His Constant Guidance Towards True Humility
During the time I was serving Srila Gurudeva, there was a long period during which he would daily speak the same great personal teaching or maha-vakhya:
“Sabāi bhālo, āmi kharab – all are good, I am bad.”
Then he would turn around and ask us: “Isn’t it?”
Often one devotee would answer, “Yes, Gurudev, all are good, I am bad.”
He would then turn to that devotee and say, “Are you saying it from your lips or from your heart?”
Then everyone would laugh.
We all got his message. Of course, when you would take this maha-vakhya out of context, it could be misunderstood. It is not advocating that we should tolerate all kind of misbehavior - we have seen him chastise devotees. It is indicating what our internal mood should be, no matter what we do externally.
Once, there was some serious misbehavior of one leading devotee and some other devotees at once flew in to consult with Guru-Maharaj about the measurements to be taken. To their surprise, Guru-Maharaj didn’t chastise that devotee but instead chastised them.
With that, he taught us an important lesson: Externally you may appear to be doing the right thing, but if you are having an inimical mood internally, you spoil everything at once.
To substantiate this, he often quoted the biographies of Dhruva and Prahlad, emphasizing how they were successful in their sadhana after discarding all kinds of enmity from their hearts.
We can try to sort things out in our sanga, but if that creates enmity in our hearts, it is useless. Tomorrow our enemy may become our friend and our friend may become our enemy. Dhruva embraced tigers and deer alike and asked them, “Where is my lotus-eyed Hari?”
While we externally engage in difficult dealings, we must always practice genuine humility and remember that the only bad thing is in our heart. We may condemn a person’s behavior but never the person. A Vaisnava has no enemy. Everyone is here to help us directly or indirectly.
All are good – I am bad.
—Radhamadhav Das
“Sabāi bhālo, āmi kharab – all are good, I am bad.”
Then he would turn around and ask us: “Isn’t it?”
Often one devotee would answer, “Yes, Gurudev, all are good, I am bad.”
He would then turn to that devotee and say, “Are you saying it from your lips or from your heart?”
Then everyone would laugh.
We all got his message. Of course, when you would take this maha-vakhya out of context, it could be misunderstood. It is not advocating that we should tolerate all kind of misbehavior - we have seen him chastise devotees. It is indicating what our internal mood should be, no matter what we do externally.
Once, there was some serious misbehavior of one leading devotee and some other devotees at once flew in to consult with Guru-Maharaj about the measurements to be taken. To their surprise, Guru-Maharaj didn’t chastise that devotee but instead chastised them.
With that, he taught us an important lesson: Externally you may appear to be doing the right thing, but if you are having an inimical mood internally, you spoil everything at once.
To substantiate this, he often quoted the biographies of Dhruva and Prahlad, emphasizing how they were successful in their sadhana after discarding all kinds of enmity from their hearts.
We can try to sort things out in our sanga, but if that creates enmity in our hearts, it is useless. Tomorrow our enemy may become our friend and our friend may become our enemy. Dhruva embraced tigers and deer alike and asked them, “Where is my lotus-eyed Hari?”
While we externally engage in difficult dealings, we must always practice genuine humility and remember that the only bad thing is in our heart. We may condemn a person’s behavior but never the person. A Vaisnava has no enemy. Everyone is here to help us directly or indirectly.
All are good – I am bad.
—Radhamadhav Das
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