Pride comes before a fall — this saying is meant to be a warning for those who proudly place themselves in a position higher than they merit. They will come crashing down when their claims are tested by life’s inevitable challenges, as might weight-lifters who claim to be able to lift weights beyond their capacity.
The falsity of claims with regards to physical feats such as weight-lifting can be easily exposed. But the proud often make claims about things that can’t be so easily exposed. And even if they sometimes fall because of their pride, their pride doesn’t fall — they find some rationalization to continue in their destructive conceit. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (16.04) declares that such arrogance characterizes those with a demonic nature — the verse uses three different words (dambha, darpa, abhimana) to describe various shades of their hubris.
The Mahabharata depicts such hubris through the character of Duryodhana. He tried repeatedly to destroy his cousins, the Pandavas, because he believed presumptuously that he was entitled to the position, prestige and power that they were earning by their cultured behavior, martial accomplishments and spiritual devotion. Driven by arrogance, he resorted to increasingly devious schemes; yet through each of his attempts, the Pandavas emerged stronger and he became exposed as evil. Despite such stark failure, he always found some extraneous factor to blame. He never acknowledged that his pride was the problem and never strove to free himself from it. Consequently, his pride made him fall repeatedly, till in the Kurukshetra war it brought about his final fatal fall..
Thankfully, Gita wisdom stands ready to empower us to bring about the fall of the pride within us, thereby freeing us to live — humbly, purposefully, fruitfully..
One-sentence summary:
The proud may be felled externally, but pride needs to be felled internally.
Think it over:
- When are the falls of the pride easily exposed and when not easily exposed?
- Even when the proud fall, how does their pride not fall?
- Which Gita insight inspires you with the will to bring about the fall of the pride within you?
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16.04: Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prutha.
JAPA vanished the PRIDE.