Be Humble

Whatever be the extent of virtues or power which one may acquire, these would be of no avail unless accompanied by humility. Ravana is portrayed in Ramayana not only as powerful, but virtuous in many respects. But his arrogance in not heeding the advice of his well wishers to make amends for his outrageous act, finally led to his ruin. In fact, the Tamil bard, Valluvar observes (Kural, 95), “Humility and pleasant speech constitute one’s ornaments; others don’t count”.



All knowledge and study also attain their fulfilment only when accompanied by humility. A Sanskrit adage, vidya dadaati vinayam (true knowledge confers humility) is amplified by an ancient Tamil quote, niraikudam thalumbadu, which means, “a pot which is full of water would not make gurgling noise”.



Indeed only those who are possessed of mere superficial knowledge attempt to conceal their lack of fulfilment or real self-respect through vain boasts, loud talk, self-righteousness or egotistic chatter. Alexander Pope was indeed right when he observed, “a little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring”!



In contrast, peaceful countenance and simplicity mark those who are authentic and truly fulfilled. Rama is portrayed not merely as a mridubhashi (pleasant in speech) but also as a purvabhashi, because he would not stand on prestige or formality for the other to open a conversation but would himself take the lead in commencing a dialogue.



True humility naturally dawns when one realises that his own capacities, talents, acquisitions and powers are ephemeral after all and are nothing compared to the vast storehouse of human excellence. The great Tamil saint, Avvayar summed up well, when she said, “What we know is the size of a handful of sand while what we don’t know is the size of the entire earth itself...”



Benjamin Franklin’s exhortation on the virtue of humility is indeed to the point — “Imitate Jesus and Socrates”. While the declaration of Socrates, “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance” is supreme modesty, Jesus’s praise of the lowly and humble in his sermon on the mount (Mathew 5, 3 to 8) is a beacon and inspiration for the poor in spirit, the meek, the righteous, the merciful and the pure in heart.



Indeed, they are the truly blessed because these virtues would always sustain, stand tall, as they would, in the aspirant’s progress toward true riches and endearing growth!