Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Maya is defeating them at every step

[Guest guest]

Srila Prabhupada NectarFebruary 1st, 1976

 

As I laid out the straw mat on the sunlit veranda to prepare for his

massage,

Srila Prabhupada drew my attention to some sparrows making a nest. They had

chosen a hole in the wall behind the electrical circuit box just outside

Prabhupada's sitting-room window. He said their chirping disturbed him at

night

while translating his books. So before they could build a complete nest and

settle in, I removed the bits of straw they had gathered.

 

But as I began the massage one of the birds returned and started to rebuild

the

nest, flying back and forth with small pieces of straw. I crumpled some

paper

and stuffed it into the hole to block it.

 

So when the sparrow came back and found its access barred, it pecked,

undaunted, at the paper for almost half an hour, trying to open up the hole

to

continue its home-making. When the bird found this too difficult, it flew

off

and returned with its mate. Together they worked hard to remove the paper,

eventually succeeding. By pecking and tugging in unison,they removed the

paper

and began to build again. All the while Srila Prabhupada watched them

without

comment.

 

When the birds flew away to get more straw, I again filled the hole with the

paper, this time forcing it in so tight that the sparrows couldn't possibly

remove it. The sparrows returned and spent a long time trying to regain

access,

but this time were unsuccessful. Eventually they accepted defeat, gave up,

and

left.

 

Prabhupada then drew an interesting parallel. He told me that even though

the

birds had eyes, they could not see. Although they were trying so hard to

build

their house, they couldn't see that the person who had prevented them stood

nearby watching. So they continued on in ignorance, trying to make

adjustments

and struggling against the superior arrangement.

 

He explained how, in the same way, the materialistic persons, though having

eyes, are unable to see how maya, the material energy, is supervising all

their

efforts. They simply struggle on, making adjustments, hoping to improve

their

lives and secure their place in the material world, not understanding that

maya

is watching their every move and defeating them at every step.

 

- From the "A Transcendental Diary Vol 1" by HG Hari Sauri dasa

 

Hare Krishna