Does pride come before a fall? | Questions and answers

Question: Does pride come before a fall?

Author: Anonymous

Date: 2022-07-28

Jayapatākā Swami: With a little success, the spiritual master may praise us a little bit or something.

We think that, actually, “oh…”, we get a little bit, may experience suddenly a little bit spurt of ecstasy or something and think of, “Oh, we’ve already made it.”

Then we become somehow relaxed again and get in trouble.

So, until one actually gets pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that means realizes the eternal dhāma and Kṛṣṇa directly, which at, which time then one does not fall into ignorance, because one too mad in love for Kṛṣṇa.

To do so, then one has to be careful with his intelligence, with one’s intelligence, not to become proud, not to become careless, not to become hopeless.

Upadeśāmṛta gives nice instruction on this.

If the spiritual master is present, then of course one can ask the spiritual master, otherwise take shelter of older Godbrothers, senior Godbrothers to uh… that’s the meaning of association.

I know before I do any type of new service, I always like to discuss with senior Vaiṣṇavas and get their opinion also.

Just to be sure.

Since they are there, fortunately enough, they usually they give their approval, but they also sometimes add new dimensions.

With Kṛṣṇa is unlimited, one can see part of Kṛṣṇa and yet there are so many other parts yet to be seen.

So, someone else may see some other part.

In this way, Kṛṣṇa is unlimited.

No one can claim that he knows the whole truth.

Even if someone realizes Kṛṣṇa but still Kṛṣṇa is unlimited.

He may realize only one part of Kṛṣṇa.

Or he will see… that person will see certain qualities; which another will see even other qualities.

And in this way the devotees can continue discussing about Kṛṣṇa without any end,

because each devotee is having newer and newer realizations from different uh, you can say different angles.

Because Kṛṣṇa is unlimited.

In this regard, if you read the description of the Guṇḍicā-mārjanam, the purports of Bhaktisiddhānta,

which is dealing with, you know first of all, one picks up all the leaves and the twigs, Lord Caitanya picked them up and then cleaned them with His own cloth.

And they swept with brooms and washed with water and they came in and finally with the little nail… fingernails, or with twi… other twigs, something they would pick out the crack of the stones.

Although the dust was still in there.

So it’s not really that, subtle, subtle māyā has come.

But it is like, first you have to clean all the twigs and branches.

You go back and see, some dust on the floor.

Then you sweep it.

And then you see well even after you have swept, still there is like, you know, what can’t be swept, then you wash it, and even after you washing, then in the cracks…

In the purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that, like this the devotee cleans and so one has to keep clean, and when one gets down to the cracks,

that means that even that devotee at that point, the devotee has completely given up all desire for fruitive activity.

Yet that aroma, in other words, that, “So you alright, you have given up the desire, but the habit is there from so long to think fruitively, to act fruitively, to think of profit and loss that if one acts or even thinks that,

‘Well, let me do some type of business for Kṛṣṇa.’,

that the danger is there that because the habit already is like they are so strong, even though you are doing the same activity,

that, that is so dangerous, that then one can again become fruitively involved.”

So, one has to become careful and understand all these things and then if properly dovetail everything, then…

We see that so many devotees, “I want to do a business for Kṛṣṇa,”

and then what happens, they do the business, then they make some money, then they say, “Well, I can’t actually give to Kṛṣṇa money now, I have to reinvest it first of all,

and then you know build up a little capital and …” it goes on like that, then you know before you know it after three years,

he still hasn’t given any money to Kṛṣṇa, fallen down from regulative principles and then you know… It happens like that sometimes, so…

Of course if one desires to do business for Kṛṣṇa, of course a gṛhastha has to do business,

and if one does business and he actually gives the fruits to Kṛṣṇa,

knowing that uh, how dangerous this fruitive activity is, that uh, if one does that type of profitable work and doesn’t give the fruit to Kṛṣṇa,

the danger of becoming again attached to profit, the whole material fruitive mood again may pollute him.

So, you see in that the great devotees of Lord Caitanya, that they were very careful.

Most of them were very careful in doing their business to give, of course in those days they would give 50% of their income to Kṛṣṇa

or to worshiping the Ganges or to the Vaiṣṇavas or something.

To give a strict amount, taking that whatever comes by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.

Even today, in India, you find people come and they pray to Lord Jagannātha that, “If you make my business a success, I’ll give you half.”

And then they get a little success may they go and give half to Jagannātha.

And then they get more and more like this, they build it up Him as their partner.

There even a story how… there even a popular play, how someone prayed like that and then what happened is then he didn’t give the half.

So, then Kṛṣṇa came by and said, it is a movie.

What a kind of movie Kṛṣṇa came (laughter) and said,

“Where’s my half?” (laughter)

“I’ll give it to you but just, just very little, you know, a little later” and it went on like that.

Some concocted you know, but they have that idea that like to give half to Kṛṣṇa.

Even the regular karmīs.

So, in this play, he kept putting Kṛṣṇa off and finally in the end, he didn’t give, Kṛṣṇa just took everything away.

I didn’t see it.

I heard about it.

I thought it was pretty funny.

He prayed to the Deities and they didn’t explain, the Deity would keep coming, either in a dream or in person.

He didn’t pay up.

So, He took it all. (laughter)

Of course, Kṛṣṇa does not have to come and collect that person. Ordinary people don’t have that fortune.

You have seen in Jagannātha Purī, that big red flag sometimes on top of the temple?

Someone promises that if this happens, I will put a red flag on the temple.

Which is… which is not so easy as it looks, because to climb up on top of Jagannātha Purī temple and put a flag, it’s not like there is a lift.

There is no inside stairway, you have to climb up, yeah, there isn’t even any roof to hold you on.

They hire someone to do it, but people have, not come back. (break)

What happens is if we clean up once, and we think well, we have picked up all the things and came out, dumped it outside,

and then we come back and look a little close, and, “Oh” then you sweep.

Guṇḍicā-mārjana is a very good for devotees to read.

Very nice instruction is there.

Link: 19810604 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.2.7

Category: [Emotions / Pride]

Question: Does pride come before a fall?

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