326 Aptavani-9
Questioner: Can it be said that one can have garva of Gnan?
Dadashri: We can accept garva of Gnan because it is something good. But this is garva of ignorance.
Questioner: Garva is also used in a positive way; for example one says,‘ this is something worth taking garva for.’
Dadashri: There it is used in a positive way. But the main garva of the world is here( doer-ship). They have taken it to denote something good.
Garva means to believe‘ I am the doer’, when in fact one is not the doer. And when a person takes credit for doing, it creates‘ sweetness’( garvaras) within him and so he gets enjoyment out of‘ doing’; he gets sweetness in claiming‘ I did it’.
Questioner: And the circumstances around him are such that people reinforce it by further accolades and respect, in the form of garlands, complimentary letters etc, to the nimit, by saying,‘ you are the one who did it, what a great job!’
Dadashri: Yes they latch on to him by saying,‘ You are the one who did it; you did it!’
Some people take garva for doing something good for others. They even take garva for doing something bad. A person will take garva for killing someone great and famous or take garva of making others rich. He would say,‘ I have made quite a few millionaires.’ That is not call swamaan( pride within limits) or abhimaan( pride with‘ my-ness)’.
Sometimes it is hard to find good paan( mouth freshener made from beetle nut leaf) but if someone manages to find one, he will tell you three times,‘ It was not available anywhere, but I got it.’ That is garvaras. He will tell you,‘ I went out and looked for it everywhere. I found it otherwise you would not have been able to enjoy it.’ He takes garvaras in this. He enjoys it very much.