The peacocks' exemplary surrender to Lord Sri Krishna

Every year at Shree Peetha Nilaya we celebrate Sri Krishna Janmashtami,

which commemorates the earthly appearance of Lord Sri Krishna in Mathura, Northern India, approximately 5,000 years ago.

This festival falls in the Hindu month of Shravana (August-September) and this year is celebrated on 17th -18th August.

The peacocks at Shree Peetha Nilaya make a very special contribution to this celebration by offering their long tail feathers and thus letting go of their pride while serving the Lord in the form of Sri Swami Vishwananda.

This natural behaviour is exemplary of their surrender to Lord Sri Krishna. Below there is a story of the Lord Sri Krishna Leela which tells us about the origin of this peacocks' behavior.

One day, Krishna was in the forest with his cowherd friends and they all took a nap. Krishna woke up first and started playing his flute, waking up everybody and calling the cows which were grazing around. The peacocks from the Govardhana hill were enchanted by the wonderful vibration that was coming from Krishna's flute. They cried with joy, while dancing with excitement, jumping up and down and flapping their wings. 
At a certain point the king of the peacocks came forward and touched Krishna's Lotus Feet to express his gratitude, requesting Him to dance with them. Krishna joined the peacocks, dancing like them, increasing the tempo and playing to the rhythm of His steps. The bliss of the peacocks increased so immensely that some peacocks fainted. All the animals and cowherds stood transfixed, unable to move their eyes away from the dance of Krishna. 
Finally, after many days, when Krishna stopped dancing, there was an enchanting silence. The king of the peacocks approached Krishna with great humility, bowed down his head and said, "You have created a festival of bliss for which we'll remain eternally indebted to You. It is our duty to offer You Guru Dakshina. Please accept our only opulence, our plumage. Wear them on Your crown as a decoration." With large tears of ecstasy, the king of peacocks dropped many divine feathers. 
Krishna lovingly accepted the offering of the peacocks and to everybody's joy, placed a few of them on His turban. Thus He came to wear the peacock feathers.