What is Humility?

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam

तृतियोऽध्यायः

CHAPTER III

श्री भक्त वचनामृतम्

Śrī Bhakta-vacanāmṛtam

Soul-tonic:

 Words from the bhaktas

अनुकुल्यस्य सङ्कल्पः

तत्रा सम्पत्ति-चतुष्टयं परमानुकूलम्

tatrā sampatti-catuṣṭayaṁ paramānukūlam:

तृणादपि सुनीचेन तरोरिव सहिष्णुना ।

अमानिना मानदेन कीर्त्तनीयः सदा हरिः ॥

tṛṇād api sunīchena taror iva sahiṣṇunā

amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

“Never seek position or prestige from any quarter. At the same time, give honour to one and all according to your understanding.”  (3)

These Four Jewels are the treasure and the most favourable things:

“One who always takes the holy name of Hari must be:

1. Humbler than the grass

2. Tolerant as a tree.

3. Respectful to all

4. Free from ego.

In his book, Golden Volcano of Divine Love, Śrīdhara Mahārāja comments as follows:

We should mainly couch ourselves in this mood: 

we should think of ourselves as the meanest of the mean. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur has given his analysis of the meaning of this verse as follows: even a blade of grass has its value, but we do not even have as much value as a blade of grass. 

We have no positive value. It is one thing if a man is not educated, but a madman is worse than uneducated. He can think—but only abnormally. 

Therefore, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur says, “I have some consciousness, some intelligence, but it is all misdirected. A blade of grass has no misdirection. When trampled upon, it has no tendency to spring back in the opposite direction. A blade of grass can be blown here and there by a storm, or by the external environment, but I will always be reluctant to go in a particular direction. If the waves of the environment want to take me in a particular direction, I’ll try to oppose them. If you really consider my value, my position is lower than a blade of grass because I “have an opposing tendency.”

When we want to bring ourselves in a closer relationship with the infinite goodness, we should think, “I have no value. Rather, my value is negative. It is my tendency to oppose the Lord’s grace. If Kṛṣṇa wants to grace me, I try to resist. I am constituted of such an element that I commit spiritual suicide. Kṛṣṇa comes to grace me, but I oppose Him: the energy that is within me tries for suicide. This is my position, but a blade of grass won’t oppose anyone. I have such a nasty position.” We must realise that we are in such a predicament. With this concern we may accept the goodness of the Absolute Truth in the form of His Holy Name.

We should not think that the path will be very smooth; so many troubles may come from outside. When the devotees go to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in the street, many people come and shout, “Hey, you monkeys! Red-faced monkeys!” So many forms of hindrances and opposition will come and try to affect us, to dissuade us from this path, but we must practise forbearance like that of a tree. 

Why has the “Why has the example of a tree been given? It has been analysed in this way: if no one pours any water on a tree, it does not protest, “Oh! Give me water!” If anyone comes to disturb the tree, snatching its leaves, cutting its branches, or even chopping it down, a tree remains silent; it gives no opposition. We should try to see how insult, poverty, punishment, or other unfavourable dealings are necessary to purify us, and with minimal punishment we shall be released from material existence.

Through Kṛṣṇa consciousness we have connected with the highest object of life, the highest fulfilment of life—what price are we ready to pay for that? It is inconceivable. Whatever little demands may be “exacted from us, we must accept with a smiling face, considering the highest goal. If we are really confident, if we have faith in our bright future, then we can gladly pay what little price nature wants to take from us.

Gaura Kishor Dās Babaji

Once, Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj, the Spiritual Master of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, was going through the town of Nabadwīp begging a little rice from different houses. The village people sometimes attack or insult devotees, and as he was going to his quarters they did not spare even such an exalted soul. Some boys were pelting him with stones and throwing dirt at him, and he remarked, “Kṛṣṇa, You are cruelly dealing with me! I shall complain to Your mother Yaśodā about You."

That was his outlook, and in that way he harmonised everything. We should learn to see Kṛṣṇa in anything that comes to disturb or attack us. In philosophical calculation, of course, without God’s will nothing can happen. But in a concrete way, a devotee sees, “O Kṛṣṇa! You are backing these children, You are disturbing me, and I shall teach You a lesson. I know how to deal with You. I shall complain to Mother Yaśodā, and she will chastise You.”

The advanced devotees are established in the consciousness that Kṛṣṇa is behind everything, and they take everything in that way. This attitude is our beacon light, for it will guide us to adjust ourselves with those things that are apparently unfavourable to us. A sweet adjustment is found there, and so we are advised to be more tolerant than a tree. We may not give any opposition; still, opposition will come to disturb us. And we must forbear.

And we must show our respect to others. Prestige is the greatest and most subtle enemy of the devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Pride is the worst enemy for the devotee of Kṛṣṇa.  And pride ultimately takes one to the conclusion of the māyāvadīs, the monists. They say, “So ’ham: I am!” Not, “Dāso ’ham: I am subordinate”, but “I am of the Supreme Element; I am That: I am He”, eliminating from their consideration the fact that we are tiny and suffering in misery. All these practical things are ignored by the māyāvadīs, the impersonalists, but position, or ego (pratiṣṭhā), is our worst enemy. In this verse, we are advised to deal with prestige and position in a special way.

“Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu says, “You must not desire respect from anyone or even from the environment itself; at the same time, you must give prestige to everyone and everything in the environment according to its position. Show respect, but don’t desire any respect from outside.” We must be very particular about this, for pride is our hidden enemy, our worst enemy. If we can somehow avoid or conquer this enemy, we will be able to enter into the slave area of Kṛṣṇa and join those who have given their lives wholesale in sacrifice to Him. The general meaning of this verse is, “Never seek position or prestige from any quarter. At the same time, give honour to one and all according to your understanding.”

