True Greatness
Shrimadji said...
"Some believe that true greatness consists in wealth, some believe it to consist in having a high family status, some believe it to consist in having good sons, some by positions of power and high authority; but all these beliefs are false or wrong or erroneous when looked at from a discriminative intelligence.
Whatever these people regard as greatness is not really great at all, on the contrary these things or achievements are insignificant.
You may be believing that in worldly life you become great getting good food, drink, honor, command over servants, prosperity and all these on the strength of your wealth, but just because of these achievements only you cannot be really great, you should not believe this to be greatness at all.
Wealth is collected by incurring many many sins; when achieved, it breeds pride, inattention towards duties, indiscrimination to what is right and what is wrong in you.
For achieving a high family status you have to maintain a large family satisfying all its needs, and in so doing you have to incur sins and suffer pains and miseries; you have to maintain your family by many immoral acts.
Having good sons, does not give us forever, good name and fame and for maintaining them also we have to perform sinful deeds of many kinds; and with all these what benefit we gain?
By authority or power we become dependent on persons senior to us, we get puffed up with pride of power and sometimes we have to become cruel and inflict pain on others, sometimes we have to employ immoral or questionable means, sometimes we have to bribe persons and be unjust to some persons; sometimes we have to use these means willingly or sometimes we are forced to employ them un-willingly.
Tell me then what greatness lies in all these?
Only greatness of our sinful Karmas.
By sinful Karmas we down our soul and where there is our soul's downfall there is no greatness at all, on the other hand it is only lowerness.
Soul's greatness lies in truth speaking, compassion, forgiveness, benevolence and equanimity.
Wealth etc. gives greatness to our Karmas and not to our soul.
Thinking this way wise persons give their wealth in charity, become relievers of other people's pain and sorrow by establishing best schools of learning; keeping only one wife, look at all other women as their daughters.
They by their families become beneficial to a certain community; entrusting the burden of maintenance of worldly life to their sons they devote their life to a religious discipline; they show to others what is good moral life by wisely conducting their authority or power for the benefit of the King whom they advise or serve and also benefit the subjects of the king by wise and judicious administration.
In this way a kind of true greatness is achieved.
But even such greatness is not fixed and firm.
There is always a fear of death.
What one hopes to do, he is unable to do and his hopes remain in the precincts of his own mind.
The world attraction is such that one forgets his plan or one loses his discriminative power.
Therefore we should definitely or undoubtedly realize that there is no real greatness like truth speaking, compassion, forgiveness, celibacy and equanimity.
Bhikshuk or one monk observing pure five great vows achieves real powers and real greatness - the like of which had not been achieved by even Brahamadatta-sovereign ruler of a large kingdom by his wealth, family, sons and high authority.
This is my view..."
Shrimad Rajchandra...(
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