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or three hours to clean a house, does it not?' Patel told him. It may take two to four days just to clean the lower floor. Then the second and the third floor will need to be cleaned. There are bathrooms and other things that need cleaning also. There might be about hundred to hundred fifty mattresses which will need to be dusted.' He started to brag this way and the other man just kept listening. This is how the Patel kept painting the picture.
Then his wife came to me and said, 'Look Dada, this is what he was telling the man on the train.' Then her husband tells me, 'I was talking to that man and telling him all this and she ruined my reputation. She told him not to believe me because we had nothing of the sort. You cannot believe this but I was trying to build a reputation for myself. I was trying to gain respect and she goes and destroys it!' How was this going to build his reputation? Whose reputation was going to increase? What nonsense is this? This is false abhimaan. You live as a renter and you talk so big!
People even rent the clothes they wear and then they go around saying, 'I have two bungalows with gardens and a farm' His jacket may be well ironed but it is rented. Your jacket may be at the laundry for cleaning but the laundry man will have rented it out to this man! Then you end up wearing the jacket someone else wore. So look at the world! Then you brag that you do not wear hand-me-down-clothes! This is how the world works. I have seen all this. You may even recognize that the other man was wearing a jacket just like yours. It even had a stain in the same place as your jacket has. But what can you say to that man? That is how this world is.
The sting of mustard seeds What is the saying people use? They say, 'Your head is full of mustard seeds (rai). 'Yes some say mustard seeds and others say potatoes!
Questioner: Dada, why do they say mustard seeds?
Dadashri: Because whenever he says anything, it stings! He will say something and it will give you a migraine!
Questioner: Everyone has 'mustard seeds' in their heads for sure.
Dadashri: Is that so? Is that true? Mustard is cheap in Gujarat, is it not? That is why people eat it. Has the 'mustard" gone away from your head or not?
Questioner: Yes, it has gone. Dadashri: Since it is gone, everything is resolved.
Questioner: Does the expression 'filled with mustard mean that a person has more abhimaan?
Dadashri: Those with abhimaan are different and those with 'mustard seeds' are different. One with mustard seeds does not have any wealth. There is nothing to be proud of and yet his head is full of mustard seeds. Who can be an abhimaani? It is someone who owns large homes, someone who has wealth to show for it. Those who have some real estate can be abhimaani. What is the point of filling your head with mustard seeds when all you have is an apartment of ten-twenty thousand rupees? It is acceptable for a person to have abhimaan when his wealth is not affected regardless of what rules and regulations the government imposes.
People have a right to be proud of their possessions like a car or a flat etc., but there is no reason to be abhimaani. Even if you have a lot of real estate, what will you gain by abhimaan? On the contrary, your possession went away, did it not? Besides when a person has abhimaan, his crown will be one of thorns. There is no telling when someone will come to attack you and that is why it is better if you don't wear the crown. It is only recently that people have started to call their living quarters 'my flat' otherwise they used to call them 'nests'
