In plain words
Humility and obedience alone bring us greatness
As long as we do not let go of Ahaṅkāra and attachment, we can achieve nothing. With humility and obedience anything can be achieved. In every field, moral, physical, religious, spiritual and political, we must be devoted, humble and obedient. Only then does everything take on a certain grace.
In a village near Calcutta lived Īśvaracandra Vidyāsāgar and his mother. That mother worked very hard to bring up her son. As there was no lamp at home, Vidyāsāgar used to sit by the street lamps at night and study. In this way, by studying hard night and day, he rose to a high position; he became known as a great orator. People gathered in their thousands to hear his speeches.
Once Vidyāsāgar travelled by train to another town. That day he was to speak at a function arranged in that town. Along with him an I.C.S. officer, holding a small suitcase, got down at the station. As soon as he got down, the officer looked about to see whether some coolie might be found to carry his box. As he called out, ‘Coolie! Coolie!’, Vidyāsāgar went up to him: “Sir, give that box to me. I will carry it. Where do you have to go?” he asked. “I am going to hear Īśvaracandra Vidyāsāgar's speech,” said the officer. Hearing those words, Vidyāsāgar smiled to himself, took up the box and set off. When they reached the place of the meeting and Vidyāsāgar handed him the suitcase, the officer went to give him some money, saying, “Here, take this money.” Then Vidyāsāgar told him, “Sir, I did this work in a spirit of service, not for money,” and went away.
At the meeting this I.C.S. officer too sat along with everyone else. As soon as Vidyāsāgar came up onto the platform, they garlanded him and welcomed him. Recognising him as the man who had carried his suitcase from the railway station, the I.C.S. officer was ashamed of what he had done.