trinad api sunicena taror iva sahishnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

The holy name of Lord Hari should always be chanted in great humility.
One should think oneself to be lower than a blade of grass,
one should be as tolerant as a tree,
one must offer all honour to others and
one should never expect any honour for oneself.

In the previous verse it was discussed that there is nothing else but offenses that prevents the full power of the holy name to manifest itself.
Here Sriman Mahaprabhu teaches all the people of the world that the only way to protect oneself from offenses is to chant the holy name with great humility.
When He instructed Srila Rupa Gosvami, Sriman Mahaprabhu compared offenses committed against the devotees to a mad elephant which uproots the tender vine of one’s devotion from the heart. There is no other way than to fence off one’s vine-of-devotion with the shield of humility:

yadi vaishnava aparadha uthe hathi mata
upade va chinde tara suki yay pata
tate mali yatna kori kore avarana
aparadha hasti yaiche na hoy udgama
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrita)

It is also said:

dinata mana dattadi sila klpta mahavritih
bhakti kalpa nribhih palya sravanadyambu secanaih

“One should build a strong wall of humility and protect one’s vine of devotion by giving honour to others around it, sprinkling the vine with the water of hearing and chanting.”
“Humility” means to naturally always consider oneself to be very unqualified.
Srimat Sanatana Gosvami defined humility as follows in his Brihad Bhagavatamrita:

yenasadharanasaktadhama buddhih sadatmani
sarvotkarshanvite’pi syad budhais tad dainyam ishyate
yaya vacehaya dainyam matya ca sthairyam eti tat
tam yatnena bhajed vidvams tad viruddhani varjayet

“The wise men call humility that feeling which makes the most qualified person consider oneself to be low and unqualified. Intelligent practising devotees should follow with their words, activities and intelligence in the footsteps of those in whose hearts this humility is fixed, and they should never act contrary to this.”

The abovementioned humility, which makes the most qualified person consider oneself to be low and unworthy, is not ordinary humility. It is the natural condition of a surrendered soul who has illuminated his spiritual self by returning to his constitutional position.
When a fortunate person, who has surrendered to the Lord’s lotus feet by the mercy of a bonafide teacher, advances on the path of devotion, he will experience the authority of God more and more as the dense darkness of his false bodily consciousness vanishes and his real identification as God’s servant awakens.
The practising devotee will ultimately give up all his own false authority, throwing it into the ocean of God’s authority by means of full surrender to the Lord’s feet, and thus becoming a liberated soul. As long as he is in his material body he will have to deal and speak with people of the world, but as soon as he senses even the slightest feeling of personal authority coming up in him, he feels greatly upset. An urge of humility will arise in his heart and he will at once give up his false feeling of authority.
That is the natural humility of a devotee, and the valuable treasure of a devotee’s sadhana (spiritual practice). Srimat Sanatana Gosvami says that there is not much difference between humility and devotion. Both are impetuses for each other.

The holy name will be pleased with such humility of the devotee and in this way all offenses to the Vaishnavas will vanish. Thus humility attracts the mercy of the holy name. Our eyes are very tender, yet they are the most important of the knowledge-aquiring senses, and because even the slightest thing can cause great damage to them, the Lord has created our eyelids to always protect them. If, by chance, a speck of dust falls on the eye, the fine nerves in the eye immediately produce water to drive the dust out of the eye’s realm.
In the same way, humility drives out the offenses that hamper our devotion and make our hearts free from them. With this verse trinad api sunicena, Sriman Mahaprabhu teaches the practising devotees how to observe the limit of humility. Humility is the very life-force of the chanting of the holy name. Chanting without humility is lifeless, therefore the chanter must become specifically acquainted with these great words of Sriman Mahaprabhu.

The Lord said: trinad api sunicena –
“The practising devotee should feel as humble as a blade of grass.”
A blade of grass is a very insignificant thing, but it is still very important since it serves the cows as foodstuff and through that the cows give milk with which the Lord can be served. Roofs of houses and temples can also be made with grass. “But”, the devotee should think, “no service has ever been done through me.” In this way he considers himself to be even lower than a blade of grass. The devotee should humbly think: “When someone steps on a blade of grass, the grass will rise again after the foot has gone off him, but I never get up so unharmed and unoffended if someone kicks me with the foot.” Certainly these feelings of humility must be developed by the practising devotee. As long as one does not realize one’s lowness with one’s heart and mind, and only feigns humility on the outside, verbally for instance, the perfection of this trinad api sunicena-mood is not attained. Real humility is mental humility. There is no greater deceit than to feign humility through one’s gestures and words and being actually filled with false pride within one’s mind. Such false humility will never purify anyone’s heart.

