By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur
I happen to be an entity dominated by the knowledge of the five mundane elements. I am entrapped in the functions of littleness by abstaining from thoughts of the great one. Because I have preferred to remain confined to the functions of my littleness, the egotistic sentiment that I am the master of myself and of all entities has appeared in me. It has become necessary to get rid of this desire for domination. Nothing is easier than to assert that the little should aim at being identified with the great. If one allows oneself to be mastered by such senseless ambition and tries to realize his oneness with the divinity, such egotistic vanity effectively blocks the course of all real well-being.
When we are cast into the state of evil by harboring the hallucination that we are equals of the divinity, there simultaneously appears, (1) a condition which is experienced as full of grief, (2) the state of infatuation due to forgetfulness of our real nature, and (3) fear.
In other words, we lament on account of supposing ourselves to be identical with our gross and subtle bodies, being enchanted by the limiting energy of Godhead known as māyā. The mischief makes its appearance when I dishonestly begin to think that Godhead, His devotees the vaiavas, the spiritual guide, and I myself, are on a footing of equality; or even that I am superior to them.
From the wicked thought that I am the equal of the spiritual guide and the true devotees, or that they are less than I am, the dreadful offense in the shape of contempt for one’s superiors gathers strength. This is real culpable arrogance as is clear from the text of the Bhāgavatam [11.2.47], which says:
“One who, while worshipping Govinda, abstains on principle from worshipping His devotees is called arrogant.” When the conviction that all bhāgavatas, devotees, are objects of my worship as much as Godhead Himself, dawns upon our souls, we are freed from the clutches of grief, infatuation and fear. The only method by which this goal is realizable is by the service of Godhead.
I happen to be an entity dominated by the knowledge of the five mundane elements. I am entrapped in the functions of littleness by abstaining from thoughts of the great one. Because I have preferred to remain confined to the functions of my littleness, the egotistic sentiment that I am the master of myself and of all entities has appeared in me. It has become necessary to get rid of this desire for domination. Nothing is easier than to assert that the little should aim at being identified with the great. If one allows oneself to be mastered by such senseless ambition and tries to realize his oneness with the divinity, such egotistic vanity effectively blocks the course of all real well-being.
When we are cast into the state of evil by harboring the hallucination that we are equals of the divinity, there simultaneously appears, (1) a condition which is experienced as full of grief, (2) the state of infatuation due to forgetfulness of our real nature, and (3) fear.
In other words, we lament on account of supposing ourselves to be identical with our gross and subtle bodies, being enchanted by the limiting energy of Godhead known as māyā. The mischief makes its appearance when I dishonestly begin to think that Godhead, His devotees the vaiavas, the spiritual guide, and I myself, are on a footing of equality; or even that I am superior to them.
From the wicked thought that I am the equal of the spiritual guide and the true devotees, or that they are less than I am, the dreadful offense in the shape of contempt for one’s superiors gathers strength. This is real culpable arrogance as is clear from the text of the Bhāgavatam [11.2.47], which says:
“One who, while worshipping Govinda, abstains on principle from worshipping His devotees is called arrogant.” When the conviction that all bhāgavatas, devotees, are objects of my worship as much as Godhead Himself, dawns upon our souls, we are freed from the clutches of grief, infatuation and fear. The only method by which this goal is realizable is by the service of Godhead.
