Pearls of Wisdom : Flattery ~ the Golden spear – H.H. Srimajjagadguru Shankaracharya SriSri Raghaveshwara Bharathi Mahaswamiji

Sri Samsthana

Once, a mosquito was flying alone among a crowd of people. Wherever, it flew, the people clapped. The mosquito thought that the people were clapping in its honour and felt very happy and flew even further among the crowd. After flying for some time, the mosquito went back to its group. Everyone in the group of mosquitoes asked how was its flight? And why it was so happy? The mosquito narrated the incident and said that all the people in the crowd clapped and honoured it, that’s why it was  happy.

 

In life, too, everyone is affected by flattery. In the past, kings used to keep flatterers around them.

 

For  ordinary  people too, praise and flattery is more valuable than riches, property or power. There is no one who is unaffected by the Golden spear called flattery.

 

Therefore, when someone praises you very highly, you should be very careful with such a person. We should think about whether we deserve such praise. Sometimes, insults are more beneficial to us than praise. Therefore, believing praise, without considering whether we have earned it, will end in disaster.

 

The crowd claps its hands when a mosquito flies, to kill it, not to welcome it. Similarly, we should be careful of flattery, the golden spear.

 

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