Humility must be adjusted or modified in its practical application. Once, when a Hare Kṛṣṇa Temple was attacked, a gun was used by the devotees to defend the Temple. Later there was a complaint among the local people. They said, “Oh, they are humble? They are tolerant? Why have they crossed the advice of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu to be humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree? They can’t be devotees!”

 So many complaints were coming to me, but I defended them by saying, “No, they have done rightly. The instruction to be humbler than a blade of grass means one should be humble to the devotee, not to a madman.”

The general class of men are ignorant. They are mad. They do not know what is good or bad, so their consideration has no value. Who is qualified to judge whether a devotee is offering respect to all and not expecting any for himself? Who will judge whether he is really humble and tolerant—madmen? Ignorant people? Have they any sense to judge who is humble, who is tolerant, and who is respectful to others? There must be a standard by which to judge humility. We are interested in the criterion given by higher thinkers, not the consideration of the ignorant masses.

Of course, anyone may deceive the “ordinary public with superficial humility. But a show of humility is not real humility. It must come from the heart, and it must have a real purpose. Everything—humility, tolerance, and pridelessness—must be considered by the judgement of a standard, normal person, not by the ignorant who are like elephants, tigers, and jackals. Should they be allowed to judge what is humility, what is audacity and impertinence? Of course not. Should a devotee think, “The Deity and the Temple is about to be molested, but I shall stand by and do nothing. I should be humble and tolerant. A dog is entering the Temple; I should show him respect?” No. This is not real humility.

We must have a normal conception of reality. We must not allow these anomalies to continue in the name of offering respects to others. We must not think that we may allow anyone to harm the devotees or “molest the Temple, that we shall allow the dog to enter the Temple, and by doing this we are humble and tolerant, we are showing all respects to others. We are not interested only in the physical meaning of the scriptures, but the real meaning.

That I am humble means that I am the slave of the slave of a Vaiṣṇava. With that consciousness we must proceed. If anyone comes to molest my master, I should first sacrifice myself, thinking, “Because I am of the least importance, my sacrifice is no loss; I must sacrifice myself to maintain the dignity of my Guru, the devotees, and my Lord and His family.”

We must always understand what is to be honoured. We offer our respects to the highest truth, the Lord of Lords; our dealings should be in consonance with that. If we always keep the highest conception of relativity within us, we will see “that we are the lowest. If there is danger to our guardians, we shall sacrifice ourselves. All of this should be taken into account when trying to understand the meaning of humility, not physical imitation—but genuine humility; it is a question of practical realisation. Fame and honour must be given to the Lord and His devotees, not to anyone else.

In the higher stages of devotion, of course, humility may have to be adjusted in another way for the paramahaṁsa bābājīs, the topmost swanlike saints who have given up all connection with this material world. But in the preaching stage, the second class devotee must accept things differently. As our Guru Mahārāj said, “Had I been in the role of a bābājī, a non-assertive, reclusive saint, I would have walked away from the place without offering any opposition. 

But when we are preaching and have taken the responsibility of leading so many souls to the domain of the Lord, our adjustment must be made accordingly.” Generally, we may be indifferent to those who are personally inimical to us, but when we preach on behalf of the Lord in an organised way, our duty changes: we cannot be indifferent to antagonists.

It is mentioned in the scriptures by Jīva Goswāmī that according to one’s own particular status, these things should be taken into consideration and the necessary things should be done. He has given his decision that if the devotee has a position of power, if he is a king, and if someone repeatedly blasphemes a real Vaiṣṇava, or saintly person, then the king should enforce corporal punishment by banishing the offender from his state or by cutting out his tongue (Vaiṣṇava nindaka jihvā hāta). That is not the duty for ordinary persons; if they act in such a way, there will be “a riot. We should not be eager to inflict physical punishment upon anyone.

Hanumān is a Vaiṣṇava, but he is seen to destroy so many lives. The same is true of Arjuna and so many other devotees. Even Kṛṣṇa and Rāmachandra are also seen to kill so many demons in war. Simply a physical show of meekness does not constitute the real meaning of humility. When there is an insult to the Guru or the Vaiṣṇavas, a devotee will oppose the blasphemers according to his might.

Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, in one of his songs, says that we should not only tolerate the evil-doings of others and a disturbing environment, but we should do good to those by whom we are being tortured. The example is given of a tree. One who is cutting the tree gets shade and comfort from the tree even while cutting it down. In conclusion, he says that humility, mercy, respect for others, and renunciation of name and fame, are the four qualifications for chanting the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa.

We are the meanest of the mean. We should always be conscious that we are beggars. We should think, “Although I am a beggar, I’ve come to beg for the highest thing; let no disturbance dissuade me from my attempt.” At the same time, our attitude toward the environment should be respectful.

In this way, by becoming educated in the Kṛṣṇa conception of divinity, everyone should be given respect according to his position. It is the guiding instruction in the worship of the Holy Name (Nām-bhajan) that we must take the position of the slave of the slave of the slave of the Lord. 

If you want to chant the Name of Kṛṣṇa, then don’t waste your energy with the trifling things of this world. Don’t allow your attention to be disturbed by tiny acquisitions like prestige or gain which is relative to money or physical comfort. Remember, you are trying for the greatest thing, and all other things are very small in comparison to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, don’t waste your energy and valuable time. Be economical. You have the chance to achieve the highest goal of life.