Research Article No. 2053

Written by London swaminathan

Swami_48@yahoo.com

Date : 8  August  2015

Time uploaded in London :– 16.27

There is a proverb in Sanskrit, “Bandanamaayaanti sukaah, yatheshta sanchaarinah Kaakaah”.

“The crows are flying freely, the parrots are caged”.

There is an equivalent proverb in Tamil, “It is the fruit laden tree that gets most hits (by stones).

The message is “if you have anything in excess, you are abused. In the olden days the talented poets were “slaves” of the kings. Very often there were conflicts between the kings and the scholars and they left the country in anger. We have plenty of stories in our literature.

Women are compared to parrots because of their beauty and sweet voice. A most beautiful woman was also a security risk. Alauddin Khilji wanted to take Chittoor Rani Padmini, the most beautiful Rajput princess, but she entered fire with her retinue before she was molested by the Muslim invaders.

Parrots were caged because of their ability of mimicry and its beauty.

Even brides are compared to parrots. Whenever a bride is married to an unsuitable man, then they used to say, Is it right to rear a parrot and then leave it to the claws of a cat? (Tamil Proverb)

Parrot and a Cheat

A merchant bought a parrot and taught the words NO DOUBT ABOUT IT to it. He used to prepare everything in advance to suit the answer ‘ no about it’ and then ask the question. One day he dug the ground and then buried some god coins without anybody’s knowledge. Then he called everyone and said that his parrot can even find treasures buried under the ground. He took the parrot to the place where he buried the gold coins and asked the question: “ Is there a treasure under the ground?” The parrot screeched “No doubt about it”. To the amazement of everyone he dug up the ground and took 1000 gold coins and showed to everyone.

A greedy person approached the merchant and bought the parrot for a higher price. He took it to some place where everyone  said that an old treasure has been there for a very long time. He asked the parrot, “Is there a reassure buried under the ground here?” The parrot said ,”No doubt about it”. He dug up the ground and nothing was there. The parrot repeated the words every time he asked the question. So he brought more men and dug up the ground deeper and deeper. At last he was disappointed. He shouted in anger, “Are you fooling me? Did you put dirt into my mouth?”

The parrot repeated the same words: No doubt about it.

Then only he realised that he was fooled by the merchant who sold the parrot to him.

No doubt, he sold it to another fool.

Tamil poets and saints used to sing apostrophes to birds and one of them is parrot.

Following two Stories are from my old articles:

Parrot and Mirror

The method by which a parrot is taught to speak is unique. The trainer places a big mirror in front of the newly caught parrot and talks to it from behind the mirror. The parrot thinks that another parrot is teaching it to talk and imitates the voice of the trainer. Trained in this manner, the parrot, picking up the language of the trainer, begins to talk fluently in the human language.

This is how a saint teaches his disciples. Apparently it is human being who is instructing them, but, verily, it is God hidden in the Guru that gives illuminating advice to the disciples. So, whenever the aspirant receives instructions from the Guru, he should consider that such instructions come from God himself. Truly, God and Guru are one.

Freedom is the Goal

In a war in Europe, a sailor was captured by the enemy and was put into prison. After fifteen years he was released, as the warring countries contracted an alliance through a treaty. On the day of release, a friend placed in his hands a purse containing £50/- When the sailor was passing through the streets, he saw a shop in which he saw various species of birds in cages kept for sale. He went up to the shop and bought all the cages from the money he possessed and, by opening the trap doors of the cages, set free the imprisoned birds one by one. The shop man was astounded at this. He asked why the sailor having bought the birds at such high prices, released them all.

The sailor replied, “You see, I alone know what it is to be in prison, being denied the privilege of freedom. For fifteen years I have suffered prison life. I could not bear to see these birds unhappy in their cages”.

Similarly, a saint having attained spiritual liberation himself is eager to release others from the bondage of ignorance.

–Subham–