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Humility

Radhanath Swami’s Extempore Humility

It was IIT Mumbai. Radhanath Swami had just delivered a spell bounding lecture to a group of young IITians. They now looked at him in indecision: were they really at the zenith of knowledge-acquisition, or were they merely like that infamous frog who thought of his puny well as the ‘be all & end all’ of existence? Radhanath Swami, through his stellar presentation, had very dexterously challenged their ‘froggish’ mentality with something so arcane, the awe-inspiring knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita.  As some of these brainy IITians swarmed around him admiring his angelic demeanor, my chest swelled in pride. Standing next to him, I watched him hoisting within the hearts of these chaps the flag of the Supreme Lord’s mercy –fluttering its compassionate ripples.

Slowly, the just now formed fan club of Radhanath Swami dispersed for the free dinner arranged by the organizers. But a student in his late teens waited behind to have Radhanath Swami’s autograph on his recently purchased ‘Bhagavad Gita As it is.’ As he inched forward, I quickly pulled out my pen and handed it to Radhanath Swami.

As Radhanath Swami opened that divine scripture, his eyes searched for a suitable page to pen down his autograph. There it was; the first page of the book! As with all books, the first page was relatively empty with the title of the book written on top in bold, & way at the bottom were the credentials of the author. Obviously, anybody would have signed in the middle of that page.

But for Radhanath Swami, signing there meant a breach of etiquette: it would mean signing his autograph above the name of his Guru Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who was the author of that book. Hence he spontaneously chose to sign his autograph way below Srila Prabhupada’s name, where there was hardly any space to scribble a word. I was so moved, touched & impressed upon seeing Radhanath Swami’s extempore humility. Someone who was just a while ago so victorious over these astute & brainy IITians was not at all deterred from his vows of humility, even after such an alluring accomplishment. I guess this is the secret of his success: Determined to remain humble.

Sikshashtakam Das. Temple President, ISKCON Nasik.

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145 replies on “Radhanath Swami’s Extempore Humility”

This incident shows that how Radhanath Swami teaches humility no only through his classes but also through his behavior. Radhanath Swami walks his talk.

Radhanath Swami’s unparalleled humility is evident in all his actions, words and behaviour. It comes from the core of his being.

Genuine humility as shown by HH Radhanath Swami cannot be mimicked artificially.

Thank you very much Sikshashtakam Prabhu for sharing this experience. H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj is an ideal example of humility. I pray to the Lord to bless me a fraction of such humility.

Humility is permanantly moulded in each and every actions of Radhanath Swami.It’s great,imposible for person like me to remain on ground after succsess.I pray unto him that a small tinge of that quality may get developed in me while steadily progressing on path that he teaches.Thank you very much for sharing.

Radhanath Swami exhibits natural humility. His every word, every action demonstrates humility. He lives what he preaches.

PAMHO !!!
My koti koti shastangh dandavat pranam to our beloved guru maharaj HH Radhanath Swami…
After having conquered the young and brainy IITians yet maharaj been so humble is the greatness of the pure devotee of Lord Krsna !!!

Radhanath Swami never deviates an inch from rmly grounded on the principle of genuine humility

Radhanath Swami is humility personified. This rare and foremost quality for reviving our devotional service to Lord is so spontaneous and natural in Radhanath Swami. Radhanath Swami also, with his own example, (like this one) plants the seeds of humility in all his disciples of which the author of this article, H.G.Sikshashtakam Prabhu is the best example. Thank you Sikshashtakam Prabhu for sharing this wonderful experience with Radhanath Swami Maharaj.

radhanath swami is the selected jewel chosen by srila prabhupada, he is always very grateful to his guru at any point of his life,

Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s heart has substance of humility and devotion. Be it be effortless triumphs over the intellectual elite, or down to earth addresses to masses, his striking humility is witnessed by everyone.

It is so rare in this world to find a person who is humble in spite of being surrounded by illustrious people. Radhanath Swami shows by his example how it is possible by sincere effort to follow the principle verse given by Sri Chaitanya; trinad api sunichena…..

Yes, Radhanath Swami’s determination to remain humble makes him so dear to everyone.

Thank you very much for sharing. H.H.Radhanath Swami’s humility and deep love for his Guru Maharaj (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) is clearly seen here

Radhanath Swami’s dedication to his acaryas is clearly reflected here, which is just one of the qualities that makes him the saint he is.

Radhanath Swami perfectly demonstrates humility through his actions words and deeds.

Thank You very much for sharing this. One more of the many examples by which we can see how His Holiness Radhanath Swami lives the ideals which he preaches.

Humility cannot be artificial nor can it be acted. It is something which has to come spontaneously from within. This is what Radhanath swami has.

Radhanath Maharaj is teaching us that true service to a Guru is by rendering service in humility. His contribution speaks volume of his ability in carrying forward the mission of his Guru.