In our efforts to become pure, pride somehow or the other sneaks in. How to avoid this?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Any other question? Hare Krishna.
Question from Narendra Bharti Prabhu. In our efforts to become pure, sometimes pride somehow or other sneaks in. How do we avoid this? Answer.
Firstly, it is far better to be proud of our purity than proud of our impurity. Today we live in such a society that people sometimes consider sin to be fashionable. And there have been people who, the more they get into sexual immorality, and they consider this to be their sexual conquests, and they proudly brag about it.
There is nothing to brag about this, and it is actually sinful. And we live in a society where the more lusty, the more greedy a person is, sometimes some people consider that to be a matter of pride. So, it is far better that we are proud of our purity than be proud of our impurity.
Therefore, first and foremost, we should understand that even if we are becoming proud of our purity, that is far, far better than being proud of our impurity. Now, secondly, of course, pride can be undesirable, and it is in most situations undesirable. So, there are two ways of looking at this.
One is that if that pride is also further impelling us to stay pure, that is not necessarily bad, because Rupa Goswami says ये न के न प्रकारेण मना कृष्ण निवेईश येत. Somehow or the other, fix the mind on Krishna. So, for example, if I am proud of following certain devotional standards, and then because of the pride of those devotional standards, pride of following those devotional standards, I am impelled to follow them.
And then that sort of makes my mind resolve. So, for example, I decide that I will be fasting on Ekadashi. And then other devotees start thinking, oh, those devotees, such austere devotees, fast on Ekadashi, fast on Ekadashi.
And then, because of that reputation, I keep fasting. It is good. I am practicing devotional standards.
And if I am chanting more rounds on Ekadashi, and I develop a reputation for that, and because of that reputation also I keep chanting, that is not necessarily bad, because somehow or the other, we are fixing the mind on Krishna. Once a devotee would do very nice kirtans. He was doing kirtan in the temple hall, and Prabhupada came there.
And Prabhupada came up to him and said that your kirtans are so nice. And he confessed his heart to Srila Prabhupada and said that Prabhupada, sometimes I feel proud. And Prabhupada said, what’s wrong with that? Now, Prabhupada has written in many other places, what’s wrong with that? But in this particular context, Prabhupada was saying that it’s far better that you are being proud of doing something devotional for Krishna than being proud of something else or doing something else because of that.
It’s often… Pride is not always bad. I would say that we can think of three words over here. There is arrogance, there is pride and there is honour.
Arrogance is definitely negative. And that is understood as negative even in material life. Arrogance means that one is just strutting around like an egomaniac and expecting everybody to adulate one and demanding that kind of adulation.
That puts off people. But in material life, the word pride is often used in a positive sense. It’s a matter of national pride that we do this or it’s a matter of honour.
That’s the word which is more commonly used. And we see this even in the Vedic culture. Actually, Prabhupada would sometimes say that if some devotees were not able to practice the… broke the regulative principles, Prabhupada would say, don’t you have a sense of honour? You have taken a vow before the spiritual master, before the sacred fire, before the deities.
So he would appeal to their sense of honour. So actually, a certain level of respect for oneself is not bad. The sense of honour, this is all talked about even in the fourth cant of Srimad Bhagavatam when Narada Muni comes to know how Dhruva Maharaj has gone off to the forest and he says, How wonderful are the Kshatriyas, is their nature, is their heroism that they just cannot tolerate dishonour.
So what does it mean? Yes, we have the devotional standard of which is definitely important and which is our aspiration. But along with that, we don’t want respect for ourselves in society. But at the same time, we also recognize that there is a sense of honour.
The word of honour is used in a distinctively positive sense. The word arrogance is used in a distinctively negative sense. And in between there is the word used, pride.
So most of the time it is in the negative sense. But the word pride can also be in a positive sense because if that pride makes us do the right thing, that pride ensures that we keep doing the right thing, then that’s not necessarily bad. Beyond that, what we can also see is that contemplate what is the purpose of doing this devotional activity.
Yes, if I do it for the sake of pride, then yes, I may get some praise from others, but ultimately that praise is temporary and pride also has the nature of lust. The more lust is satisfied, the more it blazes forth. Same with pride also.
We are glorified a little bit and then we want more glorification. And more glorification, there is no end to this. And not only will we stay dissatisfied, but overall we will become distracted.
We will be externally practicing devotional service, but we will not be internally focused on remembering Krishna because we will be always externally expectant. When will somebody recognize what I am doing and praise me for it? And that will become a significant distraction in our devotional service. I have written in the Gita Delhi article about how those who seek fame miss praying.
So, our goal, if we remember, that it is praying and if we also contemplate on it over a period of time, we will see that actually the fame that I get, it’s not really very satisfying. As compared to that, if I just remember Krishna, then, if I cultivate remembrance of Krishna, then I feel much more peaceful and satisfied by that because I am thinking about Krishna. I have seen in my own life that when I am preparing for a class or when I am giving a class, I am much more Krishna conscious than after having given the class.
Because after I have given the class, I am always expectant. Will some devotee come and appreciate me? What will this devotee say? Will some devotee even care to appreciate? So, now, that external expectation acts as a distraction from Krishna consciousness. Of course, we are human beings and we do expect some level of reciprocation and appreciation is one level of reciprocation which we have, as human beings, some right to expect.
