Want to Begin the Path of Devotion? Start With This One Virtue

तृणादपि सुनीचेन​, तरोरपि सहिष्णुना, अमानिना मानदेन​, कीर्तनीयः सदा हरिः ॥

“Be more humble than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, give respect to others and never demand respect for yourself. This attitude alone will help you realize God.”  

In ancient times, there was a king in India called Janusruti. He was the ruler of a kingdom called Maha Vrishabh. He was a benevolent and generous king. He built rest houses along the side of the road to enable the weary travelers get rested before continuing their journey, charitable hospitals to give medical treatment to his subjects etc.. He was very satisfied with all the philanthropic activities that he was doing, as he believed that this will help him accumulate religious merit, give him peace of mind and get him closer to God. He sincerely believed that he was the greatest philanthropist and there was none like him. 

One evening as he was sitting down, relaxing on the terrace of his beautiful palace, he overheard the conversation between two swans who were flying over him. One of them said “be careful while passing over the king Janshruti. The glare of his fame may turn you into ashes.”  

The female bird laughed and said, “Do not threaten me, my dear? We are wanderers of the skies. We know more of the world than others. You are talking as if Janshruti is a greater patron than the humble cart-man Raikwa. Undoubtedly the King is very generous but he is proud of his benevolence too. Raikwa is humbly distributing the most precious knowledge of the scriptures to everyone. He does not want to hear a word in his praise”. 

King Janshruti had the skill to understand the conversation of animals. So he understood their conversation and became extremely worried. He started thinking, “Who is Raikwa and how can he earn more merit than me? He became so restless that he stayed up whole night.  

The next morning when the royal procedure to wake him up commenced, King Janshruti got very upset and said, “Stop these false praises for me. I don’t deserve it.” Then he ordered to seek out the most generous and holy Raikwa, the Cart-man. 

The royal servants did not like the attitude of a poor cart driver towards their King. They could not comprehend, what would an illustrious king, launch a massive search for a poor insignificant man such as Raikwa. The king on the other hand was delighted to know that Raikwa’s whereabouts have been established. He ordered his ministers to make preparations to leave for Raikwa’s village the next morning. He took lots of precious gifts, jewels, food items and 600 cows with Him and set out for Raikwa’s village. 

Upon arriving at the village of Raikwa the king met him humbly and requested with folded hands, “I have heard much about your spiritual knowledge. I request you to take all these gifts and bestow some knowledge upon me to help me realize God.” 

Raikwa smiled and said to the king, “so, you want to buy Brahm-Gyan with these gifts? You are so innocent! The knowledge of Brahm is not a commodity which could be bartered. You do not deserve Brahm-Gyan. Please return back to your palace.” 

The king was extremely disappointed and drowned in dejection. But his sincere quest to know God made him humble and indifferent to material fame and achievements. He became a completely different person within few weeks. Now it became impossible for him to stay in his kingdom. All the majesty of the kingdom did not matter to him anymore. He went back to Raikwa and fell on his feet and begged him to impart the knowledge of Brahm. The king cried out bitterly, “Please bestow your grace upon me. Your knowledge is thousand times richer than my entire kingdom. Please give me a drop of it.” 

Raikwa noticed that his vanity has gone and he is truly desperate to attain the knowledge of God. Raikwa lifted up the king and embraced him affectionately. He addressed the king, saying, “O virtuous king! Braham-Gyan cannot be attained without shedding ego. Humility is the first step on the path of God realization and you have already attained that by His divine grace. I bless you with the knowledge I possess. From now on, you will have the same knowledge as I have.”  

​Thus, saint Raikwa enlightened the king and accepted him as his disciple. King Janshruti dedicated his position to the Lord and looked after the kingdom of Maha Vrishabh as a humble servant of God.