What the scriptures say about arrogance

What do the scriptures say about arrogance?

The texts call it mada (मद). Intoxication with one's own wealth, learning, birth or power. Nahusha says success blinds even the wise. They set gratitude and equanimity against it.

51 verses
7 stories
Weighs on the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Krishna

आढ्योऽभिजनवानस्मि कोऽन्योऽस्ति सदृशो मया । यक्ष्ये दास्यामि मोदिष्य इत्यज्ञानविमोहिताः ॥

āḍhyo’bhijanavānasmi ko’nyo’sti sadṛśo mayā | yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya ityajñānavimohitāḥ ||

'I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice': so they say, deluded by ignorance.

Bhagavad Gita 16.15

Arrogance in the texts' own words

Someone in the verse is in it, or the text names it outright. Many readers find their own day here.

Bhartrihari
यदा किञ्चिज्ज्ञोऽहं गज इव मदान्धः समभवम् तदा सर्वज्ञोऽस्मीत्यभवदवलिप्तं मम मनः । यदा किञ्चित्किञ्चिद्बुधजनसकाशादवगतम् तदा मूर्खोऽस्मीति ज्वर इव मदो मे व्यपगतः ॥
yadā kiñcijjño’haṃ gaja iva madāndhaḥ samabhavam tadā sarvajño’smītyabhavadavaliptaṃ mama manaḥ | yadā kiñcitkiñcidbudhajanasakāśādavagatam tadā mūrkho’smīti jvara iva mado me vyapagataḥ ||
When I knew a little, I was blind with pride like an elephant in rut, and my mind swelled: 'I know everything.' When, little by little, I learned from the wise, I realised 'I am a fool', and my pride left me like a fever.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Depicts blind like an elephant in rut. our reading
Nahusha
सुप्रज्ञमपि चेच्छूरमृद्धिर्मोहयते नरम् / वर्तमानः सुखे सर्वो नावैतीति मतिर्मम
suprajñamapi cecchūramṛddhirmohayate naram / vartamānaḥ sukhe sarvo nāvaitīti matirmama
Prosperity deludes a person, however wise and brave. Anyone living in comfort fails to notice it happening. That is my view.
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Nahusha's questions
Shows a king who fell through this very blindness and now sees it. our reading
Nahusha
अहं हि दिवि दिव्येन विमानन चरन्पुरा / अभिमानेन मत्तः सन्कंचिन्नान्यमचिन्तयम्
ahaṃ hi divi divyena vimānana caranpurā / abhimānena mattaḥ sankaṃcinnānyamacintayam
Once I moved through the sky in a celestial chariot, drunk on pride, and gave no thought to anyone else.
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Nahusha's questions
Depicts Nahusha describing his own intoxication with success. our reading
Krishna
आढ्योऽभिजनवानस्मि कोऽन्योऽस्ति सदृशो मया । यक्ष्ये दास्यामि मोदिष्य इत्यज्ञानविमोहिताः ॥
āḍhyo’bhijanavānasmi ko’nyo’sti sadṛśo mayā | yakṣye dāsyāmi modiṣya ityajñānavimohitāḥ ||
'I am rich and well-born. Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice': so they say, deluded by ignorance.
Bhagavad Gita 16.15
Krishna
आत्मसम्भाविताः स्तब्धा धनमानमदान्विताः । यजन्ते नामयज्ञैस्ते दम्भेनाविधिपूर्वकम् ॥
ātmasambhāvitāḥ stabdhā dhanamānamadānvitāḥ | yajante nāmayajñaiste dambhenāvidhipūrvakam ||
Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name only, with hypocrisy and against the rules.
Bhagavad Gita 16.17

What feeds it, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

The illnesses of the mind

Ramcharitmanas, Uttar Kand 121-122 (Gita Press)

