One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.

Sri Siksastakam Verse Three
Reflections, by Visakha Devi Dasi

The Vulnerability of Humility Fructifies in Freedom

In His first prayer of the Siksastaka, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has glorified the chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord, and in the second prayer He has directly addressed the Lord, praising the Lord for the glorious attributes of the holy names and expressing His own piercing bereavement in not being attracted to those names. Now in this third Siksastaka verse, Lord Caitanya is straightforwardly telling us how to successfully chant the incomparable holy name. This mysterious sanctuary—the holy name of the Lord—will open to us when the natural quality of humility, which is lying dormant in our heart, awakens.

The word “humility” is a derivative of the Latin “humus”, meaning earth, ground, and lowly. Humus, however, is much more than lowly earth: it is the richest of all land; it is that organic, black, friable soil poised to generate life. In humus, seeds thrive and from humus the food that sustains earthly life is produced. Yet humus is lower than the downtrodden grass (trnad api sunicena). Such a vital yet neglected substance is appropriately connected etymologically to the word humility, for humility alone produces the attitude that sustains spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Beginning from practicing humility up to the point of realisation of the Supreme Truth, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, this process is just like a staircase beginning from the ground floor and going up to the top floor.” Humility makes holiness possible; it’s an expression of strength, the root of trustworthy intelligence, and its by-products are tolerance (sahisnuna) and an appreciation of all that is genuine.

In this third Siksastaka verse, Lord Caitanya is giving us permission to do something great: to be what we are—small and fallen. If I can admit that I don’t know much about transcendence and that I have not progressed much on the transcendental path, I feel comfortable and secure in that honesty. My longing for others to admire me and see me as sophisticated, unique or wise, wanes. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Our disease is desire for that which is material; even while advancing in spiritual life, we want material acclaim. One must be freed from this disease.” And Srila Prabhupada gives us a cure for this disease: “Every disciple must consider himself completely unaware of the science of Krishna and must always be ready to carry out the orders of the spiritual master to become competent in Krishna consciousness. A disciple should always remain a fool before his spiritual master.”

Pretending that I’m advanced can make me feel superior, but the price is deep stress: “What about me—my feelings, my prestige, my pleasure, my position?” On this altar of self-importance, ambition and control, I sacrifice my happiness and blockade myself spiritually. “Pride is the root of all evil …pride is the beginning of all sin. Seven principle vices spring doubtless from this poisonous root, namely vain glory, envy, anger, melancholy, avarice, gluttony and lust.” By choosing not to humble myself before what is greater than me, I am left bound by what is less than me—my false ego and its mundane effects—and I am inevitably disappointed and empty. Infidelity to humility creates inner violence, for humility is as natural as the ground we walk on daily. Thus Lord Caitanya says “amanina”, never seek any personal honour or reward.

But if, despite my effort to be humble, I instead become infested with a superiority complex about my attempt at spirituality, sooner or later I will be dragged back to reality. The Trappist monk Thomas Merton, writes, “… we belong to God. Yet so does everybody else belong to God. We just happen to be conscious of it, and to make a profession out of this consciousness. But does that entitle us to consider ourselves different, or even better than others? The whole idea is preposterous.” And Srila Prabhupada expands the same point: “… it is a hazardous path of elevation that depends on personal characteristics within the jurisdiction of the three modes of nature. Without transcending these three material modes, a person will find himself securely in their clutches, and thus deluded, he will think that all his activities are divinely inspired. He will then broadcast this false concept, considering himself an advanced devotee and everyone else inferior. Impressed with his own knowledge, he will try to see God by dint of this knowledge instead acting in such a way that God will want to see him. Intoxicated by false ego, he will see his activities, which are motivated by passion, as divine. Those who are proud of their knowledge do not surrender to the Lord; instead, they try to attain the Supreme Lord's mercy by the inductive method and thus exhibit an obnoxious mentality. One should constantly remember the Lord and pray to Him for mercy. The Lord, situated in the devotee's heart, responds to such a prayer and illumines his heart with knowledge, which dissipates the darkness of ignorance.”

In other words, we do not become humble by our own power but receive humility as a gift from the all-powerful Lord and by the grace of humility we can avoid the ten offences in chanting the holy name (such as decrying persons who try to broadcast the glories of the Lord, neglecting the orders of the spiritual masters, vilifying the scriptures, and so forth). Sincere chanting will allow us to be humble and humility will allow us to chant well. Thus Srila Prabhupada writes, “Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.”

Instead of fantasizing about personal perfection—a self-indulgent and hollow line of thinking—the humble find pleasure in voicing the good qualities of others. A humble heart is aware of and extends itself to others; it is jubilant, friendly, forgiving, and caring. “Mana-dena”, Lord Caitanya says, deal modestly with all others, and then the amanina (pridelessness) will be authentic. Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother, Srila B.R. Sridhara Swami comments, “If I do not like to give honour to others then my self-seeking is present and traceable. But when I can give honour without wanting honour for myself, I will be qualified to search for Krishna , the Absolute.” In this search for Krishna , the Supreme Individual from whom all others have come, we can relish simplicity and beauty in the present moment, respond to the truth and companionship of each soul, and treasure and revere the Lord’s creation in all its forms. It is the humble who would do no harm to the earth.

The truly humble have abandoned every attempt at being humble and instead have entered into a whole new dimension of existence, where the unimaginable greatness and the incomparable perfection of the Supreme Lord overshadows their own smallness and faults. Such persons are less and less subject to the forces of nature, their own needs, or the dictates of society. The vulnerability of humility fructifies in freedom.

In the last line of this verse, Lord Caitanya tells us, “kirtaniyah sada harih.” If, somehow or other, we have humbled ourselves to an unworthy person and been cheated, we are not to caste away humility but to pray for it while chanting the holy name continuously. That holy name, dancing on our tongue and in our mind, will not cheat us.

And as we chant the holy name, asking to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord—while grounded in our tradition, our daily spiritual practice and our ordinary tasks—we are at ease with ourselves and we respond to people and things with empathy and grace. In short, we are spiritually alive and happy in our own situation.

This third Siksastaka prayer informs us how to live fully, as we are meant to live, and how, through the chanting of the holy name, we can share that fullness with others, just as gardeners joyfully share their gardens’ bounty.