॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
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श्रीब्राह्मण उवाच
सन्ति मे गुरवो राजन् बहवो बुद्ध्युपाश्रिता: । यतो बुद्धिमुपादाय मुक्तोऽटामीह तान् शृणु ॥
T: The Avadhuta began his reply, full of spiritual import, to King Yadu: "My dear king, with my intelligence I have taken shelter under many spiritual masters. Having gained transcendental understanding from them, I now wander about the earth in a liberated condition. Please listen as I describe my Gurus to you.
पृथिवी वायुराकाशमापोऽग्निश्चन्द्रमा रवि: । कपोतोऽजगर: सिन्धु: पतङ्गो मधुकृद् गज: ॥
मधुहाहरिणो मीन: पिङ्गला कुररोऽर्भक: ।कुमारी शरकृत् सर्प ऊर्णनाभि: सुपेशकृत् ॥
एते मे गुरवो राजन् चतुर्विंशतिराश्रिता: । शिक्षा वृत्तिभिरेतेषामन्वशिक्षमिहात्मन: ॥
T: "Oh king, I have taken had twenty-four Gurus, who are the following:
- the earth,
- wind,
- sky,
- water,
- fire,
- moon,
- sun,
- pigeon and
- python;
- the sea,
- moth,
- honeybee,
- elephant and
- honey thief;
- the deer,
- the fish,
- the prostitute Piṅgalā,
- the kurara bird and
- the child; and
- the young girl,
- arrow maker,
- serpent,
- spider and
- wasp.
My dear king, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self."
"Dear king, valiant descendant of Nahusha, , let me explain to you what I have learnt from each of my Gurus!"
The Earth
A sober person, even when harassed by other living beings, should understand that his aggressors are acting helplessly under the control of Destiny (दैववशानुगै:), and thus he should never be distracted from his own chosen path, which is his Swadharma.This rule I have learned from the earth.
The Mountain and the Tree
A saintly person should learn from the mountain to devote all his efforts to the service of others and to make the welfare of others the sole reason for his existence. Similarly, as the disciple of the tree, he should learn to dedicate himself to others. (शश्वत्परार्थसर्वेह:) Taking care of one's own body should be done without sacrificing spiritual progress and holding in check one's speech and mind.
The Wind
Even a Yogi is surrounded by innumerable material objects, which possess good and bad qualities. Going beyond good and evil, he should not become entangled even when in contact with material objects; rather, he should act like the wind. This is more true for a self-realized soul. He may live in this world, experiencing its various qualities and functions, but he is never entangled, just as the wind which carries various aromas does not actually hold on to them.
The Sky
A thoughtful sage should see that the spirit soul enters within all forms of life, both moving and non-moving, and is thus all-pervading. The Paramatma is simultaneously present within all things (ब्रह्मात्मभावेन समन्वयेन) Although the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within the sky, the sky does not mix with anything, nor can it be divided by anything. Material changes and experiences are like the mighty wind blowing across the sky, and yet not influencing it one bit. Although the living entity enters within a body made of earth, water and fire, and although he is impelled by the three modes of nature created by eternal time, his eternal spiritual nature is never actually affected.
Water
A saintly person is just like water because he is in essence free from all contamination, gentle, with soothing speech like a sip of water. Anyone in contact with him, engaging with him in any way, is cleansed, nourished and gladdened like one is by water! No wonder saints are compared to holy places (where there is sacred water - holy sarovar or river).
Fire
A holy person becomes strong through austerity and non-vulnerable to the material world. he accepts alms from one and all. Nothing can contaminate him, like nothing can contaminate fire which consumes all. A saintly person, just like fire, sometimes appears in a concealed form and at other times reveals himself. Such a saint may agree to instruct others, just as fire is a purifier and burns all contamination in an ornament, not taking on the burden of the past! Just like fire is in everything in different latent or manifest ways, the Lord is also in everything.
The Moon
The moon teaches us that change is a constant, like its phases, but the moon itself is not affected intrinsically as only the appearances change. Such is birth and death for the Atma, merely changes over time.
It is difficult to perceive how Time functions, which is flowing constantly like a river, like a blaze, causing the birth and death of innumerable bodies. But the Atma remains present, unaffected!
