Question: How can I practically cultivate the mood of being a humble servant of devotees in regular interactions?
Answer by Romapada Swami: In the attached file there are some discussions on the topic of humility, including some direct quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s books on the topic of “Humility and Eagerness to Serve”.
Here is a brief description of what humility is and being humble means:
1) Humility deals with what we think of ourselves. With a spiritual conception of ourselves, we act from our constitutional position of being a servant of Krishna.
2) When one has a spiritual conception of humility it increases one’s enthusiasm/desire to serve Krishna and thus increases devotional service.
3) Srila Prabhupada said – God is great and we are small. Krishna Consciousness is very simple if we understand this. Most people accept that God is great but they do not know how great God is. When we understand how great God is, we realize how tiny we are and this inspires service.
4) If we are not humble, we will never understand someone/something greater than us. Humility is the precursor to knowledge and with knowledge, detachment comes.
5) Humility is the foundation of pridelessness. Pride rests upon misconception of the self.
6) We cannot surrender without being humble. For instance, Jarasandha was humiliated so many times but he did not get the message. Even when everything is taken away, one does not surrender if one is not humble.
7) When one takes a humble position, duality does not disturb that person.
Here are some hints on how to develop humility and eagerness to serve:
i) Hear descriptions of personalities who are humble, glorify them, remember them, offer prayers to them.
ii) Regular recitation of prayers by entering into the spirit of the prayers.
iii) Find happiness simply in serving.
iv) Establish close relationships with those that are humble and who are eager for that goal.
v) Study Srila Prabhupada’s books regularly and scrutinizingly.
vi) Participate and create opportunities for saintly association.
vii) Missionary spirit – taking preaching spirit upon us. We meet the whole spectrum of people when we preach – we should stay humble and dedicated. Preaching helps develop humility, value devotee association.
viii) Ramanujacarya describes a three-fold process to cultivate any Vaisnava quality – a) regular devotional practices, b) Cultural – hearing glories of great acaryas and reciting prayers, c) Internal cultivation
Quotes on humility from Srila Prabhupada Sikasamrta:
1) Personally one should be very meek and humble even in the presence of greatest provocation but a slight insult to Krishna or His representative should at once be taken seriously. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Brahmananda, 15th November, 1967)
2) A devotee should always remain humble and meek, especially to authorities and devotees. Lord Caitanya’s philosophy is not to become God but to become servant, servant, servant of God. The more one becomes the lower grade servant of Lord, the more he is devoted nearer to the Lord. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Jaya Govinda, 8th February, 1968)
3) The more you think as imperfect, the more you make actual progress in Krishna consciousness. This hankering after perfection is seen even in the most perfect devotees. So, we should never think of being perfect at any stage. Actually, Krishna consciousness is unlimited, because Krishna is unlimited, so we do not know at which point perfection is there. Even Krishna thinks that he is imperfect to understand Radharani’s feelings of devotion; and to understand the devotional feelings of Radharani, He became Lord Caitanya, to worship Krishna in the feelings of Radharani. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Hamsaduta, 17th February, 1968)
4) This humbleness is the sign of progress in Krishna consciousness. A Krishna conscious person thinks always about himself as the lowest creature in the world, and the more one thinks like that he becomes elevated more and more. A Krishna conscious person is never falsely puffed up; he is satisfied with his humble position as the servant of servant of Krishna. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Krsnadasa, 1st June, 1968)
5) You ask about the desire for fame. Fame is a material desire, but to desire fame in Krishna consciousness is not bad. If you think that people may know you as a great devotee of Krishna, that they may acknowledge me as a nice devotee of Krishna, that is not at all bad. But even one is highly elevated in Krishna consciousness he should not think himself a great devotee, he should always think himself humble. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Upendra, November 13th, 1968)
