There are three kinds of people – inferior, middling and superior. Inferior people are those who think one thing, say another and do something else. There is no harmony among their thoughts, speech and actions; rather they are opposed to one another. They are hypocrites. The middling class of person is one who keeps their thoughts secret and neither speaks nor acts accordingly. And what is the best class of human being? One who acts in accordance with their thoughts is the best class of human being. Such type of people we call honest people, good people.

What will a good person do? Trńádapi suniicena [humble like a blade of grass]. They will stay away from ego because ego is the root cause of downfall. If ego is present then downfall is inevitable. How is ego manifested in individual life? It expresses itself through superiority complex. I am great and everyone else is small, degraded, lowly. “I am superior” – this feeling or thought is called “superiority complex” in English and mahámanyatá in Sanskrit. Due to this sense of ego one behaves poorly with others. For this reason it is said in the scriptures: trińádapi suniicena. For example, a blade of grass remains underneath everyone. It has no ego, yet it possesses more qualities than anyone. Human beings should keep themselves aloof in every way from superiority complex and pride. Good people will stay away from ego. Why will they do so? Good people know what are the causes behind the rise of ego. One person has knowledge, another has money. A good person knows that this money and this knowledge is not theirs; it belongs to Parama Puruśa. Today it has come to me and again it will leave me. I had none of these when I was born and at the time of death they won’t remain with me. For this reason good people will stay away from ego.

Trńádapi suniicena taroriva sahiśńuná. Have the power to endure like a tree. See, a person reacts immediately to some action. Perhaps someone has a harsh word or two for you. You also give that person a stern reply right away. This is very easy. It does not test at all your power to endure and as a result you do not get an opportunity to develop your self-confidence. But when you endure it, you test just how much capacity to endure you have in your life. This capacity to endure strengthens your nervous system. And then what happens? Your cakras, your brain, your intellect – all become fortified. If your intellect becomes strong then many difficult tasks will become easy. In this way you will easily be victorious.

Amánináḿ mánadeyaḿ [“You must give respect to those whom no one respects”]. Everything in this universe is the manifestation of Parama Puruśa. Big or small, every entity is the expression of the Supreme Father. But what happens in this world? Due to various social defects many flaws persist in the social structure. Due to this unworthy people are given respect while worthy people are disdained. There is one cause behind this – social defects. One can find a lot of people who show respect to those not worthy of receiving it – sarve guńáh káiṋcanaḿ áshrayanti [“Those who have wealth have all qualities”] – but it is not right if worthy people are disrespected. Thus one should bear this thought in mind that I will show respect to those who are given no respect. Those in society who are downtrodden, fallen, ignorant or so-called little people, I will show them respect. We may or may not be respectful in front of the so-called superior people, but the so-called lower-class people deserve respect because they are the expression of Parama Puruśa, they are also the children of the Supreme Father. Why will I show respect? Well, if I show respect my respect will not decrease but rather increase. Amánináḿ mánadeyaḿ. These are all qualities of good people.

Who is a good person? Previously it has been said: kiirtaniiyah sadá harih. One should always do the kiirtana of the Lord. What does kiirtana mean? To sing in a loud voice the qualities of the Lord – not mentally. If it is done mentally then we call it japa. And when it is vocalized then we call it kiirtana. Why does kiirtana have to be vocalized? The science behind it is that when you do kiirtana loudly your mind remains engaged. It cannot do anything else. At that time it is not possible to abuse someone or to have a worldly conversation. The mind is busy vocalizing, rather I will say that it is given over to the vocalization. The vocal cords are busy in that, the mind is employed in that thought, and the ears are hearing it, they don’t have any chance to go here and there. For this reason the rule of vocalizing kiirtana loudly makes it both heard and sung. Kiirtan is not done softly.

Now whose kiirtana should be done? Hari’s. Who is Hari? In Bhopal I said: Harati pápaḿ ityarthe harih—He steals sins. He who steals sins is Hari. Harań kará means “to steal.” This goes against the instruction in Yama-Niyama [moral principles] to follow asteya. Asteya means non-stealing. But Parama Puruśa steals. This is very bad. Parama Puruśa has Himself said that it is not proper to steal, that one should be established in Yama-Niyama, but He Himself steals. This is quite bad.

Yes, He steals and He must steal, He is compelled to do so. Now what does He steal? Harati pápaḿ ityarthe harih. Parama Puruśa, the Supreme Father, loves His affectionate sons and daughters very much. He also loves to scold and discipline His created beings for their own welfare.

You will notice how much sin a person commits in one lifetime. So how much sin has that person committed over the course of lifetimes! It is well nigh impossible to find someone who has not committed any sin. Everyone has committed one sin or another. One person’s sins are as vast as a mountain and another’s are perhaps very small. One person is a diamond thief and another steals cucumbers. Hence the matter becomes very complex. In this case what should be done? Parama Puruśa knows that if his sons and daughters have to carry the burden of all their sins then what to speak of one lifetime, they won’t exhaust their sins even over thousands of lifetimes. Think, for how many lifetimes will they have to bear the burden of their sins? Parama Puruśa does not want his affectionate children have to bear the burden of their sins life after life, for thousands of lifetimes. In this case what will his children do? Well, let them give the burden of their sins to Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa wants to bear their burden but the devotees say, “No, no, no. O Parama Puruśa, we will feed you, we will entertain you, we will arrange singing and dancing in your honour, but we will never give you our sins. We won’t. We simply won’t.” This is a terrible situation. Parama Puruśa loves his sons and daughters so much. So what will he do? When He sees that His devotees are not ready to give their accumulated sins to Him then He steals those sins without His devotee’s knowledge. Thus His other name is Hari, or thief.

If you do not do the kiirtana for this Hari who loves his devotees so deeply, then whose kiirtana will you do? For this reason it has been said: kiirtaniiyah sadá harih. Always do the kiirtana of Hari. Here Hari means Parama Puruśa, the Supreme Father. This is the goal of good people. Good people will do this alone.