If a person always praises himself and tells everyone that he is great, will people believe in him? No. In fact, people will make fun of him and will stay away from him. If a saint praises himself during his katha, no one will attend his katha as no one likes to listen to someone praising his own virtues. Moreover, people do not trust a person who praises himself.
A fake saint knew about it very well and uses a different technique to praise himself. He doesn’t directly say he is a great saint, but when he talks about great people and great saints, he projects himself and his virtues in such a way that the listeners will not find any saint greater than himself.
Shreeji Maharaj has said in Sikshapatri Shlok 37: Never praise yourself. A fake saint may seem to strictly adhere to that principle of not praising himself, but he may indirectly praise himself by talking about his own virtues and portraying them as the virtues of a great saint.
This happens very often in the business world, too. For instance, let us say a doctor gives a prescription to a patient and tells him that he will be cured of his condition if he takes a particular medicine.
The patient asks, “Doctor, where can I find this medicine?”
To boost the sales of a particular pharmacy, the doctor replies, “If you want to get cured as quickly as possible, get it from the pharmacy next to my office. You may not be able to find good quality medicine for this cure elsewhere in the city.”
Similarly, based on his own qualities, a fake saint would come up with a list of virtues a great saint should possess. By listening to him, if a person takes that list and goes on to search for a great saint, he will find no one other than that fake saint himself.
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 06 (Pad 06).