kevalaṁ paramaṁ dainyam avalambyāsya śikṣayā |
śrīman-madana-gopāla-caraṇābjam upāsata ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.153)
“According to his [i.e., Nārada’s] teaching, they [i.e., the sages in Prayāga] took recourse to pure and profound humility and worshipped the lotus feet of Śriman Madana Gopāla.”
na hi sādhana-sampattyā haris tuṣyati kasyacit |
bhaktānāṁ dainyam evaikaṁ hari-toṣana-sādhanam ||
(Subodhinī-ṭikā of Vallabhācārya on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10)
“Hari is not satisfied by anyone’s performance of [alt., abundance of, or excellence in,] sādhana. The humility of bhaktas is indeed the only means of satisfying Hari.”
kuberād api śrī-dhruveṇa bhagavad-bhakti-svabhāva-kṛta-sarva-viṣayaka-vinaya-punaḥ-punar-bhakty-abhilāṣābhyāṁ yuktena satā kṛtaṁ bhagavad-bhakti-vara-prārthanam … |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)
“A prayer for the boon of bhakti to Bhagavān was made by Śrī Dhruva even from Kubera [i.e., even from he whose followers Śrī Dhruva had previously attacked] on account of [Śrī Dhruva’s] being endowed with constant desire for bhakti and humility regarding everything produced [in him] by the [very] nature (svabhāva) of bhakti to Bhagavān.”
tatraivotpadyate dainyaṁ tat premāpi sadā satām |
tat-tac-chūnyam ivāraṇya-sarid-giry-ādi paśyatām ||
sadā hāhā-ravākrānta-vadanānāṁ tathā hṛdi |
mahā-santāpa-dagdhānāṁ sva-priyaṁ parimṛgyatām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.242–243)
[Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] “There [i.e., in Gokula], humility (dainya) and prema always arise within the sādhus who see the forests [i.e., such as Vṛndāvana], waters [such as the Yamunā], mountains [such as Govardhana], and so forth as though empty, [those sādhus] whose mouths are filled with cries of “Hā! Hā!”, and who are burned by intense sorrow at heart as they search for their Beloved.”
tāṁ vinodeti na prema goloka-prāpakaṁ hi yat |
na ca tal-loka-lābhena vināsya svāsthyam udbhavet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.240)
“Without that [i.e., without humility], prema—that which is a cause of attaining Goloka—certainly does not manifest, and without attaining that plane [i.e., Goloka], one’s satisfaction shall not come about.”
paripākeṇa dainyasya premājasraṁ vitanyate |
parasparaṁ tayor itthaṁ kārya-kāraṇatekṣyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.225)
“With the full maturation of humility, prema manifests in a special manner continuously. In this way, their being the cause and effect of one another is seen.”
yayā vācehayā dainyaṁ matyā ca sthairyam eti tat |
taṁ yatnena bhajed vidvāṁs tad-viruddhāni varjayet ||
dainyaṁ tu paramaṁ premṇaḥ parīpākeṇa janyate |
tāsāṁ gokula-nārīṇām iva kṛṣṇa-viyogataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.223–224)
“One who is wise should carefully cultivate speech, activity, and thought by which that [i.e., humility] attains steadfastness and should avoid contrarieties [i.e., all speech, activity, and thought contrary] to that. Paramount humility, however, manifests with the full maturation of prema like that of them—the ladies of Gokula—as a result of separation from Kṛṣṇa.”
tat karma-jñāna-yogādi-sādhanād dūrataḥ sthitam |
sarvatra nairapekṣyeṇa bhūṣitaṁ dainya-mūlakam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.221)
“It [i.e., that prema] is situated far from the sādhanas of karma, jñāna, yoga, and so forth, is decorated with indifference everywhere [i.e., towards everything apart from its object], and is rooted in humility.”
yenāsādhāraṇāśaktādhama-buddhiḥ sadātmani |
sarvotkarṣānvite’pi syād budhais tad dainyam iṣyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.222)
“That by which a sense of [oneself] being exceptionally incapable and lowly shall exist continuously in the mind even when [one is] endowed with all excellence is called humility (dainyam) by the wise.”