Kakbhushundi
मोह सकल ब्याधिन्ह कर मूला। तिन्ह ते पुनि उपजहिं बहु सूला॥ काम बात कफ लोभ अपारा। क्रोध पित्त नित छाती जारा ॥
moh sakal byādhinha kar mūlā| tinha te puni upajahiṃ bahu sūlā|| kām bāt kaph lobh apārā| krodh pitta nit chātī jārā ||
Delusion is the root of all diseases, and from it spring many pains. Desire is the wind, greed the endless phlegm, and anger the bile that keeps the chest burning.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand
Kakbhushundi
ममता दादु कंडु इरषाई। हरष बिषाद गरह बहुताई॥ पर सुख देखि जरनि सोइ छई। कुष्ट दुष्टता मन कुटिलई ॥
mamatā dādu kaṃḍu iraṣāī| haraṣ biṣād garah bahutāī|| par sukh dekhi jarani soi chaī| kuṣṭa duṣṭatā man kuṭilaī ||
Possessiveness is ringworm and envy is the itch; the swings of elation and dejection are throat ailments. The burning you feel at another's happiness is consumption, and malice and a crooked mind are leprosy.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

Guard each thing from its thief

Mahabharata, Shanti Parva (Narada to Shuka, quoting Sanatkumara)

You should guard your discipline from anger, your fortune from envy, your learning from pride and slight, and yourself from heedlessness.

Sanatkumara (quoted by Narada)
नित्यं क्रोधात्तपो रक्षेच्छ्रियं रक्षेच्च मत्सरात् / विद्यां मानावमानाभ्यामात्मानं तु प्रमादतः
nityaṃ krodhāttapo rakṣecchriyaṃ rakṣecca matsarāt / vidyāṃ mānāvamānābhyāmātmānaṃ tu pramādataḥ
Always guard your discipline from anger and your good fortune from envy; guard your learning from both pride and insult, and guard yourself from carelessness.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

What each one takes from you

Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva 35

Hope takes away steadiness, envy takes right conduct, anger takes fortune, bad company takes character, desire takes modesty, and pride takes everything.

Vidura
जरा रूपं हरति हि धैर्यमाशा / मृत्युः प्राणान्धर्मचर्यामसूया / क्रोधः श्रियं शीलमनार्यसेवा / ह्रियं कामः सर्वमेवाभिमानः
jarā rūpaṃ harati hi dhairyamāśā / mṛtyuḥ prāṇāndharmacaryāmasūyā / krodhaḥ śriyaṃ śīlamanāryasevā / hriyaṃ kāmaḥ sarvamevābhimānaḥ
Age steals beauty, craving steals patience, death takes life, envy takes goodness, anger takes prosperity, bad company takes character, lust takes shame, and pride takes everything.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti

Pride, the root

Ramcharitmanas, Uttar Kand 74 (Gita Press)

Arrogance
Grief

Pride is the root of the round of sorrows and the giver of every pain. The Lord removes it from those he loves, just as a mother has a child's boil lanced though the child cries.

Kakbhushundi
नहु राम कर सहज सुभाऊ। जन अभिमान न राखहिं काऊ॥ संसृत मूल सूलप्रद नाना। सकल सोक दायक अभिमाना ॥
nahu rām kar sahaj subhāū| jan abhimān na rākhahiṃ kāū|| saṃsṛt mūl sūlaprad nānā| sakal sok dāyak abhimānā ||
Hear Ram's natural way: he never lets pride stay in his devotee, for pride is the root of the cycle of birth and death, the giver of many pains and of every sorrow.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

What heals it

What the texts set against it, and the verses that give footing.

Humilityvinaya
Vinaya teaches that fruit-laden trees bow and fortune sat with thousands before you. stated in the text
Bhartrihari Niti 71; Nahusha; Bali to Indra
Gratitudekṛtajñatā
Seeing what else made the success. our reading
Gita 10.41; 18.14
Equanimitysamatva
Do not swell with praise. stated in the text
Gita 5.20; Vidura 33.33

