Bhakti Cannot Arise In The Heart Without Humility | HG Vaiśeṣika Dāsa | ISV Yātrā | 12 Feb 2024

Sound Bhakti

Today, I thought of this because of going to Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's Bhajana Kuṭīra and it's on a hill, which is the sand dune. There's a pastime around that also. But thinking of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, and we'll talk about it more when we go there today, he advocated humility. "Tṛṇād api sunīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā Hariḥ." It's easy enough to roll off my tongue and say, "Yeah, I already know that verse," but how much have I applied it? One of the teachings of the Bṛhat Bhāgavatāmṛta is that there's no possibility for bhakti to arise within the heart of a devotee unless there's dainya or utter humility. Or the concept is that bhakti and dainya go together; they are co-dependents. In other words, someone may say "I have developed pure love for God," but if there's no humility, then that's a farce because they go together - dainya, utter humility. It is also one of the points that Caitanya Mahāprabhu makes again in the Madhya-līlā, in the same section, when he's talking about bhāva, the symptoms of one whose heart is becoming softened by the practice of devotional service. He mentions there that such a person feels paradoxically less and less qualified as he or she becomes more qualified. The more qualified one becomes, the less qualified one considers oneself. And it doesn't mean that the devotee becomes dysfunctional. Prabhupāda talks about that in his prayers called Vṛndāvana-bhajana before he came to America. He was talking about Arjuna as a great warrior, and he said that Vaiṣṇavas, they don't shrink from their duties in the world, even if they're called to go to battle. They'll stand courageously and fight to do their duty. So it's not that they become morose and think, "What is the term I'm thinking of? They lose self-esteem, they lack self-esteem, and think, 'I can't do anything, and nobody likes me anyway,'" that kind of thing. Nonetheless, there's this growing sense of being only useful when engaged in devotional service of the Lord and fully surrendered to the Lord's will and doing everything according to the direction of the Lord. I mentioned it in the context of us going to see Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's temple today because it's one of the principles that he emphasized again and again. It's such a simple principle that one might miss it and think, "Yeah, I've heard that before," but revisiting it again and again, in the mood in which Caitanya Mahāprabhu says to keep oneself in that position of humility, is one of the foundational principles of devotional service, and it's something to be cultivated. (excerpt from the talk) ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark