Do not get elated at the riches, status, authority, intelligence, etc., which you may have. Consider that they have been given to you on trust, so that you may benefit others. They are all signs of His Grace, opportunities of service, and symbols of responsibility. Deal sympathetically with the mistakes of others. Seek the good in others, hear only good tidings about them, and do not give ear to scandal. There is this Kaliya episode during the Krishna Avatar. The inner meaning of that is: The serpent Kaliya and its minions are the desires that lurk in the depths of the heart; into that depth the Lord jumps, or rather showers His Grace and the poison is expelled, and the place made safe and pure. When Krishna dances on the hoods, the serpents are tamed and rendered harmless. Without the extinction of desire, one cannot become Divine. Of what avail is it to repeat Shivoham, Shivoham (I am Shiva) when you have not endeavoured to equip yourself with the qualities of Shiva?

- Divine Discourse, Oct 24, 1965.