How much is it right to hear someone praising us? And how much is it wrong?
Is someone praising us important?
It depends on who is praising us.
If an unsaintly person praises us, it is useless.
If some saintly person praises us, it might help us to an extent.
How does the praise of a saintly person help us?
We are on the path of our kalyan which is not yet very clear. And we don’t know if we are on the right track or the wrong track. So, when a saintly person says something good about us, we will feel confident about our chosen path.
We should accept praises only to the extent of gaining confidence on the chosen path. Not more than that.
We should also know for what particular work we are being praised for. If we don’t know for what work we are praised, then we would consider the praising for a wrong work and assume wrong work as right work.
So, when someone praises us, we should be very careful and should specifically know the reason for praise.
If someone does a good job, he or she should be encouraged, which will help gain some inspiration to go forward.
Thus, it is good if we hear praises from a saint or a devotee. However, one should not expect saints and devotees to continually praise us.
One who wants to continuously listen to people praising him and wishes an endless commentary of praises on him is a fool.
References:
- Chosathpadi Katha Part 21 (Pad 22).