The Seed of Humility 

[…] Wonder can be seen as the seed of humility—the acknowledgment of our smallness, vulnerability, and limited reasoning power, that can open us to the sort of inner transformation—the change of heart—necessary for a truly ethical way of life in relation to all living beings in this world. Out of such humility may come the sort of understanding that could allow us to embrace and live by the implications of Chaitanya’s assertion (which he is said to have spoken to his student Sanatan Goswami, on his return journey to Puri from Vrindavan): “All creatures (jivas) are eternal servants of the supreme person, Krishna” (CC Madhya 20.108). The simple shift in consciousness from trying to be masters to accepting that we are servants can, according to Vaishnava Hindu understanding, make all the difference for realizing our proper relationship to all beings. 

—From the book Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics by Kennth R. Valpey (HH Krishna Kshetra Swami), published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020. The legal open access download version is available at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-28408-4



Listen with the Ears of your Heart

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati
(SB 3.25.25)

Translation: In the association of pure devotees, discussions of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually advances on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, his attraction becomes fixed, and real devotion and devotional service begin.

In Śrīla Gour Govinda Mahārāja I see hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ… In this verse, the word hṛt-karṇa is translated by our ācāryas as “the heart and the ears.” Now, I am going to get in trouble because what I am about to say is not an example of following the commentarial tradition of śāstra… But technically, hṛt-karṇa could also mean “the ears of the heart.”

This is what Śrīla Gour Govinda Mahārāja wants to teach—to listen with the ears of our heart. He exhorts us to do this in all his talks: “Listen, listen, listen with the ears of your heart!” And when you do so, you see Kṛṣṇa everywhere, as Śrīla Gour Govinda Mahārāja definitely did.

—From the speech by HH Krishna Kshetra Swami in memory of Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja at his Annual Dissapearance Festival organized by HG Madhavananda Das on 6.2.2026 in Sri Mayapur Dham