Humility, best Vaishnava quality?
Humble: “having or showing a modest or low estimation of one’s own importance.” (Apple Dictionary)
“Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others.” (Srila Prabhupada, Bg. 13.8, purport)
“The only humility that is really ours is not that which we try to show before God in prayer, but that which we carry with us in our daily conduct.” –Andrew Murray
“God descends to the humble as waters flow down from the hills into the valleys.” –Tikhon
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura made a blueprint for a marketplace of the holy name called the “Nama Hatta.” He designed a system through which people all over the world might not only take up the chanting of the holy names, but also learn the philosophy behind the chanting.
In drawing the plans for this sacred marketplace, Srila Bhaktivinoda listed various positions like, Chief Trader, Broker, and numerous kinds of salespeople.
He also gave himself a position: the sweeper of the marketplace.
Srila Bhaktivinoda’s illustrious son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said, “I am but one straw in the broom of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the sweeper.”
To chant the holy names with feeling, I must cultivate such humility, feeling myself to be lowly, bereft of qualification, and dependent on the mercy of Krsna and His devotees.
Lord Caitanya taught that a person who maintains a humble state mind could go on chanting the names of the Lord without stoppage.
Vaisesika Dasa