Humility in Action

Two of my biggest role models here in Sri Mayapur dham are HG Pankajanghri prabhu and HG Jananivas Prabhu. I'd like to talk about HG Jananivas prabhu today. I've been meaning to write about this for a long time now because there is something that I witness Prabhuji do every morning that really touches my heart. As you may or may not know, HG Jananivas Prabhu is the head pujari for Mayapur Chandradoya Mandir. He has been doing this service steadily for over 30 years. That being said, Prabhuji is probably one of the most humble people I have ever had the good fortune of meeting in my life. See, being humble implies action. It's not static state of being. But oftentimes, at least for me, to understand how one can show humility in action is very difficult. I feel so grateful that there are devotees like HG Jananivas Prabhu who demonstrate so naturally through their actions what it means to be humble.

Every morning after darshan aarti guru puja is performed. Everyday, the guru puja is performed by a senior devotee to the accompaniment of a very ecstatic kirtan. And everyday, I see Jananivas prabhu acting as a helper to the devotee who is doing the guru puja. Prabhuji will pour the acamana water into the hand of the devotee offering the worship (this is done between offering each article of worship), he will hand all the articles of worship to the devotee and after each article is offered, he will receive it. He does this with such attention and love and one can see he truly enjoys this service.

I find this so instructive. As the head pujari, HG Jananivas prabhu could easily be offering guru puja, offering aarti to Radha Madhava or Panca Tattva, but instead he actually likes taking the position of a humble servant.

I beg and pray that this impression remains forever carved in my heart and that I may also follow in his glorious footsteps of showing humility in all my actions.