Regarding that, one should renounce pride. Key points. The pleasure that a jiva derives from pride is not found anywhere else. To please God and His devotees, one should perform seva. To please God and His devotees, one should perform seva, but not for the sake of being praised. Do we derive pleasure from pride or not? Huh? We do. So? Then we should act accordingly. We should observe. We certainly do derive it. But if one observes, then to that extent? It decreases. It decreases. That is considered best. Maharaj, otherwise, Muktanand, Nityanand, that brother, Nishkulanand Swami Nishkulanand Swami Disciple of Sahajanand Swami (Swaminarayan Bhagwan) and author of the Bhaktachintamani, as stated in the scripture's own closing colophon at the end of every chapter. Tap to open in glossary → "There is no one on this earth," there is absolutely no one who does not taste the pleasure of pride. In this creation of Brahma. Pleasure comes from pride. If someone praises, then we feel a little pleased, we feel warm and comfortable. And if someone does that, tells us, or criticizes us, then we wither a little. But if we keep observing, then we realize that this much happened due to pride. In this Vachanamrut, Shreeji Maharaj has started with words of grace. Maharaj says, He says that whoever wants to go to God, when they get the opportunity to serve God or His devotee, they should serve considering it as their great fortune. That too, for the pleasure of God and thinking, "I have found the greatest means to go to God." There are no other such means, so one should consider it fortune. What is the meaning of fortune? No one else gets it, and I get it. Getting something greater than one's effort is called fortune. And fortune favored. And this person's fortune is reversed, what does that mean? Even what one works for is not received. If one gets as much as one works for, or gets more than one works for, then that extra is fortune. Otherwise, what is it called? His effort bore fruit. And not that fortune favored. His effort bore fruit. What does it mean to consider it great fortune? Without effort. It means getting it without effort. That which cannot be obtained by effort, has been obtained without effort. Getting a little more without effort, so one should consider it fortune. That is the meaning of my fortune. That it is his fortune, so it happened. It is fortune, meaning he has not made such effort, to get this. But, still he got it, so when there is no effort and nothing is visible, then it is fortune, this is fortune. So when one gets the seva of God's devotee, one should believe that it has been received without our worthiness. We do not have the worthiness, yet we received it. Because this is never obtained by any worthiness, the seva of God and God's devotee. It is not obtained by worthiness, and yet it has been received, so believe. In this Vachanamrut, Shreeji Maharaj has started with words of grace. Maharaj says that whoever wants to go to God, when they get the seva of God or God's devotee, then they should serve considering it as their great fortune. That too, for the pleasure of God and for their own liberation, with devotion. But not for the sake of being praised. The greatness of seva is that it is bestower of liberation and giver of God's pleasure. In Vachanamrut Gadhada Middle 40, Maharaj says that whatever seva of God's devotee is performed by mind, word, and body, and by that, the good that happens to this jiva and the happiness that the jiva gets, is not attained by any other means. That is, even if you perform austerities and other spiritual practices, or perform sacrifices, charity, and other good deeds, they do not equal seva. Perform meditation and other practices. Meditate on the form of God. Still, such happiness is not attained. Maharaj has said so. He said it absolutely. Maharaj said that there is no other means like this. The happiness derived from this cannot be derived from other means. Even if you meditate, it is not attained. Such is the glory of the seva of God and God's devotee. When such seva is obtained, one should serve considering it as one's great fortune. That is, serve with a sense of need. That too, for the pleasure of God and for one's own liberation, must be done with devotion. Not for the sake of being praised. Maharaj says this jiva has such a nature that it likes to do only that in which it finds pride. Even if it is detrimental to one's liberation or harmful. Even if it is beneficial for liberation, but if there is no praise or respect in it, then one does not like to do it. That is why Maharaj says that the pleasure this jiva derives from pride, is not derived from any other object. Maharaj has given the illustration of a dry bone. Just as a dog takes a dry bone to a lonely place and bites it, but it is dry, so it hurts its own mouth and blood oozes out. Then it licks it and enjoys it, similar is the case of a proud person. A proud person never tastes the pleasure of devotion. If they do, they only taste the pleasure of their own attachment and pride. Moreover, regarding pride, it is such that that dog's idea. Does it taste the bone or its own blood? Its own blood. Its own. Meaning, one does not taste devotion. One tastes that. Moreover, regarding pride, it is such that by renouncing pride, one receives respect from others. And by keeping pride, one receives disrespect from others. A proud person always Swami often says the maxim, right? What is the fruit of pride? Insult. The fruit of pride is insult. If one wishes to keep pride, if there is a desire to keep pride, then one gets insulted. A proud person is always self-centered. If there is any person worthy of worship in the world, they feel it is only themselves. Such is their attitude that itself makes them deserving of disrespect in society. Whereas devotion to God is other-centered. It gives respect to others, worships them. It gives respect to God and devotee, worships them. Thus, humility and spirit of seva towards others are certainly needed. The world is like a mirror. The feelings that others have towards