On reaching
the distant and new island they both set to work to arrange for means of
livelihood afresh. Viney labored hard and charmed the inhabitants of the
island by his service and good conduct. All began to show him honor and
respect. On the contrary maddened with pride of wealth, the cruel hearted
Maan Mal did not bring a change in his vain nature and behavior.
Consequently Maan Mal received hatred and disgrace from the islanders.
Maan barahi karne jo dhan kharche murh
Mar
kar hathi ho gye neeche latke sund
I.e., the fools who spend money
to earn honor and glory will after death be born as elephants with their
trunks hanging down to the earth.
Faced with
loneliness, disgrace and helplessness Maan Mal became unhappy in life. He
now realized that his arrogant nature and bad conduct were the cause of
his misery. Being sad and ashamed Maan Mal apologized to Viney Kumar.
Pleading guilty Maan Mal pledged to follow good conduct and politeness in
the future. It shows that in order to become popular and get peace and
happiness in life a man should follow the rules of good conduct getting
rid of egotism and vanity. It has been well said, �The heat of the sun
scorches the moon, but the moon smiles sweet and sheds her cool luster to
delight the world. The truly noble man bears all sorts of troubles with a
smiling face, and showers peace and happiness to please mankind.�
A
man indulges in eight types of false pride or vanity. While stating the
ways and means to attain Right Belief (Samayika Darshan),
Acharya Samant Bhadra Swamy tells:
Gyanam
pujam kulam jatim, balmridham tapo vapu
Ashtavashritya manitvam
samymahurgrtsmya
To take
pride in eight things viz. knowledge, fame, ancestry, tribe, power,
affluence, penance and body is known as vanity. This vanity defiles the
virtues of our soul. As soon as a living being gets rid of all these eight
types of vanity, he is crowned with the virtue of compassion (Mardava
Dharma). The same thing has been stated in �Bhagwati Aradhana�
also:
ko ith
majh mano, bahuso nichtanam pi satas
uchate
yanriche uchtide chavi nrichte
Adhigesu bahusu santesu mamadu
aeth ko maham mano
Ko vibhyo vi bahuso pate
puvammi uchate
Even if I am at a higher level in
knowledge, ancestry, beauty, penance, riches and power, why to take pride
in them because many times I have possessed a lower rank as well in these.
A higher rank or a lower rank both are mortal, unstable and perishable.
Many in this world are superior to me in knowledge and power etc., then
why to be proud in them? Besides, I was granted this higher state of life
many times in my previous births, then why to be veining glorious at
achieving them? Knowing this we should give up the above mentioned forms
of vanity. Therein lies the well being of a living being. All wise men
say, �Humble origin is no bar to the attainment of greatness, while pride
of birth is a frequent cause of humiliation.�
To take false pride in one�s
mental accomplishments is knowledge pride (Gyan Mada). In the �Mahapurana�
of Acharya Jinsain at one place it is mentioned - �To take pride in
knowledge is putting a veil on the knowledge.� Bharatra Hari writes:
Yada
kinchijhoham, dwip iv madandh sambhavam
Tada
sarvagyosmitybhvdvliptam mam mana
yada kinchit, budhjanskashadvgtam
tada
murkhosmiti, jvar iv mado me vyapgata
I.e., When I possessed shallow
knowledge, I walked puffed up with egotism like an elephant. When I came
out of my home and by and by came in contact with the scholars and learned
men and started acquiring more and more knowledge in their company, I
began to walk like an ant. Then my pride in knowledge subsided like a
fever. One who attains the real knowledge never becomes proud or vain. He
walks with a bowed head and is polite to all.
It
has been said: vidya vineyam ddati
I.e., knowledge brings humility.
When a tree is overloaded with fruits, its branches bend down. Likewise a
learned man bows down with humility on the acquisition of knowledge; he
becomes devoid of vanity. In this context the poet Pump writes:
�Kundkundachyanandnvne
shukoham�
I.e., I, poet Pump, am the parrot
of Acharya Kundkund�s spiritual vernal wood (Nandana Vana)
�Samay Saar�, etc. Therefore, having tasted their fruits in original I
convey them as they are.
Thus, the learned are polite
towards the Acharyas and it is in the nature of the learned men to
admire their talent and scholarship. Only such are the truly learned; they
alone are gifted with the virtue of compassion (Mardava Dharma).
To take pride in one�s fame and
glory, worldly dignity is known as Dignity Pride (Puja Mada).
Father�s lineage is called ancestry and Mother�s lineage is called tribe.
To take pride in these comes under the category �Ancestral Pride� and
�Tribe Pride�. The bodily powers are called strength. Hence to take pride
in them is �Strength Pride�. The monetary achievements or the possession
of household riches is known as affluence and pride in it is called
�Affluence Pride�. Fasting is called penance and pride in it is known as
�Penance Pride�. Taking pride in healthy and beautiful body is �body
pride�. One who is aspirant for the virtue of compassion (Mardava
Dharma) will have to discard all the above mentioned eight types of
vanity; only then one will be capable of attaining unblemished compassion.
Once Sukh Deva went to King
Janak at Rajgrahi to receive education. On the completion of his education
he expressed his desire to offer a present (Guru dakshina) to his
teacher. King Janak said, �I don�t want any present. However, if you
insist, offer me something seemingly without utility.� Sukh Deva set out
in search of some worthless looking thing. The soil, the leaves, all
things seemed to have their own utility. No material appeared to be with
no utility. He began to ponder over the whole matter. He felt that pride
in body alone is of no use. He said to King Janak, �I want to offer you my
pride in body.� King Janak said, �Now you are blessed. People regard
bodily pride the most dear to them in the world and stick to it. You found
it totally worthless; he alone who gets this vision by God�s mercy is
really blessed.�
The noble minded person who is
not the least proud of ancestry, beauty, tribe and clan, learning or
education, penance, knowledge of scriptures and chastity is gifted with
compassion or supreme tenderness (Uttama Mardava Dharma).
Kulrujadibhudhisu
tvsudsilesu garvam kinchi
jo
nrvi kuchdi samanro madvdhamm haave tsya
He, who is not
proud or vain in spite of being highly learned and a supreme ascetic,
possesses the jewel of compassion or tenderness (Mardav).
A person regards himself superior to others as a result of the mental
outlook developed due to the extreme feeling of family pride created by
karma,
which is of no use; for sometimes his own vanity is shattered by his own
children. It has been said:
Dharma vasenmamsi yavdalam sa
tabadhanta n hanturapi pashya gataith tasmin
Drishta
prasparhatirjankatmajanam, raksha tatosya jagta kharlu dharm ev.
I.e., So long as this feeling of
compassion or tenderness (Mardava Dharma) persists in human mind, a
person does not hurt even his own persecutor; and when his mind deserts
this feeling of compassion, even father and son have been seen killing
each other. Hence this world can be saved only when we possess the virtue
of compassion (Mardava Dharma).
A man, failing to make a
distinction between right or wrong and what is worth doing or not, is
enveloped by the darkness of vanity and takes recourse to the evil path
leaving the wanted right path. When good luck (Punya Karma)
comes into existence, he becomes highly puffed up with pride forgetting
that as an outcome of this vanity he will have to suffer disgrace in the
lower state of births.
A mad person stood in the middle
of the road. A car came from behind and the car owner began to sound the
horn. When the man did not budge from the road, the Seth cried, �O
blind man! Can�t you see? Move aside from the middle of the road.� The mad
man spoke, �O Seth! Sitting in this tin box, your car, you are
filled with so much vanity. I stand on this earth which is full of
precious jewels. Still I am not proud in the least. Go away keeping this
tin box on your head.�
