Humility -Is being human

During one of his travels, *Kalidasa* ( a classical Sanskrit authors ) felt very thirsty and looked around for water. He saw *a woman* drawing water from a well.

He went up to her and asked her for water. She agreed to give him water, but asked him, *“Who are you? Introduce yourself.”* 

Now Kalidasa thought that an ordinary village woman was not worthy of knowing who Kalidasa was. So he said, *“I am a traveler.”* 

But his lady replied, “In this world there are only *2 travelers* – the *Sun* and the *Moon.* Both Rise and Set every day and keep travelling perpetually.”

Then Kalidasa said, “Alright then, *I am a guest.”* The lady promptly replied, “In this world there are only *2 guests* – *Youth* and *Wealth* … both are temporary and hence can only be called as guests.”

Intrigued Kalidasa said, “I am a *Tolerant person* ” Now the lady replied, “In this world only 2 truly know the meaning of Tolerance – *Earth* and *Tree* . How much ever you stamp the earth or throw stones at the tree (for the fruits), both continue to nurture us.”

Now Kalidasa was completely perplexed. He said, “Fine. *I am a stubborn person * The lady smiled and said, “There are only *2 truly stubborn* personalities – our *nails* and our *hair.* We keep cutting them non-stop, but they continue to grow.”

Kalidasa had been patient so far, but now in anger he said, *“I am a fool”.* Now the lady gave a wide smile and said, “There are *only 2 kinds of fools* in this world – a *King* who rules without having any capability or knowledge & a *Minister* who is a sycophant to such a King and lavishes praises on such a useless king.”

Kalidasa realized that he had been *outsmarted* . He fell at the feet of the lady and when he touched her feet and said 'pardon my ignorance' and then got up, whom did he see?

 *Mata Saraswati* – the Goddess of Learning and Wisdom. She said, “Kalidasa, you are wise. But only if you know yourself do you become a *Manushya* (human being)? A person without any awareness of self has not reached the pinnacle of being a Human. So consider yourself as a learner , continuously keep learning not to feed your ego but to practice humility.