Vanity or Egotism is Not Good for One’s Life

“Once there was a powerful ‘Spiritual Guru”. He had a very devoted disciple who had staunch faith in the supreme powers of his Guru. He had so much faith in his Guru that he once simply walked over the river by simply chanting his Guru’s name. His Guru on seeing his disciple’s feat thought “Well, is there such a power in my mere name? Then how great and powerful must I be!” The next day, the Guru also tried to walk over the river chanting...”I......”I....”I, but no sooner did he step into the river water than he sank down and was soon drowned; for the poor man did not know how to swim even.”

So though Faith can bring miracles while vanity or egotism is not good for a person’s life & brings about the destruction of a person. Ego is nothing but to feel oneself more important than others, to feel different & superior to others. Such a feeling of finding oneself different from others is nothing but the ignorance & such an illusion is called ego. We all are part & parcel of the Omnipresent Soul & that one same soul is present in all of us. So if we are able to realize that soul within all of us then we cannot find ourselves different from others.

Human beings generally crave for Name, Fame, Pleasures of life etc. which satisfies one's ego & these are the Idols in one's life which a person adores very much. But these Idols do not do any good to one self as it obscures one's real 'Soul nature', which is divine with unlimited powers & is always blissful. Such craving for Name, Fame & Sense pleasures drowns one's self respect & obscures the divine being from our sight. These worthless temptations destroy one's reputation & always give delusion by which a person is not able to know his Divine Self.

Below is a verse of Bhagwat Gita which tells how an egoistic person behaves:

"ahankaram balam darpam
kamam krodham cha samsritah
mam atma-para-dehesu
pradvisanto ’bhyasuyakah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Sixteen verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, these egoistic people become envious of the Supreme Lord, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion."

Below is a verse of Bhagwat Gita which tells how surrendering one's ego one can achieve the God:

"tam eva saranam gaccha
sarva-bhavena bharata
tat-prasadat param shantim
sthanam prapsyasi sasvatam" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 62)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, surrender your ego fully unto the God. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode."

As a rope that is burnt retains its shape intact, but has become all ashes, so that nothing can be bound with it; similarly, the person who feels one with everyone & is devoted to God, retains only the form of his egoism, but not has any idea of vanity (Ahamkâra).

So Let's shed our ego & not be egoistic, as it shall not do any good to one self. Let's surrender our ego in the Divine feet of the God & adore Him only so that He can give us a blissful life.



Jai Sri Krishna