the Minister.

"Minister! I find a contradiction in your statement" said King Gunavarman,

"What is it, Your Majesty?" asked the Minister, perplexed.

"Now that my son has been crowned, he is the king now. But you addressed me 'Your Majesty!'" said the King, smiling.

"How else can I address you, Your Majesty! Perhaps I should address you 'Your Super Majesty!" said Viswarupan, smiling.

"In that case, hereafter you will be the Super Minister!"

"What do you mean, Your Majesty..er..Your Super Majesty?" asked Viswarupan, feeling perturbed.

"You called me 'Your Super Majesty' because, I have been superannuated as the king. Since you are going to be superannuated, you will become Super Minister."

Viswarupan kept quiet, not knowing what to say, while the king's court was stunned into silence, realizing that something was amiss. 

Gunavarman's son Ilamaran, who had just been crowned the king, attempted to say something to his father, but was signaled to be silent by Gunavarman.

Gunavarman told Viswarupan, "Viswarupan! You also need rest. From now onwards, sit at home and enjoy your retirement. The new king has decided to appoint Poet Nalkeerthi, who wrote the book of ethics, 'An Moral Code for the Mortals,' as the new minister."

Feeling humiliated by the king making the announcement in the court, in the presence of several dignitaries and officials present there, Viswarupan left the court, with his gaze directed at the ground. The king didn't attempt to stop him.

"Father! Why did you relieve Viswarupan of his position as the Minister?" Ilamaran asked his father, when the two were alone.

"For the same reason that I stepped down as the king and crowned you the king. Like me, Viswarupan has also become old!" replied Gunavarmar.

"You could have conveyed your decision to him in private and allowed him to step down honourably. Why did you make the announcement in the court, in front of several people assembled there? He was visibly upset. He felt humiliated."

"I didn't intend to humiliate him. If he felt that way, what can I do about it?

"You said that I had appointed Nalkeerthi as the new minister! But, I didn't. Why did you say so?"

"A king has to be well-versed in the concepts of ethics and morality. For this, he should read books on this subject. You are young. It will take several years for you to read such books and equip yourself with the concepts outlined in those books. I thought that having a person well-versed in this subject as the minister will help you learn these concepts in a better way and in a shorter time. Nalkeerthi is a scholar and an authority on the principles of ethics. He has written a book, presenting his knowledge of the subject in a simple way. That is why I appointed him as the minister, on your behalf" explained Gunavarman.

Ilamaran was not satisfied by his father's explanation, but decided not to discuss the matter further.

"Your Majesty! I am sorry that I have to bring a disturbing development to your notice, at a time you are still grieving over your father's demise" Manikantan, the Intelligence Chief, told King Ilamaran.

"Tell me. Though the period of mourning for my father's death is not over, the responsibility of governing the country is always with me" said King Ilamaran.

"The king of Kanva is making preparations to invade our country."

"Is this information reliable?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. For the past few years, the intelligence gathered by my men have been accurate."

"I appreciate your efficient functioning. Let me convene the Advisory Council to discuss the issue and take a decision."

"Your Majesty! I need to discuss a matter with you" said Manikantan, hesitatingly.

"Go ahead!"

"Do you know the whereabouts of our former minister Sri Viswarupan?"

"You are the Intelligence Chief. You should give me information!" said Ilamaran, smiling. 

He then added, with a sigh: "I don't know where he went, after leaving the court, angry and humiliated. I took a lot of efforts to trace him, without my father's knowledge. But my efforts were not successful. I understand that he had left the country. But, why are you asking me about him now?"

"It is Sri Viswarupan who has been sending me intelligence reports about the developments in Kanva country."

"What do you mean?"

"You should pardon me, Your Majesty! This was an arrangement made by your late father. At the time you were crowned, our country was facing threats from Kanva country. Your father felt that we should have an effective intelligence gathering system operating from Kanva country. He decided that Sri Viswarupan would be the right person to monitor the intelligence gathered by our men operating from Kanva. He staged a situation of Sri Viswarupan being humiliated in the open court, leading to his exit as a bitter man. This drama was enacted with the full knowledge and co-operation of Sri Viswarupan. It was the late king's intention that every one including you should believe that Sri Viswarupan was estranged from the king so that he could pose himself as an enemy of our country and spy for us! Your father shared this secret with me alone, since I was the Intelligence Chief. But he enjoined me to not reveal the truth to you, during his lifetime. With your father having passed away, I now feel free to reveal the truth to you" said Manikantan.

