Colorful birds Avadavat

What a spectacular chance to snap Avadavat and how I got it right!!. As part of my job I was at Kanakapura Road (this is one of the colleges where students are not keen on attending classes, I don’t blame them) and so I had lots of time. Morning I was at Turahalli for few hours, it’s a bushy terrain -spotted birds like bayas, beecatchers, bushchats, robins and so on. Actually I am running short of bird’s pictures and so decided to go to Rishi Valley School, surrounding the school and around are acres of verdant land that is not really a forest but has trees and lots of green and mountainous landscape. I thought of walking around the place, there are huge banyan trees-the path passes through one, must say there are too many Indian Robins and sunbirds. It was while I was looking at a termite mound-half expecting a snake to emerge-that I saw this bird alighting at the nearest bush, it turned around saw me and furrr was away at an instant. I had just about thirty seconds to work, and for once I was right on target. It was hugely satisfying and to know that it was red Avadavat was thrilling to say the least.

Red Avadavat is a spectacular bird, during breeding season the above bird turns complete red. For the same reason it was a popular cage bird. Usually seen in flocks along bushy damp areas they are found all through the subcontinent to East Asia.

Sree Narayana Guru: whatever maybe the religion it is enough that it makes human beings better

Today happens to be death anniversary (though the Malayalam calendar I follow puts it tomorrow!!) of one the most prominent and revered saint-philosopher of 20^th century: Sree Narayana Guru (1856-1928). I vaguely recall being told how he came to my ancestral home (and spent some time with my forefathers- who had some understanding in Ayurveda and Sanskrit). I also have visited his birthplace on the outskirts of Thiruvanthapuram and lighted lamp on his birth anniversary many years back. Frankly I was quite taken aback by the small mud house, he was born in a poor family. A serious and precocious child he dabbled in philosophy. He authored Atmopadesasatakam (One hundred verses of self instruction), a unique exposition on Vedanta that sought to make these thought accessible to common people, his emphasis was on rational aspect. The verses are not only profound in its thinking but maintain felicity of expression, like all great saints the language is poetic (it is a different matter that it gets lost in the English translation).

One faith to another hateful be, and the essence
taught in one lacks in another’s measure;
until is realized the essence is the same,
know, on this earth shall confusion prevail.

Narayana Guru carried the essence of Advaita Vedantic tradition that Shankara acharya pursued (incidentally also born in what is now kerala) some 2000years back- that in itself could be traced back to few more thousand years to saints of Gangetic planes, to the Upanishads (Upanishad are amazing stuff. Their concerns were rarely mundane, unlike some part of Vedas. In Keno Upanishads for instance this primal question “By whom?. Who is the real power behind the functions of the universe, external in nature and internal to man?”. In Mundaka Upanishad the concern is “what is that which, being known, everything else become known?”). Writes Narayana Guru

“Bottom, top, end, it is, this is, that is”-
tho isolated thus, yet all that exists is prime substance
bodies inert are all impermanent. Apart from
the form of water, can the wave be else?

Shankaracharya’s spiritual understanding though path breaking seemed isolated from life’s worldly relevance, Narayana guru sought to bridge these and integrated advaita to existential needs. Narayana guru trod the neglected path of advaita, emphasizing human being as part of vast human family-tatwamasi: an equation between oneself and others “what is dear to others determines my need and not vice versa”. This is to him was first step to advaita

The other man’s desire is my desire;
desire mine is the other’s desire;
such being the rule, acts leading to human good
such to the other’s desire conduce

In advaita tradition Narayana guru sought to combine ita (immanent) and para (transcendent). The stress was on arivu (knowledge)

To the core, that in knowledge intense strives
in the knower’s body besides, and without too

Some verses

Not seeing as same, the essence of all religion,
Fools roam the world, telling reasons of sorts,
Like the blind vis-à-vis the elephant
Observing this, don’t get puzzled; steadfast remain.

One faith to another hateful be, and the essence
taught in one lacks in another’s measure;
until is realized the essence is same,
know, on this earth shall confusion prevail

Endless is the knowledge’s might. As the parts two
these might be identified as “the same” and “the other”
of these “the other” should become “the same”
shine in the inner core and awakened be.

Along with earth and water, air and fire,
the void, ego, cognition, and mind, indeed
all worlds, including waves and ocean,
into awareness supreme transform
(all phenomena, material as well as mental, are reduced to knowledge which is absolute, if so conceived. Arivu or bodha, the self alone is capable of apprehending. Hence self is the core also. Thus the advaita or non duality)