Pride Vs Humility

The mind is our enemy. The biggest fault of the mind is pride. Due to pride we are not able to become humble. And God is friend of humble souls. He cannot become our friend as long as we are not humble. We may bang our head against the ground uncountable lifetimes, but it will be useless.

The very first verse of the Ashtpadi (eight verses) of Gaurang Mahaprabhu says – Be more humble than a blade of grass. If you step on grass – on ‘doob’ etc. – you will notice that the blade of grass bends down. When you remove your foot, it becomes normal once again. A tree bears fruit. When you throw stones at the tree, the fruit drops to the ground. The tree does not get angry. In fact, it gives you fruits to eat. The tree responds to your stones with fruits. It is so tolerant. The tree does not eat its own fruits. It feeds you instead.

What do we have in our possession that we are proud of? If Sarasvati becomes proud of her knowledge; if Ravan becomes proud; if Indra becomes proud; if Kuber (celestial god of wealth) becomes proud; if Agni dev (god of fire) and Vayu (god of wind) become proud, their pride is valid. All of these personalities possess great powers. What power do we possess? What are we proud of?

If someone points out one of our faults, why do we feel bad? Who does not have faults? Think about this in private, behind closed doors. As long as the individual soul is controlled by maya, which fault does he not suffer from? Does he not possess desires, or anger, or pride, or attachment? Which fault does he not have? There are countless faults within, and if someone points out one of these to us, why do we feel offended? Why does the aspiring devotee ruin himself like this? If we feel offended, our mind will become polluted. We will suffer even physically due to anger.

Roop Gosvami wrote the scripture ‘Bhakti Rasamrit Sindhu.’ Jeev Gosvami went to visit Roop Gosvami. There, a scholar from Kashi had come, who identified a mistake in one of the verses of Roop Gosvami. This angered Jeev Gosvami greatly. He challenged the scholar to a debate on the bank of the Yamuna; debated with him all day long, and defeated him. How dare you find fault with the verses composed by my guru! Then he went to Roop Gosvami and said, “Guru Ji! A scholar had come from Kashi, and he had the audacity to find fault with one of your verses. I debated with him all day long and now I have come to you after defeating him.” Roop Gosvami said, “Get out of Braj! You do not deserve to stay here. You should have gotten angry at your own anger. Why did you become angry at him? Your Shri Krishna is sitting within him, and you caused him pain. On top of that, you have come here praising yourself! Your pride has increased; this has caused you further harm. I teach you the lesson of humility daily. And you have earned pride. Moreover, you have come to your guru so that he may congratulate you! If there is a mistake in the verse, let it be.”

So, Humility and Tolerance are the foundation of devotion. Think about it. Realize it. Reflect on this again and again. Realize it again and again. And, practice daily. In just ten days’ time, you will find yourself to be peaceful when you renounce your pride.

— Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj
Excerpted from His discourse “Deenata aur Shahansheelata”