Did we ever desire to be better than Gunatitanand Swami? Did we ever desire to at least become like Gunatitanand Swami?
Should we have a desire to become like Muktanand Swami or Gopalanand Swami or Gunatitanand Swami? Is it wrong to have such a desire?
A person should have a desire to do something great in his respective field. A saint should desire to become like Gunatitanand Swami or Gopalanand Swami or Muktanand Swami or any such great saint. We should at least try to become like them.
If we compete with those great saints, what would the result be?
Let us say, a donkey wants to race with a horse. Who is going to win the race between a horse and a donkey?
The horse obviously is going to win the race.
Then, how does a donkey benefit from racing with a horse?
The donkey would run right on track along with the horse at least for some distance, though after some distance it could go off the track.
If the donkey runs alone on the track, it cannot go any far. Moreover, it would take a lot of time to cover the same distance that it covered while it ran with the horse.
Thus, the donkey for sure is going to benefit when it competes with a horse.
Similarly, a true saint always thinks, “If I want to become like them what should I be doing?”
If we compete with the right people, we will be right on track, and we will be highly benefited.
Can we compete with our own Guru? Should we not compete with our Guru? Is it foolish to compete with our own Guru?
Subhashitam says that:
sarvatra jayam anvicchet
putrat shishyat parajayam
[Subhashitam]Definition: A person wishes victory from all over the world, but he desires that “my son should be so great that he should be able to defeat me.”
Every father wishes that his child should be better than himself.
Our Guru is our father. And so, our Guru wishes that “my disciple should be so great that he should be able to defeat me.”
How can we defeat our own Guru without competing with him?
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 21 (Pad 22).