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.
"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 material
energy 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.
The
manvantara incarnation chastises all the miscreant rulers of different planets
and disseminates the transcendental glories of the Lord. Manu creates
scriptural regulations for the salvation of the conditioned souls, who come to
the material world for material enjoyment. The Lord is so kind that any soul
who wants to enjoy in this material world is given full facility for enjoyment,
and at the same time he is shown the path of salvation. The Manus compiled the
Manu-samhita. The word samhita means Vedic knowledge, and manu indicates that
this knowledge is given by Manu.