Bhartrihari
भवन्ति नम्रास्तरवः फलोद्गमै- र्नवाम्बुभिर्दूरविलम्बिनो घनाः । अनुद्धताः सत्पुरुषाः समृद्धिभिः स्वभाव एवैष परोपकारिणाम् ॥
bhavanti namrāstaravaḥ phalodgamai- rnavāmbubhirdūravilambino ghanāḥ | anuddhatāḥ satpuruṣāḥ samṛddhibhiḥ svabhāva evaiṣa paropakāriṇām ||
Trees bow low with fruit; clouds hang low with new rain; the good are not puffed up by prosperity. This is the very nature of those who help others.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Shows fullness bending low. our reading
Bali
यामेतां प्राप्य जानीषे राज्यश्रियमनुत्तमाम् / स्थिता मयीति तन्मिथ्या नैषा ह्येकत्र तिष्ठति स्थिता हीन्द्रसहस्रेषु त्वद्विशिष्टतमेष्वियम् / मां च लोला परित्यज्य त्वामगाद्विबुधाधिप
yāmetāṃ prāpya jānīṣe rājyaśriyamanuttamām / sthitā mayīti tanmithyā naiṣā hyekatra tiṣṭhati sthitā hīndrasahasreṣu tvadviśiṣṭatameṣviyam / māṃ ca lolā parityajya tvāmagādvibudhādhipa
This royal fortune that you think rests with you: that is false. It has never stayed with anyone. It lived with thousands of Indras greater than you, and has now left me and come to you.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Shows success as a visitor, not a possession. our reading
Nahusha
सुप्रज्ञमपि चेच्छूरमृद्धिर्मोहयते नरम् / वर्तमानः सुखे सर्वो नावैतीति मतिर्मम
suprajñamapi cecchūramṛddhirmohayate naram / vartamānaḥ sukhe sarvo nāvaitīti matirmama
Prosperity deludes a person, however wise and brave. Anyone living in comfort fails to notice it happening. That is my view.
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Nahusha's questions
Names the way success numbs self-awareness. our reading
Vidura
न हृष्यत्यात्मसंमाने नावमानेन तप्यते / गाङ्गो ह्रद इवाक्षोभ्यो यः स पण्डित उच्यते
na hṛṣyatyātmasaṃmāne nāvamānena tapyate / gāṅgo hrada ivākṣobhyo yaḥ sa paṇḍita ucyate
One who is not elated when honoured, nor pained when slighted, and who stays unruffled like a deep pool of the Ganga, is called wise.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Dattatreya
अप्रमत्तो गभीरात्मा धृतिमान् जितषड्गुणः । अमानी मानदः कल्पो मैत्रः कारुणिकः कविः ॥
apramatto gabhīrātmā dhṛtimān jitaṣaḍguṇaḥ | amānī mānadaḥ kalpo maitraḥ kāruṇikaḥ kaviḥ ||
Alert, deep, steadfast, master of the six waves of hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, age and death; seeking no honour yet honouring others; capable, friendly, compassionate, wise.
Avadhuta Gita 8.3
Bhartrihari
तृष्णां छिन्धि भज क्षमां जहि मदं पापे रतिं मा कृथाः सत्यं ब्रूह्यनुयाहि साधुपदवीं सेवस्व विद्वज्जनम् । मान्यान् मानय विद्विषोऽप्यनुनय प्रख्यापय प्रश्रयं कीर्तिं पालय दुःखिते कुरु दयामेतत् सतां चेष्टितम् ॥
tṛṣṇāṃ chindhi bhaja kṣamāṃ jahi madaṃ pāpe ratiṃ mā kṛthāḥ satyaṃ brūhyanuyāhi sādhupadavīṃ sevasva vidvajjanam | mānyān mānaya vidviṣo’pyanunaya prakhyāpaya praśrayaṃ kīrtiṃ pālaya duḥkhite kuru dayāmetat satāṃ ceṣṭitam ||
Cut off craving, practise forbearance, give up arrogance, take no delight in wrong, speak the truth, follow the path of the good, serve the wise, honour those worthy of honour, win over even your enemies, show courtesy, guard your good name, be kind to those in pain: this is how the good behave.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Gives up arrogance. our reading
Hanuman
सो सब तव प्रताप रघुराई। नाथ न कछू मोरि प्रभुताई ॥
so sab tav pratāp raghurāī| nāth na kachū mori prabhutāī ||
"All of it was your glory, Lord. None of it was my own greatness."
Ramcharitmanas · Sundar Kand
Shows success not allowed to go to his head. our reading
Vibhishan
चौदह भुवन एक पति होई। भूत द्रोह तिष्टइ नहिं सोई॥ गुन सागर नागर नर जोऊ। अलप लोभ भल कहइ न कोऊ ॥
caudah bhuvan ek pati hoī| bhūt droh tiṣṭai nahiṃ soī|| gun sāgar nāgar nar joū| alap lobh bhal kahai na koū ||
Even a sole master of the fourteen worlds cannot last if he makes enemies of living beings. A person may be an ocean of virtues and clever too, but if he has even a little greed, no one calls him good.
Ramcharitmanas · Sundar Kand
Gives lordship of fourteen worlds does not protect one who harms others. our reading

