Speech by HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji in the morning – June 3, 2014 – Shuka Vana, Mysore
We are all very lucky today. Appaji is Shuka Brahma. Appaji wrote on a piece of paper and showed to Jagadish this morning that 90 per cent of devotees come to Swamiji only out of selfishness. He has now reduced the number of genuine devotees to 2 per cent. It saddens me.
Yesterday when Swamiji decided to give darshan in Shuka Vana, the devotees mobbed Him. He became upset. He said, I want to give to devotees something very precious, but they do not know how to receive. Today he gave us all this wonderful boon.
JDRC Jesus Datta Retreat Center near Pittsburgh, USA is very special. I went during snowfall. It felt like a Rishi Ashram. This Shuka Vana is equal to that. It is truly like the sacred forest of the ancient sages.
Today Swamiji spoke about Skanda charitra. Pitr Dosham (abusing parents) causes all types of terrible problems. Pray for the departed souls of parents and ancestors, at least one day a year.
Everyone must do Pitr Karma (rites for departed souls). We do Pinda Pradana (offer balls of cooked rice) in the morning. The food is divided into three parts. First it is offered to the cows. If cows are not there, if a cow is not available, offering the food to birds is also acceptable. After offering it, one must wait until the birds eat it all up fully.
The eagle did not take any food, until Swamiji called and said to give it curd rice. Only then it ate. Jains say, if we feed the birds, it will grant health for the whole family. If you cannot offer the food to cows or birds, you may offer to flowing water, if there is a river nearby, or else offer the food to the god of Fire in a sacred fire pit/homa Kunda. Bird feeding bestows all good fortunes.
Sri Jayalakshmi Mata herself taught about birds to Swamiji when he was a child. Birds sang with him when he sang bhajans in Kesare. We read about it in Swamiji’s Life History.
Swamiji lives only to teach us all about Bhoota Daya/Love for all creatures. Swamiji showed me a list of questions posed by devotees. Even I do not have the answers to all of them. I will do research and I will make available all the answers to the devotees.
The Bhajan, Devi viradroopavainatti neeku … birds are described as the bells in the golden ornamental belt of Mother Goddess – Pakshulu voddanamuna gantalu. Shuka Vana is like Swamiji’s ornamental belt. To remain healthy, the waist must keep moving to jingle the bells on the belt. It is a sign of good health. Only when there is movement the bells will ring. These bird sounds will grant us all good health.
Why cage birds? I confess that at first, the idea troubled me also. But when Shuka Vana construction began, and I witnessed the royal treatment given to the birds, my fears were dispelled. Here the birds have protection from the elements, and other harmful creatures. They get regular nutritious food without their having to struggle to find it. Brahmanda is a shell, a wall that protects. This is such a fortress to protect the precious birds. Several endangered, critically endangered, and vulnerable species are sheltered here. In the forests they are losing their habitat and the species are becoming extinct. Swamiji is trying hard to protect such species by giving them a comfortable home. Some idols are neglected in temples that are not maintained. They do not receive worship or offerings. Shuka Vana is a living temple for living deities.
Parrots have special abilities. They can detect high sugar levels in their owner. They make expressions and sounds to ring alarm bells to indicate danger.
Generally Swamiji tells us not to travel at night. But now, he comes running at night to see the birds. He cannot stay away from them. During a recent overseas trip of Swamiji, we thought He would stop in Bangalore overnight after the overseas flight. The guest house was kept ready for his rest. But he left at midnight to return to Mysore. He arrived at 3A.M. He said do not turn on the lights. It will wake the parrots. But the parrot woke up and called out, Datta. It smelled Appaji’s divine scent. It noticed Appaji’s sweat and showed concern. Instead of playing with him then, it said Good night. He needs rest, it knew, since he had had no sleep for a couple of days. The parrots have such tender love.
We must learn from Swamiji how to love. He came in the hot sun wearing a cap every day to supervise the construction of the Shuka Vana. He became tanned. Such love he shows towards the birds. We do not know where we are going in our spiritual journey. Witnessing the Sri Chakra Puja here in Shuka Vana is a great fortune.
Bring food to parrots, adopt parrots, and give support to Shuka Vana, this wonderful project. The benefit you gain is indescribable.
The physical body is called Upaadhi, shelter. The shelter was given in birds’ forms for deities to escape the danger from Tarakasura, the demon. Hence, they gave a boon, that those who protect birds will be protected by them. At that time they were vulnerable when Tarakasura attacked, because they were still mortal then, not having consumed Amrita by then. Their lives were spared because they entered the bodies of birds and flew away.
May everyone receive Appaji’s grace.
Other devotees are now asking for a concert in Shuka Vana for a limited audience of supporters.
Appaji wanted me to remind you of this story. In Gujarat there is a place called Kalo Dungar famous for a 400 year old Dattatreya temple. Legend says that Dattatreya found a band of starving jackals. He offered them a portion of his own food, but being meat-eaters, they could not accept it. He then offered a piece of his own flesh for them to eat. (As they ate, his body continually regenerated itself.) Then, the foxes opted to eat the Satvic cooked food that he had offered them. Because of this, for the last four centuries, the priest at the temple prepares a batch of prasadam, sweet cooked rice, that is fed to the jackals after the evening Aarti. They come and eat it daily.
Sri Guru Datta.