"My father had provided me with a minister well versed in ethics and morals to guide me in governing the country in accordance with the rules of morality and an excellent intelligence structure led by an able person to help me protect the country from the enemies. What a great legacy has my father left for me!" said Ilamaran, overwhelmed by mixed feelings of joy, gratitude and sorrow.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 59

Managing Intelligence Operations

Verse 581 (in Tamil):

oRRum urai sAnRa nUlum ivai iraNdum
theRRenga mannavan kaN.

Meaning:

Intelligence operations and highly regarded books –

a king should consider them his eyes.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'amaichcharukku nErndha anubavam' by the same author.) 

Verse 582
Verse 580

580. The Saboteur

Muthuswamy stopped Mukilan, who was about to fall at his feet.

"These practices would be considered appropriate in the political party you earlier belonged to, not in ours!" said Muthuswamy, smiling.

For a moment, Mukilan wondered whether Muthuswamy was subtly pointing out that Mukilan had defected from another political party. 

But, he immediately told himself that Muthuswamy was not a person, who would resort to such jibe. He would have made that remark casually.

"I am contesting from this constituency, as per the desire of our leader. I wanted to get your blessings first" said Mukilan.

"You will always have my blessings. I will campaign for you and work for your win. Start your election work immediately" said Muthuswamy.

Mukilan bowed to Muthuswamy and took leave of him.

Nathan, a long time supporter of Muthuswamy in the party, who had been sitting in the room and watching the scene, told Muthuswamy, "Sir! The party leadership has been unjust to you. Many in our party, including me, were anticipating that you would contest the election from this constituency and become a minister, after winning the election. The media had also been carrying reports to this effect. But our leader chose to give the ticket to this chameleon, who had joined our party only recently!" in a tone of indignation. 

"Our leader knows what is good for the party. He also knows that I don't crave for any position."

"Don't campaign for Mukilan, sir. He doesn't deserve your support."

"Why do you say so?"

"I got this information from a source in our party headquarters. Originally, our leader had intended to give the ticket to you. Mukilan misrepresented to our leader that if you contested from this constituency, people belonging to certain castes won't vote for you, and that it would result in our party losing the seat and persuaded the leader to give him the ticket, claiming that belonging to a particular caste gave Mukilan an advantage."

"Your information is correct!"

"You know about this already!" exclaimed Nathan.

"Some of my friends in the media sounded me on this. Even before the party formally announced the candidature of Mukilan, I had been anticipating this development.

"You could have talked to the leader and got the ticket for you."

"You know pretty well that I don't seek any favour for myself from the party. If the party or our leader gave me a position or responsibility, I would accept it. That has been my outlook."

"This is not fair. That man had the temerity to ask for your blessing and support, after cunningly snatching the opportunity from you. This is adding insult to injury. But, you blessed him and offered to canvass votes for him! You command the support of all sections of people in this constituency. But, for getting the ticket for himself, Mukilan presented a false picture to our leader that you won't get the support of certain caste groups, in our constituency. Why should you campaign for a person, who sabotaged you? If you refrain from campaigning for him, people will understand that he doesn't have your blessings and decide not to vote for him. Only when he loses the election, he will learn the bitter lesson that he can't succeed through sabotage and mend his ways. Our leader will also realize his folly" said Nathan.

"No, Nathan. I offered to campaign for him, only after knowing that he had grabbed the opportunity from me, through sabotage. He acted as per his nature. I will act as per my nature" said Muthuswamy, placidly.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 58

Compassion

Verse 58 (in Tamil):

peyak kaNdum nanjuNdu amaivar nayath thakka
nAgarigam vENdubavar.

Meaning:

Those who desire to cultivate the loveable trait of urbanity will, even after seeing poison being poured, consume it and remain placid.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'paRi pOna vAyppu' by the same author.) 

Verse 581
Verse 579