Spiritual sadana is firmly rooted in true humility when there is no trace of ego in the sadaka. This kind of spiritual maturity is difficult to attain even by those well steeped in sadana, pointed out Swami Sashishikananda in a discourse. The Kenopanishad tells a story about how even the gods headed by Indra had failed to realise that Brahman is all. Once, they were rejoicing in their triumph over the demons, believing that it was owing to their own effort and prowess that they had won. They did not realise that it was Brahman who has enabled this victory. Brahman appeared before them as a yaksha. Indra sent Agni, followed by Vayu to find out who the yaksha was. The yaksha gave them a simple assignment to test their respective powers. He placed a blade of grass and asked Agni to burn it but Agni was unable to do that. Similarly Vayu failed to blow away the blade of grass. Then Indra came to face the yaksha but did not find Him. Instead Goddess Uma appeared before him and explained that Brahman had appeared as the yaksha and that He alone is the source of all grace and glory in the universe including individual and collective attainments and achievements. An incident that happened in the life of Namadev is often quoted to show that it is imperative to remove one’s ego sense as it is the greatest hurdle in the path to realisation. It is held that once, in an assembly of saints, another contemporary devotee, one Muktabai, wishing well for Namadev, asked a potter to test their level of maturity. Using the testing rod on the heads of all present, the potter claimed that all were fully baked except Namadev. Though hurt by this comment, through God’s grace Namadev gained enlightenment and was able to win over his own ego and pride.