But if we just get too much into that expectation, then that becomes a distraction from our devotional life. So, by observing in our own life how this pride doesn’t give as much satisfaction as remembrance of Krishna can, we can pull ourselves off and think that I will just focus on Krishna. And that way, we can move forward in our devotional life.
If we become too proud because of practicing certain form of devotional service and that pride makes us insufferable, intolerable for others, then senior devotees may tell us, if you are going to do this, please don’t do it like this. Please do it in this way. Be a little more sensitive.
Be a little more respectful. That way, also, senior devotees will correct us. And in general, we can also try to develop the habit of sharing credit with others.
If somebody comes and appreciates us, if somebody says that, Oh, this was such a wonderful point that you spoke. I have never heard this in any class. Then, now, I can say, Yes, I am so clever.
I speak something which nobody knows about. So, instead of saying that, we can say, Actually, I read this over here. I heard this over here.
This is what this acharya says. This is what I heard in this devotee’s class. Or actually, all that I am doing is, what I have heard from devotees like all of you only.
I am just speaking based on, I am just doing some word jugglery and presenting it in a new way. So, we can actually share credit with others. So, when we share credit with others, that grounds us in humility also because that reminds us that we are not doing it alone.
Even when we are doing something which makes us pure. If we are fasting or doing something like that, then also we can remember, Okay, this devotee inspired me to fast. And it is because of that devotee, this person’s example, that I am motivated to fast.
So, whenever we start sharing credit, then we can start off, keep ourselves humble. And then there are always people who are better than us. Even when we talk about purity, then we can always, we see in the Brihad Bhagavata Amrit that every devotee whom Narada Muni goes to, those devotees are exalted.
But when Narada Muni glorifies them, that devotee tells Narada Muni of somebody greater than them. So, this is the example that we can always say, Oh, I am doing something. Somebody says, You are such a great scholar of the Bhagavad Gita.
You should know about this devotee, what scholarship he has. So, we can, in one sense, whenever we get some glorification, we can, as much as possible, pass the credit to others and pass the credit to Krishna ultimately. And that way we can avoid excessive pride.
And in general, we focus on the practice of devotional service. So, if the sense of honor impels us to practice devotional service seriously, that’s good. But if the craving for respect from others becomes a distractor from our inner focus on Krishna, then we can, by internally meditating, how this is actually not satisfying.
This pandering to pride, getting satisfaction from pride doesn’t satisfy me as much as remembering Krishna. And further, when I share glory with others and I express my humility, express my shortcomings, then that also helps us to avoid pride. And most importantly, we have to remember, the purpose of our purity is service.
Even when, say, there is a doctor in a hospital where there is an emergency because of a terrible epidemic. The doctor may have saved the lives of a hundred people. Actually, the doctor doesn’t have time to rest on the laurels because there are a thousand more people to be saved.
They are sick, they are suffering and they need to be saved. So, if you remember that the purpose of purity is service, is service of Krishna, service of Krishna’s children, there is so much more service to be done, then that can bring a level of gravity that can just make pride seem so superficial. There is so much more to do.
How can I, what is the use of becoming proud? So, remembering our mission can help a lot, can help a lot. There is a story that when India became independent, at that time Gandhi, at that time Nehru and Rajendra Prasad, they were giving speeches to the nation and Rajendra Prasad gave before 12 and Nehru gave after 12. But what was Gandhi doing? Gandhiji was contemplating, okay, how do I take the nation forward? Of course, he was devastated because of the partition, which he did not want.
But he was in seclusion contemplating that. So, similarly we see Shrila Prabhupada, sometimes when he would attain great, great successes, but even when he would have been having great successes, he would be thinking about the future. When there is Varadha Yatra festival which would be wonderful and the devotees would be elated.
Or sometimes the devotees would book huge amount of book distribution and Prabhupada would be happy. But rather than saying that, see my book so many have distributed, he would say double it, increase it. And Prabhupada would set higher goals.
Now it was not just, he was thinking in terms of how my books have been distributed. He was thinking, yes, the devotees are doing wonderful, but actually there is so much more to do. There are so many souls who are still lost.
So, by remembering the purpose of purity, which is actually greater service and remembering the gravity of the responsibility of the service that has been given to us, we can completely deflate the infatuation that is coming because of pride and focus steadily on increasing our service and increasing our purity so that we can increase our service. There is a letter of Shrila Prabhupada which says that please take this moment very seriously. It is not meant for something so superficial as increasing one’s own pride.
So actually when we contemplate on the gravity of the mission that we have entrusted, then pride becomes revealed as exposed as superficial and then we cast it aside and keep moving forward in our service to Krishna. Shrila Prabhupada, whether he was travelling in a chartered plane or whether he was travelling in a bullock cart, that did not matter to him because he was concerned, okay, where am I going and why am I going? Whether I am going in a chartered plane or whether I am going in a bullock cart, I am going to speak to souls who are lost and who need to hear about Krishna. So once we keep our thoughts focused on the mission, then also it becomes much easier to avoid the pride that comes from purity or from doing any form of service nicely because we recognize that there is so much more service to be done.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.