Practices that grow gratitude and equanimity

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Ashtavakra
चेष्टमानं शरीरं स्वं पश्यत्यन्यशरीरवत् । संस्तवे चापि निन्दायां कथं क्षुभ्येत् महाशयः ॥
ceṣṭamānaṃ śarīraṃ svaṃ paśyatyanyaśarīravat | saṃstave cāpi nindāyāṃ kathaṃ kṣubhyet mahāśayaḥ ||
One who watches his own active body as if it were someone else's: how could praise or blame disturb such a large-hearted person?
Ashtavakra Gita 3.10
Shows being unshaken by praise and blame. our reading
Krishna
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥
yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||
Established in yoga, do your work, Dhananjaya, giving up attachment, the same in success and failure. This evenness is called yoga.
Bhagavad Gita 2.48
Gives evenness as the very definition of yoga. our reading
Krishna
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति । तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः ॥
patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyaṃ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati | tadahaṃ bhaktyupahṛtamaśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||
Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of love from the pure-hearted I accept.
Bhagavad Gita 9.26
Shows offering even a little as thanks. our reading
Bhartrihari
प्रदानं प्रच्छन्नं गृहमुपगते सम्भ्रमविधिः प्रियं कृत्वा मौनं सदसि कथनं चाप्युपकृते । अनुत्सेको लक्ष्म्यामनभिभवगन्धाः परकथाः सतां केनोद्दिष्टं विषममसिधाराव्रतमिदम् ॥
pradānaṃ pracchannaṃ gṛhamupagate sambhramavidhiḥ priyaṃ kṛtvā maunaṃ sadasi kathanaṃ cāpyupakṛte | anutseko lakṣmyāmanabhibhavagandhāḥ parakathāḥ satāṃ kenoddiṣṭaṃ viṣamamasidhārāvratamidam ||
Giving in secret, a warm welcome for whoever comes home, silence after doing a kindness, speaking in public of kindness received, no arrogance in wealth, talking of others without a whiff of contempt: who taught the good this vow, hard as walking a sword's edge?
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Shows speaking openly of help received. our reading
Bhishma
कृतज्ञमनसा भाव्यं मित्रभावेन चानघ / मित्रात्प्रभवते सर्वं मित्रं धन्यतरं स्मृतम्
kṛtajñamanasā bhāvyaṃ mitrabhāvena cānagha / mitrātprabhavate sarvaṃ mitraṃ dhanyataraṃ smṛtam
Keep a grateful heart and a friendly spirit. Everything grows out of friendship; a friend is the greatest blessing.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Apaddharma
Names gratitude as the disposition to hold. our reading
Dharmavyadha (the righteous meat-seller)
न च कामान्न संरम्भान्न द्वेषाद्धर्ममुत्सृजेत् / प्रिये नातिभृशं हृष्येदप्रिये न च संज्वरेत्
na ca kāmānna saṃrambhānna dveṣāddharmamutsṛjet / priye nātibhṛśaṃ hṛṣyedapriye na ca saṃjvaret
Never give up what is right out of desire, rage or hatred. Don't be overjoyed by what pleases you, nor burn with distress at what does not.
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vyadha Gita
Shows neither over-joy nor fever at events. our reading
Vidula
अलब्ध्वा यदि वा लब्ध्वा नानुशोचति पण्डितः / आनन्तर्यं चारभते न प्राणानां धनायते
alabdhvā yadi vā labdhvā nānuśocati paṇḍitaḥ / ānantaryaṃ cārabhate na prāṇānāṃ dhanāyate
Whether he wins or fails, the wise person does not keep grieving. He starts on the next task at once and does not hoard his own life.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidula's counsel
Shows gain and failure getting the same response. our reading
Ram
सब कै ममता ताग बटोरी। मम पद मनहि बाँध बरि डोरी॥ समदरसी इच्छा कछु नाहीं। हरष सोक भय नहिं मन माहीं ॥ अस सज्जन मम उर बस कैसें। लोभी हृदयँ बसइ धनु जैसें॥ तुम्ह सारिखे संत प्रिय मोरें। धरउँ देह नहिं आन निहोरें ॥
sab kai mamatā tāg baṭorī| mam pad manahi bāṁdh bari ḍorī|| samadarasī icchā kachu nāhīṃ| haraṣ sok bhay nahiṃ man māhīṃ || as sajjan mam ur bas kaiseṃ| lobhī hṛdayaṁ basai dhanu jaiseṃ|| tumha sārikhe saṃt priy moreṃ| dharauṁ deh nahiṃ ān nihoreṃ ||
Gathering the threads of attachment to all of these, he twists them into one cord and ties his mind to my feet. Even-minded, wanting nothing, with no elation, grief or fear in his mind: such a good person lives in my heart as wealth lives in a miser's heart. Saints like you are dear to me; I take a body for no other reason.
Ramcharitmanas, Sundar Kand 5.46 (chaupai 3)
Shows seeing alike and wanting nothing. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures went through this, and the story shows what turned.

