Autobiograpy Of Gnani Purush A.M.Patel Autobiograpy Of Gnani Purush A.M.Patel | Page 50

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The Falsehood Of False Pride
I used to think very highly about myself; I felt there was
no one better than me in this world. I thought so much of
myself! I was not wealthy; all I had was a home and a small
piece of land, only about two acres! But my mind was as if I
was the king of Charotar, Central Gujarat. This was worsened
because the people of the surrounding villages goaded me on
and fed into my conceit. They would tell me that I was a man
who could demand whatever dowry I pleased. This filled my
mind with arrogance. That coupled with something I had brought
forward from my past life, filled my mind with a lot of false
pride and arrogance.
My brother Manibhai, exuded a lot of aura of pride too.
I used to call him a proud man, and he accused me of being the
same. One day he told me, ‘I have not seen a more proud man
than you in my life.’ I asked him where he detected my pride.
He told me it was evident in everything I did.
Then when I investigated this, I could see my pride in
everything I did and this was the very thing that agitated me all
along. And what wouldn’t I do for some respect and importance!
People used to address me as ‘Ambalalbhai’ and I had become
accustomed to being called this way and because I had
tremendous pride, I would protect that pride also. But sometimes
a person may not be able to say all the six syllables of
‘Ambalalbhai’ or if someone was in a hurry and did not say the
name in full and just said’ ‘Ambalal’, is it a crime? How can one
say such a mouthful in a hurry?
Questioner : But you expected them to, did you not?
Dadashri : Oh yes! I would then start weighing things in
my mind: ‘He called me Ambalal. Who does he think he is?
Can he not address me as Ambalalbhai?’ I owned some land
in the village but nothing much else to speak of and yet so
much arrogance? ‘I an Amin of the six elite villages of