NATURE

                                       

NATURE

                                                  Nature is my mother. The pleasure in mother’s lap is incomparable. When a child is tortured by someone, it runs to its mother. Seeing its mother, it forgets all worries and fright. Paryaavaran is not different from nature. Human of any age when comes in close contact to the nature, our eternal mother (closer to nature- river, forest, sea, mountain, fountain etc), he is filled with special joy and enthusiasm forgetting all anxieties and fear.                                                                                                                                                                   Once, I went to Pondicherry with one of my friends. We went to take sea view in the evening. Before this trip I had never seen the sea. Aurovindo Ashram is on the western coast of Bay of Bengal where we were halting. We stayed on a bench on the sea sore for a good time and my friend became tired. Dark surrounded us. He wanted to return. But I was not quenched. I refused to return. He went to the Ashram. I stayed there till nine P.M. This may be called immense love towards nature. One Australian citizen met me there. He was alone. I asked him about his travelling throughout the world alone. I was surprised to hear his ideology which was quite similar to my thought. I have come to the earth alone and have to depart from here alone. It is ideal to lead life alone. If it becomes impossible, one friend is enough but not more than that. When I am alone, I stay most of the time at my home (permanent home= heart). When I make friends, I spend more time outside. Bapoo (Gandhijee) has preached the same. When I am alone I can journey according to my will. When more people are with me my will has less importance and sometimes it is totally ignored if there is any arrogant person in the group.

                                                                       Now, come to the main topic. I planted some mango plants in my garden. I irrigated it daily and started to see it growing. I gave village manure (cow dung= compost). My happiness cannot be explained in words, seeing the plant growing. The pleasure is heavenly, beyond expression. One of my friends had tamed so many animals – cats, dogs, rabbits, mice, mongooses etc. Most of the time, he was playing with his pets. I saw him always pleased with his animal friends. I never saw him sad. Whenever he returned home, the animals jumped on him and showed their love. I was afraid of animal scratching/biting and rabies but he was playing/dancing and laughing. I cannot describe his pleasure. I asked him to explain the expressions of pets. And, I was surprised to hear his words that he knew every expression of his pets. I went in the past when people understood the birds’ voice. When I come in close contact and love someone with my heart, I become blessed to know its expressions. Human new born child is incapable to express but mother knows it's every requirement. Among the pets, dog is the oldest friend of man. It knows how to express happiness and sorrow where as other pets don’t know this art and their languages are same every time. Raman Maharshi talked with monkeys, peacocks, cows, dogs, cats, birds etc. He used to mediate when two groups of monkeys quarreled seriously. Once, Maharshi was walking on Arunaachalaa hill. The nest of wasp came under his  foot. Wasps started to bite. Some disciples wanted to move wasps but he forbade doing so, saying that he had demolished their house and their anger was genuine. The great Indian scientist, Sir J. C. Bose researched on plants and proved that plants and trees also laugh and weep. When I show love, irrigate and give manure, they become pleased. When someone goes to cut them they become angry and weep. The feelings were shown on a monitor. The indicator showed the direction of happiness/ love, quite opposite to the direction of sorrow/ anger.

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                                                         My eldest son offers food to the birds of a park daily. I become surprised to see the birds sitting on his shoulders when he enters into the park. My son-in-law feeds the leprous daily. Though, his family members don’t like the habit, his pleasure is beyond words.   

                                                                                     The helpless persons also repay very precious thing which I don’t understand. They give ethereal blessings which remove our all odds and create joys. Sometimes physical return is also received. I want to recall one memorable event. The leprosy hospital of DMCH, Darbhanga is in the northern portion. Once I was deputed to construct a new building for the leprous near the leprosy hospital. My one subordinate Raj was with me. During construction, I knew many new things about leprous which were not known to me before. Persons of different castes and religions reside together as families. They have no feelings of caste and marry among themselves. They love each other too much, more than we healthy people do. I and Raj were taking tea offered by the leprous. Suddenly, Raj fell down and became senseless. I was nervous, but the leprous started primary care. They brought a cot and put Raj on it. Four persons took the cot on their shoulders and started towards emergency ward. Doctors checked him up and gave some medicines. He became well. The event made deep root in my memory and always makes me remember the help of those helpless persons who are discarded and hated by the society. I was ashamed to think that we extremely dislike them and don’t like to even touch them, but they have immense love for us and can help us up to the extent of their lives.

