(adapted from an article by Sri Om Swami)
There is a story relating to king of Kazakhstan and
Birbal. Birbal was sent from the court
of Akbar when the king wanted to hear in person answers to the three questions
nagging him and sought Akbar’s help, as Akbar’s court was renowned for the nine
great scholars, called the navaratna, nine jewels. When Birbal presented
himself in the king’s court, the king asked the first question, “Where does God
live?”. In response, Birbal asked for a glass of milk. When he got it he dipped his fingers inside
and started rubbing them. When asked
what was he searching, he told the king that he is looking for butter. As the
court laughed, the king explained to him that milk has to be churned to extract
the butter and then only he can feel it.
Then Birbal told him that like the butter in the milk, God lives unseen in
all living beings. As the milk has to be
churned to taste the butter, one has to purify oneself by churning one’s mind
with the single-minded quest seeking divine experience, ridding it of all
ignoble thoughts and desires, to experience the presence of God.
Happy with this answer, the king posed the second
question. “What does God eat?”. Birbal
replied, “God feasts on the pride and ego of humans. Anyone seeking Him has to surrender his ego
and pride, first”. Pleased with this answer the king then put the third
question, “What does God do?”. To this Birbal replied. “Before I answer this
question, please come closer to me”. The
king was taken aback by this request.
But eager as he was to hear the answer he got down from the throne and
went to Birbal’s side. Birbal bowed to him and said, “I can answer the question
only by sitting on your Majesty’s throne”.
As the court watched nervously, the king said, “So be it. I want the
answer”. Birbal climbed the regal steps
and sat on the throne majestically.
Resting his hands on the diamond-studded armrests, he spoke with a royal
gesture, “This is what God does, O king!
In an instant an ordinary person, born in a poor family, gets to sit on
the throne and a king born in a royal family is brought down from the throne
and made to stand as a commoner”. With
all his three questions answered satisfactorily, the king rewarded Birbal
generously and gave him a royal farewell.
As one sheds one’s ego one becomes humble naturally. A humble mind is far more receptive to
spiritual growth and attainment than an egoist mind, no matter how learned. Genuine humility keeps one in touch with
one’s source. The most potent antidote
of ego is genuine humility as it keeps in check the ego, which is all too quick
to raise its hood. But if one’s humility is false or pretentious, it will make
one more egoistic. Lord Krishna in
Bhagavad Gita (13-7) lists humility as one of the essential virtues for Athma
Jnanam by referring to it as Jnanam itself.
The tree laden with fruits is always a bit bent, not because of the weight but because it has something to offer. The more one has to offer, the humbler one is. Humility helps one to realise that no one is indispensable in the world. Thus it helps one to weather the storms of grief or setback in life without a feeling of melancholy. In a storm mighty trees standing stiff and erect get uprooted, but the humble blades of grass bowing and swaying in the storm stay unharmed. After all everyone is only a pawn in the universal game of chess. The pawn may capture the queen or checkmate the king, but at the end of the game it gets packed and goes into the same box with the rest.
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