Verse 1.13.45

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.13.45:

ফলবন্ত বৃক্ষ আর গুণবন্ত জন ‘নম্রতা’ সে তাহার স্বভাব অনুক্ষণ ॥ ৪৫ ॥

फलवन्त वृक्ष आर गुणवन्त जन ‘नम्रता’ से ताहार स्वभाव अनुक्षण ॥ ४५ ॥

phalavanta vṛkṣa āra guṇavanta jana ‘namratā’ se tāhāra svabhāva anukṣaṇa || 45 ||

phalavanta vrksa ara gunavanta jana ‘namrata’ se tahara svabhava anuksana (45)

English translation:

(45) “The nature of both the tree laden with fruit and the man decorated with good qualities is that they bow down with humility.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Just as a tree bends down with a burden of fruits, persons who are in the mode of goodness exhibit humility as a result of their good qualities.

Persons who are averse to the purport of statements like “a little education is dangerous,” “a small fish jumps too much,” and “a castor oil plant grows like a tree” praise their own small achievements due to material destitution and thus become reluctant to display humility before others. That is why Śrī Gaurasundara has taught for the benefit of people in general that only those persons who consider themselves lower than the straw in the street are always eligible to serve the Supreme Lord by chanting the holy name of Hari. The living entities possess minute quantities of the Lord’s nature. In the Bhagavad-gītā the living entities are described as parā prakṛti, or superior nature. While exhibiting

pastimes as the spiritual master for the entire world and while describing the nature of the living entities who possess saintly qualities, Śrī Gaurasundara has displayed the ideal example of actual humility.