An Eagle Comes for Amma's Bhajan 11 March 2005 — Amritapuri Om manusya-mrga-paksyadi sarva-samsevitanghraye namah (Salutations to the feet of She who is served by humans, animals, birds and all others.) It's like something out of a fairy tale—but it happened. And not just once but many times, to hear Amma tell it. The eagles fed Her.

It's something to picture: a teenage girl sitting hour after hour—perhaps, on the black sands of the beach or, perhaps, in a muddy bog by the backwaters—so engrossed in the essential nature of Her being that She was rendered lost to the outside world. At times like these, Amma paid no heed to the needs of Her body. The sun would beat down on Her, and She would not move, She would not take water, She would not go for food. She simply would sit. But the animals would care for Her, protect Her and feed Her. A dog stole would steal food packets and carry them to Her in its mouth, and two eagles would drop fish into her lap, which Amma would take as God's prasad. And when Amma would give Krishna Bhava darshan, the eagles would come sit on the roof of the small kalari temple. ( read more on early life)

The whole thing—even the intensity of Amma's sadhana�was simply Her leela, a divine play put on to instruct, inspire and enchant the minds of those who witnessed it or would hear of it later.

And still to this day the eagles are ever near. Whether it's Devi Bhava, Amma's birthday, or at a Brahmasthanam Temple installation or when Amma is leaving for a tour, you can bet they will be there, circling overhead in the sky. ( read more on Eagle's alert)

And now it seems that the leela continues, as in the past few weeks another eagle has apparently made the Ashram its home. And as Amma gives darshan, it will sit nearby, perhaps on a gate, rail or low wall and wait. And it will even let the brahmacharis feed it by hand.

Today when Amma came for bhajans, the eagle soared into the hall right after Her. Amma watched with mirth in her eyes as it circled the hall over and over again. Then it flew all the way into the stage area where Amma was singing, and literally did pradakshina to Her, gliding around Her, all but touching Her head as it passed by. The crowd applauded in joy. Finally, the eagle touched down and rested on top of the loud speaker that hangs from the ceiling right in front of Amma, over the oil lamp.

�Kannadi

An Eagle Offers Pradakshina
An eagle that settled in Amritapuri after the tsunami circumambulates Amma during her bhajans.