6) In the spiritual world to accept one’s inferior position does not mean envious mentality upon the other. Unhappiness experienced by a devotee on account of feeling himself inferior is not unusual, rather such mentality is imperative to further development of devotional service. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Satsvarupa, 20th February, 1969)
7) The actual Vaisnava always feels himself lowly and unqualified, but this submissiveness and humbleness is his actual qualification for becoming perfect in Krishna consciousness. In material life everyone is thinking that I am so wonderful, I am so expert, but actually the living entity is an insignificant spark of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. So when we see we are becoming aware of our infinitesimal nature, then we begin to also understand something of how infinitely great Krishna is. One cannot be falsely puffed up and still expect to make progress in spiritual life. Rather one must learn to accept his constitutional position of Krishna’s tiny servant. Then Krishna is pleased to reveal Himself to such devotee, and the devotee becomes more and more engaged in rendering transcendental service to the Lord. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Gajendra, 20th July, 1969)
8) When a Krishna conscious person is elevated to a responsible position he never becomes puffed up. Just like a tree overladen with fruits become humble and lower down, similarly, a great soul in Krishna consciousness becomes humbler than grass and bowed down like fruitful trees, because a Krishna conscious person acts as the agent of Krishna, therefore he discharges his duty with great responsibility. (Srila Prabhupada’s Letter to Gajendra, 27th January, 1970)
Quotes on humility from scripture:
1) trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
These are the symptoms of one who chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Although he is very exalted, he thinks himself lower than the grass on the ground, and like a tree, he tolerates everything in two ways. When a tree is cut down, it does not protest, and even when drying up, it does not ask anyone for water. The tree delivers its fruits, flowers and whatever else it possesses to anyone and everyone. It tolerates scorching heat and torrents of rain, yet it still gives shelter to others. If one chants the holy name of Lord Krishna in this manner, he will certainly awaken his dormant love for Krishna’s lotus feet.”
Although a Vaishnava is the most exalted person, he is prideless and gives all respect to everyone, knowing everyone to be the resting place of Krishna. If one chants the holy name of Lord Krishna in this manner, he will certainly awaken his dormant love for Krishna’s lotus feet.” (Caitanya Caritamrita Antya 20.21-26)
2) Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura recommends that we become humble by practicing the following meditation: “The earth, which is always visible to me, is the expansion of the lotus feet of my Lord, who is always to be meditated upon. All moving and nonmoving living beings have taken shelter of the earth and are thus sheltered at the lotus feet of my Lord. For this reason I should respect every living being and not envy anyone. In fact, all living entities constitute the Kaustubha gem on My Lord’s chest. Therefore I should never envy or deride any living entity.” By practicing this meditation one can achieve success in life.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 12.11.24 purport)
3) If anyone wants to compete with God and at the same time make advancement in spiritual knowledge, he will be frustrated. It is clearly stated that without humility, understanding is not truly possible. To think oneself God is most puffed up. Although the living entity is always being kicked by the stringent laws of material nature, he still thinks, “I am God” because of ignorance. The beginning of knowledge, therefore, is amanitva, humility. One should be humble and know that he is subordinate to the Supreme Lord. Due to rebellion against the Supreme Lord, one becomes subordinate to material nature. One must know and be convinced of this truth. (Narada Bhakti Sutra 27 purport)
4) As servants of the Supreme Lord, all living entities are one, but a Vaishnava, because of his natural humility, addresses every other living entity as prabhu. A Vaishnava sees other servants to be so advanced that he has much to learn from them. Thus he accepts all other devotees of the Lord as prabhus, masters. Although everyone is a servant of the Lord, one Vaishnava servant, because of humility, sees another servant as his master. Understanding of the master begins from understanding of the spiritual master.
