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Questioner: So are they, maan and abhimaan connected to material wealth?
Dadashri: Yes, nothing else.
Swamaan
Questioner: What is the difference between pride within limits swamaan and abhimaan?
Dadashri: Swamaan, what kind of pride is that? It is one, which maintains, 'no one must instigate me or shake my tranquility', it is confined to only this. He keeps only this much pride so that no one can irritate him. Abhimaan is when a person will say, 'The property of my bungalow starts from here and goes all the way up that line. And you haven't even seen what is behind it.' Then he shows off all the jewelry he bought for his daughter. He does that to feed his abhimaan. He will show you all the real estate he owns, these 200 acres belong to me'. He will keep looking in the mirror to see how good looking he is. When people talk about their grand father and family lineage and how great it is, that is abhimaan, that is not swamaan.
A person with swamaan is involved in a worldly exchange of give and take. Swamaan is to respect others and in return be respected. Therefore, to respect people is a worldly interaction of the worldly life. You have to make do with things to the point where you do not violate anyone's swamaan. For us all, having attained this path of liberation, we are not concerned with swamaan.. But we do have to accept swamaan as a necessary thing for worldly interactions, otherwise, one is considered shameless. In the nonrealised state agnan one should have swamaan. Should one at least not maintain this boundary? How can you cross that boundary? Swamaan is the protection one employs to insulate from insult.
Swamaan pride within limits, is a great thing. It is the limit of a positive attribute of a non-Self-realized state. I have praised swamaan a lot in a sense that it is the limit of positive attribute of a non self-realised state. Are there not positive attributes of a non self-realised state? This is the limit of it.
Questioner: Is swamaan necessary or not?
