Day 23, Shivananda
Line by Line summarized meaning of the sanskrit verses in Shivananda Lahari discourse
Day 23 - August 24 - verse 45
Chetah pakshi is the king amongst birds (raja pakshi). This bird drinks only the rain water and survives on it. it will not drink water fallen on the ground. Chetah also refers to the heart/ intellect. Here Bhagavad
padacharya addresses this mind/ heart as the chetah pakshi (bird) and asks it not to wander hither and thither but to come and reside in the lotus feet of the Lord and take shelter under this tree.
Bliss originates in the heart. Shiva ananda means that bliss which thus originates in the heart. In the absence of a heart, even a most joyous item will fail to give joy. We cannot experience that joy. One has to develop sensitivity towards the pain/ suffering of others. Such feelings come from the heart. Therefore this heart is addressed here as Chetah pakshi (royal bird) and asked to rest at the feet of the Lord.
This verse can be interpreted in two ways- firstly he is addressing the bird- Chetah pakshi and secondly he is addressing the intellect/ heart.
Verse 45
Chandha śhāki sikhānvitaih dwija varai samsevithe sāśwate,
Sowkhya pādini kkheda bhedini sudha sāraih phalai deepite
Chetha pakshi sikhā manih tyaja vrithā sanchāra manyai ralam
Nithyam sankara pāda padma yugali neede vihāram kuru.
Chandha śhāki sikhānvithaih - in that tree (Shāki) which has Veda (chandha) as its branches and the Upanishads as its its tip/ crown (shikha)
Dwija varai Samsevithe – and which is served by the twice born (dwija varai).
Dwija means twice born. This refers to both Veda pundits (vipra) as well as birds. The bird is born twice. Laying of the egg is considered as the first birth for the bird and then it breaks itself free from the egg to enter the world, which is its second birth. Such birds have taken shelter in this tree.
Also, Vedic scholars who recite the Upanishads have assembled at this tree/ taken shelter under this tree.
Sāśwathe - which is eternal
The birds here do not have to worry about building nests repeatedly on different ordinary trees when we have the option of building on this eternal tree. The Veda pundits too need not go elsewhere.
Sowkhyā pādini – which showers all comforts (parama sukha)
Here bhagavadpada charya states that on this tree called the feet of Shiva, the bird (heart) will not have to face difficulties as this tree showers all comforts.
kkheda bedhini – all forms of difficulties are removed in totality.
Sudha sārai phalai dipithe – The fruits of this tree are nectarous (amruta) in taste/ content (sara).
Just watching the fruits are adequate to fill the stomach. Ahara shuddoh sattva shudhih.. When food is pure, purity comes to us.
Chetha pakshi sikhā manih – O Chetha pakshi (O bird called mind)! O king amongst birds; O intellect (heart), you are the crown jewel
Tyaja vridha sanchara manyai ralam – give up all your wasteful wandering forever
Nithyam sankara pada padma yugali neede vihāram kuru - eternally come and reside in the lotus feet of Lord Shankara and play about in this shade.
Pāda padma yugali - here Yugali means pair. When the two feet are kept next to each other, it forms a lotus shape. The gap in between the feet is the nest in which our heart should rest. This nest is unimaginable vast. The bird can happily fly (vihāram) there without any tensions.
Like a bird, this heart eternally flies without resting anywhere for long. It burns even in the absence of fire. Even without wings it flies. This is a prayer to the heart to come and reside at the feet of Shankara.
Birds play a very important role in maintaining the ecological balance on this planet. In the absence of birds, life would have stopped. Birds are critical in pollination, dispersal of seeds and thus ensure that plant life is saved. Plants give us our food. To protect nature it is very important to protect birds. To protect birds we are asked to leave a few food grains outside our doorstep before preparing the day’s meal. The bird which feeds on these grains, blesses us abundantly, in its heart, before flying away. This is known as bhoota yagna - feeding other living beings in the universe. Through these small acts we can achieve great punya without any expense. Keep water in balcony so that they can get drinking water.
Bird’s life is difficult in the sense that it has to fly unimaginable distances everyday searching for its food before it returns to its nest in the evening. They begin their day by 4- 5 am. Even then there is no guarantee that its nest will remain intact when it returns. It does not know if any snake or bigger bird will attack its babies when it is absent. Explaining the sristi krama Jatayu explains how birds originated.
Another specialty of birds is that they are united. We can observe this when we see the birds returning home in the evening.
Birds are great civil engineers. They have the understanding of the direction in which the rains would occur in that year and their nest will be designed such that water does not flow into it. They gather the required materials from various places so as to make comfortable nests.
We are careless when it comes to nature. Only human beings do not want to work for nature; only they are self centered. When they throw garbage into oceans, the fish gobble the plastic and are dying or falling sick. All these landslides, floods etc. are resulting only due to human selfishness. We should all take baby steps in this matter. Otherwise we are solely responsible for destroying our own planet. We should teach all this to our children.