Peacock

 

A peacock feather is said to have all the 7 colours of nature and it appears bluish in the day and black at night. Ether, which covers all of us also appears blue by daytime and black by night. Lord Krishna, also called the dark skinned one is represented by both these colours. Thus, Krishna wears the peacock which symbolizes the entire range of colours in nature. As God, he is formless but to mortals, he appears Blue by day and Black by night, making him just like a peacock feather.

Peacocks love rain and dance during the monsoons. The sight of a sky completely covered by dark clouds is enjoyed by them and makes them happy. Similarly, Krishna being dark-skinned resembles the dark, rain-heavy clouds. When the peacocks see Lord Krishna, he reminds them of rain and thus, makes them very happy. Also, his music coupled with his dark skin helps them dance better. thus as gratitude, they offer him their feathers which he happily accepts and places in his hair.

The feathers of peacock exemplify Lord’s Maya in a manner which human mind can try to grasp. The brilliant colors of peacock do not arise from the correspondingly colored pigments. Instead, they arise from the phenomenon called ‘structural coloration’. The light waves entering the different thickness of keratin layers on peacock feathers get out of phase and undergo interference. The resulting light wave patterns give the beautiful play of colors which the human eyes see. The ‘actual’ color is just deep brown pigment which occurs in the background of these keratin layers.

Thus, Lord Krishna wears a brilliant example of His own Maya in His crown and stimulates our intelligence to understand the fact that the whole universe is a diverse manifestation of one single divinity. Thus, we are also supposed to understand the nature of Maya continuously during our life so that we do not get carried away and suffer due to its influence. If we also start wearing this idea in our mind, like Krishna wears its symbolically in His crown, then we can also enjoy this life in the manner Lord Krishna wants us to live.

Please observe one feather of peacock. In the middle it like an egg yolk, beautiful blue and brownish color. The basic egg shape is clearly visible. Form that emerges radiance all around it. The straight line is Purusha and all circular shine is Prakrishi, when they intercept each other at the center it forms beautiful union, which makes the egg shape alive and radiate. A peacock with is many feathers resembles how the creations manifested. This symbolizes the root of creation.

Krishna is depicted with a peacock feather in his crown, which symbolizes that he is the root of creation of this universe. You can see its beauty and grace in a peacock. The dazzling colors with egg shapes, when it expands and dances, true bliss can be enjoyed.