Birds, Freedom, and the Gita

What is your favorite animal?

I have always been drawn to birds because they move with a freedom that humans often forget. They travel miles from season to season, spreading their wings and flying through clouds and open skies. They do not need permission, tickets, or payments to cross borders. Their journey is guided by nature itself.
Humans, in contrast, rely on machines and money to travel. Even then, our movement is bound by rules, fear, and control. Birds migrate when the seasons change or when their homes are destroyed by human development. Yet, no matter how cities grow or trees disappear, birds adapt. They build their homes on skyscrapers, construction sites, trees, or even plants along road dividers. They live among us without resentment, adjusting silently.

The Bhagavad Gita reminds us:
You have the right to action alone, never to its fruits.
— Bhagavad Gita 2.47

Birds live this teaching effortlessly. They act according to their nature—flying, migrating, building nests—without worrying about outcomes. They do not question loss or gain. They simply move forward.

I keep a collection of bird stamps, and I am especially fascinated by large birds like eagles and hawks. I have held one, just to feel its weight and understand the strength behind its wings. While cleaning one day, I realized that among all the things I own, these bird stamps are what I truly wanted to keep. They remind me of freedom, resilience, and adaptation.

Perhaps the lesson is simple: like birds, we are meant to rise, adapt, and act without fear of the result. Freedom, as the Gita teaches, begins not in the sky—but in the mind.