Because he was fearless, despite his disability (he went blind). Though it would have been easy, he did not get lazy, physically, mentally and morally tooo, he did not become dependent. Rather, he studied, travelled, wrote (maybe he dictated his poems/proverbs) I don't know the details but he was very famous in his time.

He openly opposed rote learning and the manipulative power-seeking of religionists who con simple people to enrich themselves. he was vegetarian all his life, and later on, regretted that he had taken the honey for the har-working bees!

His epitaph was 'The sin committed by my father rI have not imposed on anyone'. (He very consciously was anti natalist). The present world is facing multiple catastrophes of apocalyptic proportions yet, the majority of people keep blindly on, having children, without a thought for what they will go through, even just 30 years from now.