Logos 479
Krishna, God, the Supreme Person is the Supreme Spiritual Master, the Perfect Counsellor and the Divine Witness.
The beautiful parable of the two birds.
The Vedas, the original holy scriptures also called “the true gospel”, compare the Supreme Soul, the plenary emanation of Krishna, and the separate individual soul of the Lord, the tiny spiritual fragment of His Divine Person, to two birds bound in friendship, and perched on the same tree, i.e. the material body.
While one of the two (the infinitesimal distinct soul) tastes the fruits of the tree, the other (Krishna, the Supreme Soul) simply observes it. These two birds participate in the same nature, yet one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other simply observes the movements of his friend. Krishna is the “Witness” bird, and each of us is the “Eater” bird. They are both friends, but one is the Master and the other his servant.
Both birds live on the same tree (in the same body), yet only the one who tastes its fruits sinks into sadness and anguish. Because of its forgetfulness of the link with the Supreme Soul, the infinitesimal soul, distinct from God, has to fly from one tree to another, and thus from one material body to another. The spiritual being, perched on the tree of the body, engages in a hard struggle. But if, by chance, he turns to the Lord, his Friend, and comes to know His glories, he ceases to suffer and escapes all anguish. He will then escape all danger and cease to suffer as soon as he recognizes the Supreme Spiritual Master in the other.
This is what the spirit soul does when it voluntarily surrenders to the Lord and asks Him to enlighten it.
The “eating” bird, the spiritual being, who voluntarily turns to the Witness bird, Krishna, his eternal Friend, and allows himself to be guided, penetrates the wisdom that comes from the divine word of the Lord. Listening to these wonderful and sublime words, he will know the glories of the Lord and will see his sorrows disappear.
The Divine Witness knows everything about us.
The Lord says: You should not envy any living being, moving or still. Knowing that I am in them, you should at all times show respect to all. By doing so, you will be offering respect to Me.
The Lord adds: I stand in the heart of every being, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.