ब्रह्मादयः सुरगणा मुनयोऽथ सिद्धाः
सत्त्वैकतानगतयो वचसां प्रवाहैः ।
नाराधितुं पुरुगुणैरधुनापि पिप्रुः
किं तोष्टुमर्हति स मे हरिरुग्रजातेः ॥८॥
Å›rÄ«-prahrÄda uvÄca
brahmÄdayaḥ sura-gaá¹‡Ä munayo 'tha siddhÄḥ
sattvaikatÄna-gatayo vacasÄá¹ pravÄhaiḥ
nÄrÄdhituá¹ puru-guṇair adhunÄpi pipruḥ
kiá¹ toá¹£á¹um arhati sa me harir ugra-jÄteḥ
7 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(7)
Å›rÄ«-prahrÄdaḥ uvÄca - PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja prayed; brahma-Ädayaḥ - headed by Lord BrahmÄ; sura-gaṇÄḥ - the inhabitants of the upper planetary systems; munayaḥ - the great saintly persons; atha - as well (like the four KumÄras and others); siddhÄḥ - who have attained perfection or full knowledge; sattva - to spiritual existence; ekatÄna-gatayaḥ - who have taken without diversion to any material activities; vacasÄm - of descriptions or words; pravÄhaiḥ - by streams; na - not; ÄrÄdhitum - to satisfy; puru-guṇaiḥ - although fully qualified; adhunÄ - until now; api - even; pipruḥ - were able; kim - whether; toá¹£á¹um - to become pleased; arhati - is able; saḥ - He (the Lord); me - my; hariḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ugra-jÄteḥ - who am born in an asuric family.
PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja prayed: How is it possible for me, who have been born in a family of asuras, to offer suitable prayers to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Even until now, all the demigods, headed by Lord BrahmÄ, and all the saintly persons, could not satisfy the Lord by streams of excellent words, although such persons are very qualified, being in the mode of goodness. Then what is to be said of me? I am not at all qualified.
A Vaiṣṇava who is fully qualified to serve the Lord still thinks himself extremely low while offering prayers to the Lord. For example, KṛṣṇadÄsa KavirÄja GosvÄmÄ«, the author of Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, says:
jagÄi mÄdhÄi haite muñi se pÄpiá¹£á¹ha
purÄ«á¹£era kÄ«á¹a haite muñi se laghiá¹£á¹ha
(Cc. Ādi 5.205)
Thus he considers himself unqualified, lower than the worms in stool, and more sinful than JagÄi and MÄdhÄi. A pure Vaiṣṇava actually thinks of himself in this way. Similarly, although PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was a pure, exalted Vaiṣṇava, he thought himself most unqualified to offer prayers to the Supreme Lord. MahÄjano yena gataḥ sa panthÄḥ. Every pure Vaiṣṇava should think like this. One should not be falsely proud of his Vaiṣṇava qualifications. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu has therefore instructed us:
tṛṇÄd api sunÄ«cena
taror api sahiṣṇunÄ
amÄninÄ mÄnadena
kÄ«rtanÄ«yaḥ sadÄ hariḥ
“One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.†Unless one is meek and humble, to make progress in spiritual life is very difficult.