us are mostly a reflection of our own feelings. Whereas in the heart of a proud person, only their own ego is supreme. Everyone else is deserving of disrespect. Only their own ego is worthy of worship, such is their attitude. So everyone disrespects them. In his heart, there is disrespect for everyone. And pride only for oneself. "No one like me, I, I, I, I," it happens. So now its reflection comes from the opposite side. So everyone disrespects them. Whereas in the heart of a proud person, only their own ego is supreme. No one tolerates their ego being hurt. But if you appreciate someone's ego, then? Then they all appreciate you. So many people appreciate. If we appreciate someone's ego, then they appreciate our ego. And if we do not value or care for someone's ego, then everyone feels hurt. If we do not care, then they feel hurt that, "He does not value me." Whereas in the heart of a proud person, only their own ego is supreme. Everyone else is deserving of disrespect. Only their own ego is worthy of worship. Its such, such is their attitude that itself does not let respect for them arise in the heart of the other. Whereas a devotee's humility, discretion, and respect for others itself bring them honor. Therefore, it is the opposite. If one renounces pride, one gets respect. But if one desires pride, one does not get respect. Proud people are compared to glassware. It is very difficult to handle glassware. That is why it is written on the packaging, "Handle with care." This, Huh? What did you say? Yes, that is written. "Handle with care," meaning what does that mean? What is its Gujarati? Translate it. What does "Handle with care" mean? Handle this very carefully. Handle this very carefully. "Handle" means? Manage. Manage this. "With care." Whatever dealings you have with this, deal very carefully. "Handle with care." Handle this very carefully. While dealing with this, do not care for yourself, care for this. If you fall, you fall first, do not let it fall, otherwise it will break. If it breaks, it is fine, but it will hurt. It will cut you. "Handle with care." It is very difficult to handle glassware. That is why it is written on the packaging, "Handle with care." That glassware is very beautiful. If it is accidentally pushed a little, it breaks into pieces and cuts our own foot and draws blood. Similar is the case of a proud person. As long as you handle them carefully, they look very good, but if you are slightly careless, then they draw blood and even drink blood. Glass does not drink, though. Maharaj says a proud person performs devotion only if they find pride in devotion. Without pride, they do not even perform devotion. As examples of pride-less devotees, Maharaj praised two attendants, Ratanji and Miyaji. Ratanji was a Darbar and belonged to Vatamand village in Bhal. He served as Maharaj's personal attendant. Despite being a very brave devotee, he was extremely humble. Whereas Miyaji was a Muslim devotee from Sardhar. He used to serve Maharaj's mare, Manki. These two. Both used to serve Maharaj's Manki a lot. Muktanand Swami has quoted a couplet by Tulsidasji. They would bring grass for Manki, tie those bundles, and there were many attendants in seva. So they would all compete among themselves. And show a big bundle, then Maharaj would say, "Wow! You brought such a big one." And these two would stack it so evenly and tie it extremely tight, so it looked very small, but it was heavy like a stone. So no one would notice. This is called being unassuming. He concealed his devotion. Devotion, a lot of seva is performed, yet it is not visible. So they must be doing that. That is why Maharaj praised them. A lot of seva is performed, yet it is not visible, such was their attitude. Miyaji's and that brother Ratanji, Ratanji Bapu's. Such was their attitude. And others would make the bundle look fluffy. Meaning, they felt it should be small, grass should be less, but it should look big. Their seva should look big, but actually be small. The bundle of grass should not be heavy. Such was their attitude. So by concealing devotion, one's devotion increases greatly. This has been said by Vallabhacharyaji. Muktanand Swami has quoted a couplet by Tulsidasji. "Renounce gold," Even in the spiritual path, there are two great sources of inspiration for the practice of devotion or virtues. One is one's own ego, and the other is the pleasure of God and His devotee. Even in that, driven by ego, a person does so much that they do not do that much for devotion or for God's pleasure. If pleasure is attained, if Maharaj is pleased with someone, how does He show His pleasure? How? He just says a few words, what else? And what does He say? Huh? He praises, right? Then one goes there again and again. Then one goes there again and again. So how to understand that? Meaning, one should not expect. No, no, where is his interest? In praise or in seva? In pleasure. Two were mentioned, right? Inspiring points are two. One is ego. Pleasure and one is praise. If there is ego, then one needs praise. And if there is devotion, then one needs pleasure. Then where is his interest? Suppose if He is to be pleased, He is also to praise with a few words. But he sees that, "No, no, He is pleased." He is pleased, so that is enough for him. And the other's focus is on what words were spoken. What words were spoken about me. So he is interested in praise. And the other is interested in pleasure. Both are the same. Pleasure is not expressed without praise. It is not expressed, so when He praises, He speaks a few words. But he is not interested in what He speaks, in what words He speaks. He is interested in His pleasure. So he is interested in devotion. AI translation of the Gujarati transcript above, produced in the same pass that transcribed the audio, one English segment per Gujarati segment. Devotional and technical terms with no precise English equivalent (kirtan, satsang, vasana, samskara, and similar) are kept as their plain transliteration rather than force-translated. Not human-proofread., AI-translated, unverified · Source details