Then taror iva sahishnuna –
The devotee should be as tolerant as a tree. Even when the tree is cut down, he will not say anything, but will silently tolerate it. He will not consider the cutter to be his enemy, but will even serve him by shading him and offering him his fruits. Chettuh parsvagatam chayam nopasamharate drumah. That is an example of the limit of humility. Srimad Bhagavata mentions the story of the brahmana-mendicant from Avantipura, and in Caitanya Bhagavata it is described how Srila Haridasa Thakura tolerated the beatings of the Muslims in twenty-two market places. When the Muslims tried to beat him to death, Srila Haridasa Thakura prayed to the Lord for their welfare:

e sab jivere krishna koroho prasada
mora drohe nahu e sabhara aparadha

“O Krishna! Be merciful upon all these people, so that they will not offend You by torturing me like this!”

Even if a tree dries up and dies because nobody sprinkles him with water, he will not ask anyone for water. Rather, he will serve everyone with his fruits, wood, leaves and resin. The tree patiently tolerates the scorching sunrays in the summer, the pouring rain in the monsoon-time and the freezing cold in the winter. In the same way, the devotees should practise tolerance similar to that of the tree, serving even those who harrass, hurt and insult them without being angry with anyone. The devotee never asks anything from anyone, but rather donates whatever he can give to others, patiently tolerating all the pain they may give to him.

Amanina manadena –
The devotee never expects any honour from anyone but he honours all other living entities at all times, knowing that his beloved Lord dwells in all of them. There is no-one in the world that he should disrespect. Srimad Bhagavata states:

antar deheshu bhutanam atmas te harir isvarah
sarvam taddhishnyam ikshadhvam eva vas toshito hy asau

“Lord Hari dwells in the hearts of all living beings as their Supreme Self, and as they are His dwelling place, they should also be satisfied.”

Each body is the temple of Hari, because He dwells in everyone, therefore everyone is respectable for a devotee. The temple may be broken, misformed, uncultured or dirty, but it is still worshipable for the devotee. In the same way, according to worldy view some people are low or unimportant, but they are still respectable for the devotee. Therefore Srimad Bhagavata (11.29.16) states: pranamed dandavad bhumav asva candala go kharam – “One should offer prostrated obeisances even to the horses, the outcastes, the cows and the donkeys, knowing that the Supreme Self dwells in them.”
Brahmanadi candala kukkura anta kori, dandavat koribek bahu manya dhari (Caitanya Bhagavata) –
“One should offer prostrated obeisances to the brahmanas, the outcastes and the dogs, giving them great honour.” In such a humble state a devotee should always do hari kirtana. Such chanting will destroy all offenses committed in this life and in previous lives and will swiftly bless the devotee with the treasure of prema. kirtaniyah sada harih.

One may ask here: “Is it possible for any neophyte to be lower than a blade of grass and more tolerant as a tree? Why did Mahaprabhu mention such a difficult condition, whereas His path of devotion is supposed to be so easily practised?” Certainly such a critical question may be asked, but we must consider that the goal of the path of devotion is only attainable by mercy. When the neophyte anxiously takes shelter of the holy name, in order to chant without offenses, then he will become qualified in all respects, simply by the grace of the holy name.

Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself explained this verse as follows:

uttama hoiya apanake mane trinadhama
dui prakare sahishnuta kore vriksha sama
vriksha yeno kat-leo kichu na boloy
sukhaiya moile kare pani na magoy
yei ye magoye tare deya apana dhana
gharma vrishti sohe, anere koroye rakshana
uttama hoiya vaishnava hobe nirabhimana
jive sammana dibe jani krishna adhishthana
ei mata hoiya yei krishna nama loy
sri krishna carane tara prema upajoy

“Although the devotee is the most elevated person, he considers himself to be lower than a blade of grass, and he tolerates everything in two ways, just like a tree. Even when a tree is cut, he does not say anything, and even when he dries up and dies, he does not ask anyone for water. Nevertheless, he gives his own wealth for free to anyone who may ask for it, protecting others while tolerating heat and rain. Although the Vaishnava is the greatest personality, he is devoid of pride and he honours all living beings, knowing that Krishna dwells in them. Whoever chants the name of Krishna in this way will attain love for Sri Krishna’s lotus feet.”

– commentary by Sri Srimat Radhakunda Mahanta Ananta das Babaji
– translation by Sripad Advaita das