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by Jayaram V
"Abhi" means towards, in the direction
of and "maan" means "respect" or
"esteem". Abhimaan
literally
means "oriented towards (one's) respect or self respect. In a broader sense it means any or all of the following: feeling
proud of oneself, feeling respectful towards one self, self-pride,
self-esteem or having a high opinion of oneself.
In Hinduism abhiman or pride is considered as both a positive and
negative trait depending upon the obligator duty. For people
whose obligatory duty is that of warriors or kshatriyas, abhiman or
self pride is a desirable trait because it will make them good
fighters and keep them perseverant. However, from an ethical perspective abhmaan is responsible for false
prestige and defensive behavior. It makes people think and behave as
if protecting ones honor and status in society is more important and satisfying
than anything else. In the process they may lose inner balance and act
irrationally or impulsively.
From a spiritual perspective, abhimaan is a sign of a person's
egoism and attachment to worldly things that are impermanent and cause
of suffering. It denotes the predominance of egoism, sense of duality and attachment to
the worldly objects. It is a reflection of the excessive presence of rajas, one of the
triple gunas, enumerated in the Bhagavad-Gita. Duryodhan the eldest of the kauravas had
excessive Abhimaan which made him feel humiliated when Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas,
laughed at him as he made a fool of himself in the maya sabha or the
hall of magic. The incident
contributed in a significant way to the great battle of Mahabharata in which millions of lives were lost.
Thus for an initiate into spiritual worlds, one of the first important
practices of self-cleansing would be to overcome abhimaan and
cultivate humility and equanimity of mind. This is usually achieved
through various acts of self negation such as begging and renouncing
worldly possessions and status symbols.
Suggested Further Reading
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