Setting the Gold Standard in Humility
King Raghu, grandfather of Lord Shri Ram was a very respectable king of Avadh (current Ayodhya) dynasty. The subjects of his kingdom were very proud of their king Raghu due to his generosity. One day he, dressed as an ordinary man, was passing by through the village with the entourage. He galloped way ahead of the staff.
On the way he stopped by a pond to quench his thirst. There were a couple of people sitting beside the pond and sharing stories of how generous their king was. One of them narrated the story of his extreme generosity.
Raghu heard his own praises but didn't find himself to be worthy of those. So he commented, “What is so great about that, Raghu was not born with the wealth. Neither can he take it with him when he leaves this world. He got this wealth here on earth and that he gave to others. There is nothing exemplary about his behavior. This is exactly what he should have done.”
The villagers were offended hearing that this man does not respect the sacrifice of their king. By then the troops caught up and addressed Raghu as, “O King!” Now the villagers realized that they were talking to the king Raghu. Now they saw an extremely important virtue of Raghu “humility”.
Raghu gave away everything including the pride of having given away. This is true humility.
Humility is a virtue that we need to cultivate, for this is the first step towards spiritual advancement. Without humility one will frequently keep falling off the spiritual path. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said “Be more humble then a blade of grass, and more forbearing than a tree, give respect to all and don’t expect respect from them”.
Question is how can one become humble?
The best way to develop humility is to see your dearest Shri Krishna in all living and non-living things. Shri Krishna sits inside the heart of all living beings, no matter how good or bad they are. When you see your beloved Shri Krishna inside them then you will be able to treat everyone with respect and you will progress faster on the path of devotion.