                                                                                               I want to suggest one medicine to everybody. Enjoy the moments of feeding corn to the pigeons on the roof, offering food to the fishes in the pond, feeding the hungers, serving the ill and helping the helpless and needy. This medicine will cure you from all diseases. No medicine is so helpful as the tonic of blessings.

                                                                                Once, I was going to Deoghar by Jan satabdee express. An old lady was begging in the compartment. She came to me and spreaded her hand. I usually give one or two rupees to the beggars. But seeing the wretched condition of the old lady or perhaps I had no change, I put five rupees in her hand. The old lady started pouring blessings on my head for long with her inner heart. Have you helped to free a creature from a trap? Have you forgiven the fault of a person? Have you served an ill person? Have you fed a hungry man? Have you given water to thirsty person? The pleasure cannot be imagined doing even one of the above. Forgiveness is such a weapon which can win the heart of any big enemy. We know the story of a saint and a scorpion. A scorpion was flowing in the river flow. A saint saw and wanted to save its life. He took it in his palm and started to bring it to the bank. The scorpion stung him. His hand trembled and the scorpion fell in the river. Again the saint lifted, it stung, hand trembled and it fell in the river. The action and reaction was being repeated several times. Another person who was taking bath beside the saint, saw this. He forbade doing so saying that the creature cannot change its nature. The saint said, ‘if the tiny creature cannot change its nature, why should I’? This shows the love towards nature and climax of forgiveness.

                                        Now a day, we have become our enemies ourselves. Cutting trees I have started digging well of death. The Pran-vau (life air) Oxygen comes from these trees and plants. If I cut all these greeneries, Oxygen will vanish and a day may come when the earth will become life less like other planets. When I go to walk in the zoo, I feel that I am taking some life saving medicine. I start taking more and more air in my lungs. In summer, the temperature of the botanical garden area is below one or two degrees Celsius compared to that of town area. When I was returning from secretariat to my residence in the evening on my scooter, I always entered the green zone near Lalit Bhavan leaving the widest and maintained Bailey Road in the temptation to enjoy the Oxygen zone and cool atmosphere. The increase in temperature may cause melting the Himalayas resulting increase in sea water level. So many islands are on the verge of sinking in the sea. A day may come when entire earth may burn to ashes due to rising temperature or may sink in water due to rising sea water level, causing catastrophe. 

                                                     Environmental balance is utmost necessity. In the past we had this equilibrium. But in recent days, this has been disturbed. The main culprits are men themselves. In temptation we cut trees, kill animals, disturb the mountains, river*s natural flow, pollute rivers and atmosphere and do all adverse acts to pollute our surroundings. Our natural scavengers, vultures are seen nowhere on the earth. Due to ignorance, we hated these birds in old days. But, they are our best cleaners. Use of medicines have killed them causing pollution of the atmosphere. We have polluted the rivers by throwing garbage, corpses, dropping gutters and drains in the stream. We have disturbed the mountains through quarries. We have polluted the atmosphere by creating harmful gases. We have weakened the Ozone layer which checks the dangerous Ultraviolet rays to come on the earth. Cutting plants we have disturbed the soil conservation.                                                                                         

                                                                                                       The nature is not different from The God. It is the expanded form of The Almighty. When someone loves the nature (plants, creatures, rivers, sea, forest etc), he loves The Almighty. The nature may be symbolically taken as the wife (female) of The Great Purush (male) and the plants, creatures etc as their children. If you hate mother and children, father can’t be pleased. Try to love the nature and all the plants and creatures, if you want to please God.