From the Mahabharata
Bhima meets Hanuman
Searching for a flower for Draupadi, mighty Bhima finds an old monkey blocking the path and orders it to move. Told to lift its tail himself, he cannot budge it. The monkey is his elder brother Hanuman, who embraces him and teaches him.
Strength without humility is blind. The one blocking your path may be family.
From the Ramayana
Ram cannot repay Hanuman
Back from Lanka, Hanuman tells Ram how Sita survives: his name guards her day and night. Ram, in tears, asks whether one who relies on him can meet calamity; Hanuman answers that the only calamity is forgetting him. Ram says he can never repay Hanuman and cannot even look him in the face; Hanuman falls at his feet and will not get up. Offered anything, he asks only for unwavering devotion, and credits every deed to Ram.
Do the work, give away the credit, and ask only to keep loving.
From the Ramayana
Narada's pride and the monkey face
Narada conquers desire in meditation and cannot stop telling people about it. Vishnu creates a city and a princess's swayamvara; Narada falls for her and asks Vishnu for a beautiful face. Vishnu, like a doctor refusing harmful food, gives him a monkey's face instead, and Narada is laughed out of the hall until he sees what his pride has done.
The moment you boast of beating a weakness, it has found another way in.
From the Upanishads
Shvetaketu comes home proud
After twelve years of study, Shvetaketu returns home at twenty-four full of himself. His father gently asks whether he learned the one thing that makes everything else understood, and the son admits his teachers never taught it.
Learning without humility misses the main thing.

Is this where you are?

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Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for arrogance?

Mada (मद). Drunk on success, pride of wealth or standing.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about arrogance?

Bhagavad Gita 16.17: Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name only, with hypocrisy and against the rules.

How do the scriptures say to overcome arrogance?

They set gratitude and equanimity against it. Vinaya teaches that fruit-laden trees bow and fortune sat with thousands before you. (Bhartrihari Niti 71; Nahusha; Bali to Indra) Seeing what else made the success. (Gita 10.41; 18.14)

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.