trinad api sunicena
taror iva sunicena
amanina manadina
kirtanyaha sada hari

One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself to be lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.


Source: Siksastikam of Sriman Caitanya Mahaprabhu Verse 3.

Considerations: The question is raised as to when are we willing to renounce our pride completely and accept humility as a permanent way of life, eternally. Only humility of the nature described above will attract krsna into our heart.

In material life, just about everything we do is motivated by pride, desire for self recognition, pratistha, the stool of a she hog. Whether we recognise this or not, it happens. There are times such as when helping an old lady carry her heavy basket, when compassion becomes our motive, but afterwards we feel proud of our selflessness.

We have a tendency to disrespect those whom we consider to be inferior to us in any way, but krsna's surrendered servant sees nobody to be inferior to them. Srila Gour Govinda Swami points out that if a list of the names of every person is compiled, "My name will appear at the bottom". That is humility.

Life is not actually about us, pride has no place in our existence. Service to krsna is the only satisfying reality.

Humility is not an inferior situation, it's natural for a spirit soul to feel humble. It's the innate mood of the spirit soul. Humility is a gift of the ultimate kindness.

We tend to reject humility every time an opportunity for humility is offered to us. Instead, when insulted, belittled, ignored or abused (by krsna's arrangement, I might add), we choose to become angry, non cooperative, maybe even vengeful, to "protect" our pride. It is difficult to remain humble but let's think about it. Why have we chosen to "follow" this path of bhakti. To become impressive fools?

One could be forgiven for thinking that most, if not all of us want to be happy, and Sri Sri Guru and Krsna have repeatedly told us that to be happy we will need to be humble, so we have to do it to achieve our goal of happiness; and we have to do it NOW.

No more wasting time. The only way we'll get this message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to the suffering souls, and get them to join our family of loving brothers and sisters is when we are ALL humble enough to cooperate together. When WE, ourselves are the embodiement of humility and tolerance.

Every person, regardless of species, race, status or mentality, is a part of krsna. Always treat them with love and kindness as you would treat krsna Himself, regardless of how they treat you. If possible, teach them something about krsna. Some degraded persons, especially mayavadis, are not good association. They must be avoided and should be offered respect from a distance

However, most persons are, at least, innocent souls simply caught up in this karmic maze, if not actually advanced and noble personalities, and may be offered love, kindness and respect, "up close and personal", as the modern saying goes.

Respect is something that we give to all souls, not just because any individual needs your respect, but because we need to give it. It does us good to be respectful. Furthermore, respect is the lubricant for all societies; a well oiled machine runs efficiently, and that's that. It makes sense to be respectful.

Imagine how nice that can be, everyone, humbly and considerately serving the needs of each other, without judgement, without any desire for even a tinge of superiority. Living and working together to please Srila Gurudeva and their Lordships without any fear at all, knowing that our society of brothers and sisters are way beyond the material mentality.

Humility is our dear friend and our dear friends are all humble. Fear not, for krsna will protect us from the abuse that may arise accidentally or when some distressed person enters our life; yes, krsna will protect us, Gurudeva said so. Then, when our humble hearts are keen to serve without any motivation of selfish reward, love of God becomes a daily, eternal experience.

Note regarding mayavadis

Mayavadis take krsna's and krsna's devotees' unsurpassed gift of sastra (books of pure knowledge) and tattva (truth in reality) and purposely twist the meanings so that they can foolishly avoid surrender to the Lord under the pretence that it is the Lord's instruction. They use this false, impersonal "knowledge" to mislead others subsequently causing enormous amounts of suffering.

This insult to krsna's causeless mercy and kindness, coupled with their efforts to erode all possibilty of happiness for their victims, renders them among the most degaraded low-life. Avoid their association at all times, but please always respect their right to choose according to the free will that krsna has given them. They actually believe their nonsense philosophy as anything can make sense to one who has a vested interest.

Paradise lost

Remember that they, themselves may have been innocent souls corrupted by other mayavadis and they suffer extreme distress. A little compassion for them will do you no harm but do not try to save them unless you are an extremely advanced devotee.

Mayavadis are usually very skillful scholars who accept knowledge for its own sake, rejecting the love to which such knowledge points, in favour of becoming God Himself. Impossible, but blinded by desire they undertake immense efforts to succeed, although failure is the only possible outcome as the infintessimal spirit soul is NOT the all encompassing Lord God and can never become something she is not.

Being very knowlegable of all sastra, they can present extremely convincing arguements to all but advanced devotees, thus association with mayavadis can, and probably will, destroy every trace of attraction to krsna that you have garnered over years, or even lifetimes, of dedication.

They are effectively bhakti's enemies, attempting to thwart krsna's devotees' efforts to bring happiness to the suffering souls in this world of maya. As Lord Ramachandra said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Thus we can deduce, the enemy of my friend is also my enemy (bhakti devi is our friend).

Pride cometh before the fall

Mayavadis are extremely proud of their amassed knowledge. Eliminate every trace of pride from your heart. Pride is mayavadi mentality. Always be as humble as possible, even if it's apparently not required. Disrespect, of any discription, is impersonalism. Eradicate it immediately.

Humility favours the spirit soul

Impersonalist, mayavadi philosophy is the last snare of maya. Do NOT get caught.

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Quote: Hiranyakasipu was a terrible demon and an openly determined atheist, but it is those who knowingly deceive others of their factual positions that are truly detrimental and dangerous.

Srila Vamana Maharaja in "Vaisnava Vijaya" (a book on defeating Mayavadi philosophy) by Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja. (Introduction page xi).