Hari Aum.
I would like to share an interesting story from the Srimad Bhagavatam. When Lord Krishna was preparing to withdraw His physical incarnation from Earth, His devotee, Uddhava, approached Him for spiritual teaching. They then had a detailed discussion on a variety of spiritual topics (similar to the Bhagavad Gita but more detailed in certain respects) and this is called the 'Uddhava Gita'.
As part of His teaching, Krishna told Uddhava the story of a discussion between a wandering ascetic, the enlightened avadhuta, and a great king known as Yadu. The avadhuta told King Yadu that he learned about spiritual life from 24 'gurus' (which included the five elements, sun, moon, and various animals, birds and people). One of the 'gurus' was a pair of doves.
The ascetic explained that, in the forest, there lived a pair of doves who were greatly fond of each other. They were always together while they ate, slept and flew about, and were completely absorbed in thoughts of each other. In time, they built a nest and had some beautiful baby birds whom they loved very much. One day, as usual, the parent birds flew away from the nest briefly to get some food for their children. While they were away, a hunter passed by and saw the nest. He placed a net over the nest and went away, planning to return later. In the meantime, the parents returned.
Upon seeing their baby birds caught in the hunters net, the parent doves were filled with shock and grief. The mother bird immediately rushed to her babies in the hope of rescuing them but only became entangled in the net herself. The father bird, seeing what had happened to his family, began to lament. He asked himself what use there was in living without his family. Feeling that life was hopeless, he decided to share the unhappy fate of his family and also flew into the net. Thus, both parent doves and their children became trapped in the hunter's net. A little while later, the hunter returned and was delighted to see his fine catch. He collected up the net with all the doves and went home feeling very satisfied.
The avadhuta told King Yadu that the story of the doves taught him that excessive attachment to worldly life led to suffering. He said that a soul who had got a human body was greatly fortunate as the doors of spiritual freedom were now open wide. If such a soul frittered away their precious lifetime in living a sensual life, like the doves, it would be like falling down from a very high position. Thus concludes the avadhuta's story of the doves as told by Lord Krishna to Uddhava.
I found this story quite interesting. It clearly is a metaphor for human life. The net is the net of samsara or Maya. The hunter is Lord Yama, the demi-god of death. All of us human beings, who have taken birth on Earth, are the doves caught in the net.
If we do nothing, we will ourselves be taken away by Lord Yama, and we will also have to watch as our beloved relatives are taken away one by one. Like the doves in the story, we too will have to experience pain, suffering and death. This is our default situation. However, this will happen only if we do nothing. We can however, do something-- that is the excellent part.
We human beings hopefully have more intelligence than the unlucky doves in the story. We have enough brains to realise we are in a net, the net of pain, disease and death-- the net of Yama, the net of Maya. We also are blessed enough to have the spiritual scissors to cut this net that binds us down-- that scissors is sadhana. We need to be smart enough to use this scissors, that is all.
The most powerful spiritual scissors, suitable for Kali Yuga, is the name or mantra of God. With this scissors of the mantra of God, we can steadily cut away the net that entangles us. This will allow us in time to spread our wings, fly away and experience freedom, peace and bliss. We can also use this scissors to pray for our relatives, friends and the entire world, so that all may become free of the net of Yama. Unlike the birds in the story, we can free ourselves and also inspire others to free themselves with the powerful spiritual scissors of mantra japa.
May we become free of the hunter's net in this very lifetime. May we use our spiritual scissors smartly to ensure this. May Lord Yama not get the better of us. May the grace of God and Guru be with us all and grant us supreme success in our spiritual endeavours.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
I would like to share an interesting story from the Srimad Bhagavatam. When Lord Krishna was preparing to withdraw His physical incarnation from Earth, His devotee, Uddhava, approached Him for spiritual teaching. They then had a detailed discussion on a variety of spiritual topics (similar to the Bhagavad Gita but more detailed in certain respects) and this is called the 'Uddhava Gita'.
As part of His teaching, Krishna told Uddhava the story of a discussion between a wandering ascetic, the enlightened avadhuta, and a great king known as Yadu. The avadhuta told King Yadu that he learned about spiritual life from 24 'gurus' (which included the five elements, sun, moon, and various animals, birds and people). One of the 'gurus' was a pair of doves.
The ascetic explained that, in the forest, there lived a pair of doves who were greatly fond of each other. They were always together while they ate, slept and flew about, and were completely absorbed in thoughts of each other. In time, they built a nest and had some beautiful baby birds whom they loved very much. One day, as usual, the parent birds flew away from the nest briefly to get some food for their children. While they were away, a hunter passed by and saw the nest. He placed a net over the nest and went away, planning to return later. In the meantime, the parents returned.
Upon seeing their baby birds caught in the hunters net, the parent doves were filled with shock and grief. The mother bird immediately rushed to her babies in the hope of rescuing them but only became entangled in the net herself. The father bird, seeing what had happened to his family, began to lament. He asked himself what use there was in living without his family. Feeling that life was hopeless, he decided to share the unhappy fate of his family and also flew into the net. Thus, both parent doves and their children became trapped in the hunter's net. A little while later, the hunter returned and was delighted to see his fine catch. He collected up the net with all the doves and went home feeling very satisfied.
The avadhuta told King Yadu that the story of the doves taught him that excessive attachment to worldly life led to suffering. He said that a soul who had got a human body was greatly fortunate as the doors of spiritual freedom were now open wide. If such a soul frittered away their precious lifetime in living a sensual life, like the doves, it would be like falling down from a very high position. Thus concludes the avadhuta's story of the doves as told by Lord Krishna to Uddhava.
I found this story quite interesting. It clearly is a metaphor for human life. The net is the net of samsara or Maya. The hunter is Lord Yama, the demi-god of death. All of us human beings, who have taken birth on Earth, are the doves caught in the net.
If we do nothing, we will ourselves be taken away by Lord Yama, and we will also have to watch as our beloved relatives are taken away one by one. Like the doves in the story, we too will have to experience pain, suffering and death. This is our default situation. However, this will happen only if we do nothing. We can however, do something-- that is the excellent part.
We human beings hopefully have more intelligence than the unlucky doves in the story. We have enough brains to realise we are in a net, the net of pain, disease and death-- the net of Yama, the net of Maya. We also are blessed enough to have the spiritual scissors to cut this net that binds us down-- that scissors is sadhana. We need to be smart enough to use this scissors, that is all.
The most powerful spiritual scissors, suitable for Kali Yuga, is the name or mantra of God. With this scissors of the mantra of God, we can steadily cut away the net that entangles us. This will allow us in time to spread our wings, fly away and experience freedom, peace and bliss. We can also use this scissors to pray for our relatives, friends and the entire world, so that all may become free of the net of Yama. Unlike the birds in the story, we can free ourselves and also inspire others to free themselves with the powerful spiritual scissors of mantra japa.
May we become free of the hunter's net in this very lifetime. May we use our spiritual scissors smartly to ensure this. May Lord Yama not get the better of us. May the grace of God and Guru be with us all and grant us supreme success in our spiritual endeavours.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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