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.
145 replies on “Radhanath Swami’s Extempore Humility”
Radhanath maharaj really symbolifies humility.
Such incidents make a deep impression upon our hearts and give as an ideal to strive for. Thank you for sharing such wonderful pastimes about Radhanath Swami
A humble soul achieves a lot on behalf of GOD.
Very True – Determined to remain humble is the secret of success of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj. Thank you so much Prabhuji for sharing such a wonderful realization.
Radhanath Swami is truely gifted with Humility. Its just natural for him to be humble.
humility emblem is radhanath swami. this shows he is not from this material world but had just come to show us the glimpse of that eternal blissful life with krsna. thank u maharaj.
Radhanath Swami is en emblem of humility. Not only does he speak about humility is almost all of his lectures, but he shows this quality by his experiences as well.
Thats the real glory of Radhanath Swami’s success . His heart melting humility !
Thank you for sharing this nice experience.
he is humility personified
Wow!!!too good
True humility is the greatest treasure, the most valuable possession, and the biggest asset to attract the merciful glance of the almighty GOD.
Radhanath Swami is showing what does it mean to be truly rich.
This is such a touchy incident bringing out more love from our hearts for HH Radhanath swami. thank you for sharing this
Excellent lesson for all of us… Thank you!
very inspiring article. Thank you prabhuji for sharing.
Radhanath Swami’s humility is truly extraordinary.
THANKS FOR SHARING THIS NICE EXPEIRENCE WITH MAHARAJ . HE IS REALLY HUMBLE.
Determined to remain humble – what an extraordinary quality of Radhanath Swami. This is the hallmark of a truly great person.
Amazing and lots to learn for us from this great saint.
He undobtedly practises what he preaches
I heard Radhanath Swami saying that “With Humility comes realization, otherwise it remains knowledge”. It is Radhanath Swami’s humility that makes him so realized.
Radhanath Swami is always conscious of every action of his; every action exhibits the qualities of a saintly person.
Maharaj’s every action transform the heart of others.
Radhanath Swami preaches by his own example
Radhanath Swami had changed so many lives by his exemplary genuine humility.
This is the hallmark of Radhanath Swami – he never transcends rules of etiquette
Maharaj truly is an epitome of humiltiy…Thank you for sharing
Thabk you ver much.
Radhanath Swami reminds / instructs us tobe humble by his actions.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience of yours with Radhanath Swami
Amazing1
His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj is very very rich in Humilily. A wonderful Passage.
Perfect Guru is a perfect disciple. Truly displeyed here.
HH Radhanath swami is personified humility.
Very inspiring article!.
Thank you so much prabhu for sharing us.
Wow – this is an amazing article. Thank you for sharing it.
He is free from all the material qualities such as greed ,anger, and so on. Even Krishna is pleased when a person is very humble and free from all the modes of nature. so Radha nath swami is a great saint.
It is very touching and heart felt feeling. Maharaj ki jai
Thank you very much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story. Radhanath swami is a personification of humility.
Radhanath Swami is an epitome of humility.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. Radhanath swami is a personification of humility and he teaches his disciples by his example.
All glories to Radhanath Swami for his extempore humility and the author of this article for such a brilliant composition and use of perfectly suitable words.
Radhanath swami maharaj ki jay!!!
Radhanath swami showing perfect example of humility from his ideal behavior. Thank you for shearing this article.