Swami ji said …
“उसमें अहंकार कूट कूट के भरा है…” “पता नहीं वो क्यों इतना अहंकारी है?” ‘Why is he so arrogant?’ Haven’t many of us fumed in anger; expressed our frustration and exasperation while interacting with individuals – who refuse to let go their point of view. They refuse to listen to the perspective of others ; cutting off people in between ; making it clear that what they say is the last word and there is no room for them – to accommodate what others think or have to say. So rigid are they while expressing an opinion – that flexibility we feel is unknown to them – and they begin to feel that , if, they loosen up even a little ; relent to others opinions and accept their view point – ” उन्हें ऐसा लगता है, जैसे उनकी नाक कट जाएगी …”
The false sense of pride that they foolishly develop by thinking that they are the ones who are always right ; can only be right – and that the others are always wrong – is only leading them up a path of make believe – which will finally leave them feeling deserted and isolated – in the long run. Gradually, their ego turns them into headstrong , stubborn individuals – who grow accustomed to not being countered , controlled or checked by others – and end up agitating other people unnecessarily. Unless they are checked and attempts are made to refrain them from letting their egos – ”उनका ‘अहंकार ‘” – get the better of them; they are looking at a bleak future – in which a lot of resentment, dislike and displeasure – from others – awaits them.
Why should any of us behave in a manner that would be so contradictory to how God would like us to behave with others ? If we were to give it some serious consideration – we could relate with the thought that maybe – ‘हमारा ‘अहंकार’ ‘ – is that one trait , one characteristic – that wasn’t gifted to us by God – but created by us – ourselves.
Arrogance is what separates us from the Divine. If there is no humility in us – how can we, then , ever hope to see the Hand of God – that alone has the power to write our destiny. The ‘ego’ is what blinds us. We become believers of – “When I do this – only then do things happen.” But , in reality – we have control – only over what we can ‘do’. What happens as a result of that – is never in our control. Those who have humility, realise this very soon. They understand what is meant by God’s grace. They realise that it is only through His power that we are able to function.They realise that all that has come about in their lives is because of Him. It is the humble – who realise ‘what’ the world around them truly is. They do not see themselves as superior to others, but , that they are simply blessed by God and nothing more. They are thankful to Him for His blessings and try to repay His kindness by being good, kind and honest as He would want them to be. Such people, thus, are always good to have around us. They carry no air of self-importance or superiority. They see and treat everyone with equal respect and love and feel for one and all.
Arrogance is also what leads to jealousy. If we cannot be humble, then , we will not be able to appreciate God’s kindness to us. In such a state, we will never experience a single moment of gratitude in life. We will always see, compare and want what others have. We will be jealous of others for some reason or another. We will never be happy with our own lot in life and are bound to be in conflict with others. We will always find fault with others and resent other’s successes and celebrate their failures.
Arrogance, thus, will never make it possible for us to have healthy relationships with others. There will always be mistrust and deceit even in our relationships with our closest ones.
We need to think as to what could happen to those who allow arrogance to rule over them ? Their downfall is surely written in stone. Be it Ravan in the Ramayana or Duryodhan in the Mahabharat – those who act with arrogance always end up being at the receiving end of life’s cane.
No matter how good one’s life is – how great things are for him – any arrogance in him – can be removed by a flip in fate – that he couldn’t have ever seen coming his way. This is God’s way of reminding us about who actually is in charge. Thus, instead of having Him trying to remind us – we must try to check ourselves – the moment we feel that we begin to give undue importance to ourselves and bask in unwarranted admiration of our own abilities. The more we ‘clean’ ourselves of these ideas of ‘me’ and ‘ I ‘- the ‘more’ we prepare ourselves to experience the beauty and mystical power of God.
We must remember that – ‘ Life elevates the humble – and humbles the arrogant”.
Dedicated to Swamiji Ajay Jain ji 