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi
“By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krishna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.11 purport)
5) Chanting is compared to the helpless cry of a child for its mother. It is a prayer from the core of the repentant heart. It is chanted, therefore, in humility. Once, in a state of devotional ecstasy while in the company of two close followers (Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Ramananda Raya), Sri Caitanya described the quintessential importance of chanting with the mood of humility. He said, “One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.” Commenting upon this famous verse, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, author of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, declares, “Everyone please hear me! String this verse on the thread of the holy name and wear it on your neck for continuous remembrance. One must strictly follow the principles given by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this verse. If one simply does so, certainly he will achieve the ultimate goal of life, the lotus feet of Sri Krishna.” (Sri Namamrta introduction)
6) Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. The material conception of life makes us very eager to receive honor from others, but from the point of view of a man in perfect knowledge—who knows that he is not this body—anything, honor or dishonor, pertaining to this body is useless. One should not be hankering after this material deception. People are very anxious to be famous for their religion, and consequently sometimes it is found that without understanding the principles of religion one enters into some group which is not actually following religious principles and then wants to advertise himself as a religious mentor. As for actual advancement in spiritual science, one should have a test to see how far he is progressing. He can judge by these items. (Bhagavad Gita 13.8-12 purport)
7) The conditioned souls in this material world become falsely proud of their so-called family lineage. This pride is false because one who has taken birth in the material world is in a fallen situation, even in the best of cases. Vasudeva, however, was certainly not fallen, since he had taken birth in the family of Krishna. Since he was Krishna’s father, his position was most exalted, yet because he was a pure devotee he did not become proud of his special relationship with Krishna. Instead, considering himself deficient in spiritual understanding, he took advantage of the appearance of Narada Muni, a great preacher of Krishna consciousness, by immediately inquiring from him about devotional service. This incomparable humility of a pure devotee of Krishna is far superior to the false humility of the impersonalist, who actually maintains a desire to be equal to God though adopting the external behavior of a meek and saintly person. (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.7 purport)
8) We should always be prepared to take instruction from the authorities. We should never think that we have become perfect. Although you are perfect. Trnad api sunicena taror api sahishnuna. One should be very humble, meek, and always think that “I am nothing.” Just like the author of Caitanya-caritamrita, such a great, stalwart man, such a great devotee. Nobody has produced such literature as Caitanya-caritamrita. He is presenting himself that “I am lighter than the worm in the stool.” Purishera kita haite muni se laghishtha. Purish means stool and kita means worm. So “I am lower than the worm in the stool. Anyone who takes my name, all his pious activities immediately becomes lost.” In this way he is presenting himself. That does not mean that he’s actually so, but that is the attitude of a devotee. He’s always very meek and humble. And the opposite side is, “I am God. Now finish all business.” You see? So this maya is very strong. He’s (She’s) always enticing me, “Oh, you are so great, so big, so… You have nothing to learn. Finish all…” This is maya’s instruction. But we should always be very humble, meek, and we should know always that “What I know? I do not know anything.” The knowledge is unlimited. God is unlimited. And my position is very minute, fractional, infinitesimal. What I can accommodate? I shall go on. I shall go on. Remain. Gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. We shall always try to remain servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the… Hundred times servant. Then it will be all right. The more you become humble, meek, the more you advance. That is real advancement. (SP Lecture, NY, April 16th, 1969)
9) Vedic way allows the brahmacari to beg just to learn humbleness, not beggar. Coming from very big, big family all family, they practice it. This is not begging. This is to learn how to become humble and meek. And Christ said, “To the humble and meek, God is available.” It is not begging. You do not know what is this culture. (Room conversation, Calcutta, Feb 4th, 1977)
Lectures on Humility by His Holiness Romapada Swami
1) Seminar on Humility at Potomac, MD, November 27th-30th, 2003 – Four lectures (Available at http://www.caitanya.com/lectures_available_online.html)
2) Humility and Eagerness to serve – 3 lectures – given in India, Feb
’05 (These lectures can be made available online or on CD)
3) Two
lectures on Trnad Api Sunicena given at Potomac, MD in March ’06 (These
lectures can be made available online or on CD)
4) Lectures on Siksasatam prayers – Given in India (These lectures can be made available on a CD)
5) Lectures on Siksasatam prayers – Given in St. Louis during March ‘06 (Not available online yet but can be made available)
