What is Arrogance?

Acharya Prashant: Arrogance does not lie in expecting the highest. You are not condemned to live lonely. It is not arrogance to expect the highest for yourself. Arrogance lies in expecting the highest while remaining exactly as one is. Now you could call it arrogance, or you could call it a miss-calculation, or you could call it childish stupidity. You are entitled to the highest. Śruti (The Vedas) constantly reminds you that you should never even estimate yourself, let alone underestimate yourself. You are inestimable. Such is your potential.

Śruti (The Vedas) says, “If you underestimate yourself, you are doing a disfavor to yourself. If you overestimate yourself, you are still giving yourself a raw deal.” The basic fault lies in estimation itself. You are infinitely big, so how are you trying to draw a line around yourself? How are you trying to limit yourself? Because estimation requires limitation. In the name of humility, in the name of avoiding arrogance, kindly do not start belittling yourself. That is not at all the purpose of spiritual discourse.

So, what would the scriptures and the teachers do? They would work on two concurrent tracks with you. On one hand, they’ll keep reminding you of your inflated ego, and just as you get demotivated, deflated, defeated, they will tell you, “You are not even the son of God or daughter of God, you are God himself.” And the moment you gain puff up, they’ll say,” Who do you think you are? How dare you accord yourself so much respect, such vanity! Come down to earth.” Now again with the drooping shoulders and a fallen face, you get de-energized, and they come to you and say, “See, God is sulking.”