Forests Our Natural Treasure,The Story of a Hummingbird and The Ultimate Peace Formula
So,would you not agree that forests are such a great treasure for all of us and for the coming generations.They give us wood, food, fruits, clean air, rains and what not.As a child, I used to go around the woods in grandfathers estate.I used to roam by myself, hours together.And, there used to be so many intresting and fascinating things to watch and learn.Forest of course is a place where Humans dont inhibit but, I feel that forest is where the life actually.Right from the small insects,Birds, reptiles like snakes, lizards, Birds, rabbits and so many wonderful trees..
This is one of the pictures that I took, during our tour of one of such forest. But, this is a special one (called Bilavan or Belvan) because it is in Braja mandal i, e in the vicinity of Vrindavan (UP, India) of which so many pastimes of Lord Krishna are associated. There are 12 main forests in the Braja Mandal – On the eastern bank of the Yamuna are five forests called
• Bhadravana,
• Bilvavana (Belvan),
• Lohavana (Lauhavana),
• Bhandiravana and
• Mahavana.
On the western side of the Yamuna are seven forests which are:
• Madhuvana,
• Talavana,
• Kumudavana,
• Bahulavana,
• Kamyavana,
• Khadiravana, and
• Vrindavana.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.25 – Translation and Purport by disciples of Srila Prabhupad.Here Lord Krishna is talking to Uddhava about the three modes of material nature – Goodness, Passion and ignorance and transcending these three modes. Thus, while talking about these modes, Lord Krishna talks about forest as below,
Vanam tu sattviko vaso
gramo rajasa ucyate
tamasam dyuta-sadanam
man-niketam tu nirgunam
TRANSLATION: Residence in the forest is in the mode of goodness, residence in a town is in the mode of passion, residence in a gambling house displays the quality of ignorance, and residence in a place where I reside is transcendental.
PURPORT : Many creatures in the forest, such as the trees, wild boars and insects, are actually in the modes of passion and ignorance. But residence in the forest is designated as being in the mode of goodness because there one may live a solitary life free from sinful activities, material opulence and passionate ambition. Throughout the history of India, many millions of persons from all walks of life have adopted the orders of vanaprastha and sannyasa and have gone to sacred forests to practice austerity and perfect their self-realization. Even in America and other Western countries, persons such as Thoreau achieved fame by retiring to the forest to reduce the scope and opulence of material involvement.
Let us get inspired from this, short story of a Humming Bird by Wangari Maathai and do our part to save our forests.(http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/wangari-maathai/biography)
“The story of hummingbird is about this huge forest being consumed by a fire.All the animals in the forest come out,and they are transfixed as they watch the forest burning,and they feel to be awkward they are powerless except this little humming bird, it says I am going to do something about the fire.so it flies to the nearest stream takes some drop water, and puts it on the fire and goes up and down, up and down,as fast as it can In the mean time, all the other animals, much bigger animals, like the elephants,with big trunk, could bring much more water,they are standing there helpless,and they are saying to the humming bird: What do you think you can do ? Your are too little ! This fire is too big !Your wings are too little, and your beak is so small,only can bring a small drop of water at a time !But as they continue to discourage it it turns to them without wasting any time,and tells them:I am doing the best I can.And that to me is what all of us should do,..
we should always fly like a hummingbird.I may feel insignificant,but I certainly don’t want to be like the animals watching as the planet goes down the drain.I will be a humming bird.I will do the best I can.”
“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is important that you do it”. – Mahatma Gandhi.
Another short story from Hanuman’s life – While Hanuman was hefting huge mountain tops into the sea to build the bridge to Lanka, he noticed a tiny spider brushing small particles of dust into the water with its legs to assist Lord Rama. He was about to brush the spider out of the way of his own serious work, when Ramachandra admonished him, saying, “Give up your pride! This spider’s devotional service is just as satisfying to me as yours. You are serving me according to your capacity, and he is serving Me according to his capacity.”
So, what is the root cause of all this.Why does a man destroy his planet, the place where he lives and what is the solution for all these problems?. The ultimate peace formula is explained by Lord Krishna himself in Bhagavad-gītā Chapter 5.Verse 29.(Translation and purport by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupad)
bhoktāramm yajña-tapasāmm
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhrdaḿ sarva-bhūtānāmm
jñātvā māmm śāntim rcchati
TRANSLATION: A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.
PURPORT: The conditioned souls within the clutches of illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gītā. The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. In the Vedas (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.7) the Supreme Lord is described as tam īśvarāṇāḿ paramaḿ maheśvaraḿ. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the materialenergy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature, and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature. Unless one understands these bare facts, it is not possible to achieve peace in the world either individually or collectively. This is the sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme predominator, and all living entities, including the great demigods, are His subordinates. One can attain perfect peace only in complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
This Fifth Chapter is a practical explanation of Krishna consciousness, generally known as karma-yoga. The question of mental speculation as to how karma-yoga can give liberation is answered herewith. To work in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to work with the complete knowledge of the Lord as the predominator. Such work is not different from transcendental knowledge. Direct Kṛṣṇa consciousness is bhakti-yoga, and jñāna-yoga is a path leading to bhakti-yoga. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to work in full knowledge of one’s relationship with the Supreme Absolute, and the perfection of this consciousness is full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A pure soul is the eternal servant of God as His fragmental part and parcel. He comes into contact with māyā (illusion) due to the desire to lord it over māyā, and that is the cause of his many sufferings. As long as he is in contact with matter, he has to execute work in terms of material necessities. Krishna consciousness, however, brings one into spiritual life even while one is within the jurisdiction of matter, for it is an arousing of spiritual existence by practice in the material world. The more one is advanced, the more he is freed from the clutches of matter. The Lord is not partial toward anyone. Everything depends on one’s practical performance of duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which helps one control the senses in every respect and conquer the influence of desire and anger. And one, who stands fast in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, controlling the abovementioned passions, remains factually in the transcendental stage, or brahma-nirvāṇa. The eightfold yoga mysticism is automatically practiced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because the ultimate purpose is served. There is a gradual process of elevation in the practice of yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi. But these only preface perfection by devotional service, which alone can award peace to the human being. It is the highest perfection of life.