The Sun
Just as the sun evaporates large quantities of water by its potent rays and later returns the water to the earth in the form of rain, similarly, a saintly person accepts all types of material objects with his material senses, and at the appropriate time, when the proper person has approached him to request them, he returns such material objects. Thus, both in accepting and giving up the objects of the senses, he is not entangled.
The sun is reflected by all but is never divided. That is also the nature of Atma in various bodies.
The Story of the Pigeon
One should never indulge in excessive affection or concern for anyone or anything; otherwise one will have to experience great suffering, just like the foolish pigeon in this story.
There once was a pigeon who lived in the forest along with his wife. He had built a nest within a tree and lived there for several years in her company. The two pigeons were very much devoted to their household duties. Their hearts being tied together by sentimental affection, they were each attracted by the other’s glances, bodily features and states of mind. Thus, they completely bound each other in affection. Naively trusting in the future, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth as a loving couple among the trees of the forest.
Whenever she desired anything, the she-pigeon would flatteringly cajole her husband, and he in turn would gratify her by faithfully doing whatever she wanted, even if it meant great personal difficulty. Thus, he could not control his senses in her association. Then the female pigeon experienced her first pregnancy. When the time arrived, the chaste lady delivered a number of eggs within the nest in the presence of her husband. When the time was ripe, baby pigeons, with tender limbs and feathers created by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, were born from those eggs.
The two pigeons became most affectionate to their children and took great pleasure in listening to their awkward chirping, which sounded very sweet to the parents. Thus with love, they began to raise the little birds who were born of them. The parent birds became very joyful by observing the soft wings of their children, their chirping, their lovely innocent movements around the nest and their attempts to jump up and fly. Seeing their children happy, the parents were also happy.
Their hearts bound to each other by affection, the foolish birds, completely bewildered by the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, continued to take care of the young offspring who had been born to them.
One day the two pigeon parents went out to find food for the children. Being very anxious to feed their offspring properly, they wandered all over the forest for a long time.
At that time a certain hunter who happened to be wandering through the forest saw the young pigeons moving about near their nest. Spreading out his net he captured them all. The pigeon and his wife were always anxious for the maintenance of their children, and they were wandering in the forest for that purpose. Having obtained proper food, they now returned to their nest.
When the lady pigeon caught sight of her own children trapped within the hunter’s net, she was overwhelmed with anguish, and crying out, she rushed toward them as they cried out to her in return.
The lady pigeon had always allowed herself to be bound by the ropes of intense material affection, and thus her mind was overwhelmed by anguish. Being in the grip of the illusory energy of the Lord, she completely forgot herself, and rushing forward to her helpless children, she was immediately bound in the hunter’s net.
Seeing his own children, who were dearer to him than life itself, fatally bound in the hunter’s net along with his dearest wife, whom he considered equal in every way to himself, the poor male pigeon began to lament wretchedly.
The male pigeon said: Alas, just see how I am now destroyed! I am obviously a great fool, for I did not properly execute pious activities. I could not satisfy myself, nor could I fulfil the purpose of life. My dear family, which was the basis of my Dharma, Artha and Kama, is now hopelessly ruined.
My wife and I were an ideal match. She always faithfully obeyed me and in fact, accepted me as her worshipable deity. But now, seeing her children lost and her home empty, she has left me behind and gone to heaven with our saintly children.
Now I am a wretched person living in an empty home. My wife is dead; my children are dead. Why should I possibly want to live? My heart is so pained by the separation from my family that life itself has become simply suffering.
As the father pigeon wretchedly stared at his poor children trapped in the net and on the verge of death, pathetically struggling to free themselves, his mind went blank, and thus he himself fell into the hunter’s net.
The cruel hunter, having fulfilled his desire by capturing the head pigeon, his wife and all of their children, set off for his own home.
In this way, one who is too attached to family life becomes disturbed at heart. He finally perishes too, drowned in his attachment (पुष्णन् कुटुम्बं कृपण: सानुबन्धोऽवसीदति).
य: प्राप्य मानुषं लोकं मुक्तिद्वारमपावृतम् । गृहेषु खगवत् सक्तस्तमारूढच्युतं विदु: ॥
T: The doors of liberation are always opened wide to one who has achieved human life by his past Punyas. But if a human being simply devotes himself to family life like the foolish bird in this story, then he is to be considered as one who has climbed to a high place only to trip and fall down.
The Avadhuta's instruction continues.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
