Egotism: Vanity FROM ‘HAMBA’ TO ‘TUHU’
The cow cries ‘Hamba!’, which means ‘I’. That is why it suffers so much. It is yoked to the plough and made to work in rain and sun. Then it may be killed by the butcher. From its hide shoes are made, and also drums, which are mercilessly beaten. Still it does not escape suffering. At last strings are made out of its entrails for the bows used in carding cotton. Then it no longer says, ‘Hamba! Hamba!’, ‘I! I! but ‘Tuhu! Tuhu!’, ‘Thou! Thou!’ Only then are its troubles over. O Lord, I am the servant; thou art the Master. I am the child; Thou art the Mother. EGOTISM IS RUINOUS
A Disciple who had firm faith in the infinite power of his Guru walked over the river by simply uttering his name. Seeing this, the Guru thought, “Well, is there such a power in my mere name? Then how great and powerful must I be!” The next day, the Guru also tried to walk over the river uttering ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’, but no sooner did he step into the water than he sank down and was soon drowned; for poor man did not know how to swim even. Faith can achieve miracles while vanity or egotism bring about the destruction of man. WHEN SIVA’S BULL BARED ITS TEETH
God alone is the doer, and we are all His instruments. Therefore, it is impossible even for a Jnani to be egotistic. The writer of a hymn to Siva felt proud of his achievement; but his pride was dashed to pieces when Siva’s bull bared his teeth. He saw that each tooth was a word of the hymn. Do you understand the meaning of this? These words had existed from the beginning-less past. The writer had only discovered them.