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Metaphysics, Ethics and Spiritual Development
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anyone who accepts all these factors as useful and also puts them into practice does not recognise the proper efficiency of instrumental causes, then his belief or speech is to be regarded as contradictory to his practice.
Pride of Caste and Family
Acarya Hemacandra in his Yogaśāstra declares: A person who prides himself upon his caste, family, gain, wealth, power, figure, austerity and knowledge gets, as a result of his pride, these things of inferior kind or grade in the next birth.' As for example, a man who prides himself as belonging to a high family should invariably enter into lower existence in his next birth.
Material wealth is fickle and ephemeral. To take pride in it, betrays lack of wisdom and understanding. One should not be proud of one's wealth of knowledge. Its fulfilment consists in the cultivation of love and compassion for the ignorant as also in the spread of knowledge to make their lives enlightened and noble. Greatness of caste and family, or highness of those regarded as high consists in having good human qualities as also in behaving affectionately with others regarded as low, and not in priding oneself on one's 'greatness' or in behaving rudely and meanly with others considering them to be low concerning their caste and family. Highness or lowness, greatness or otherwise does not depend on birth, but it depends on merit or demerit. Real greatness depends on good qualities and good works. Where there is real greatness, there is no scope whatsoever for the mental defects like pride. Pride of good qualities dulls and darkens them. It obstructs progress and robs life of its natural joy and sweetness. There is not a single thing which we should be proud of. One who behaves rudely and arrogantly considering oneself to be 'high' causes one's steep fall from great heights. Highness consists in the cultivation of good qualities. There can never be greatness without culture. Where there is light of culture, there does not arise feeling of discrimination of high and low; on the contrary, there prevails compassion, friendliness and love in the behaviour with persons regarded as belonging to the low stratum of society. Right attitude or view consists in understanding that highness depends on good qualities and good works and lowness on bad qualities and bad works. On the other hand, it is wrong attitude or view
1. jati-labha-kulaiśvarya-bala-rupa-tapaḥ-śrutaiḥ /
kurvan madam punas tāni hīnāni labhate janaḥ // IV. 13
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