69 Bhagavatha -- The 24 Gurus - the Avadutha's discourse

Krishna created violent discords amongst the asuras and destroyed them, relieving the earth of its burden. Using the
Pandavas as an instrument, provoking them through the ruling Kauravas, with deceit, insult and humiliation, he
causes the annihilation of the Kauravas and restores the path of virtue. He deems his work incomplete as long as the
Yadus continue to exist; they had grown insolent and unconquerable due to prosperity, as they were under his
protection. Krishna decides to destroy the Yadava clan by creating internal strife.
Once the sages Vishwamitra, Asita, Durvasa, Narada and others arrive in a place near Dwaraka (Pindaraka), after
Krishna bid
farewell to them. Some yadava youths were sporting there. As a prank, they dress up Jambavati's son Samba as a
pregnant
woman. With mock humility, they clasp the rishis feet and asked: "O Rishis! this woman is soon to give birth to a
child - she would like to know if it is a son or a daughter." The sages get angry and curse them. "Fools! She will give
birth to a pestle which will destroy your race." The boys at once bared Samba's belly, to actually find an iron pestle
there. They were perplexed and did not know what to do. They take the pestle to Dwaraka and narrate the incident
to the King Ugrasena. The people were alarmed at the unfailing curse of the sages. The king decides to reduce the
pestle to powder and throw the dust into the sea. They do so, along with one last piece which could not be
powdered. That piece was swallowed by a fish and the powder was washed ashore by the sea, and grew into a kind
of grass called Eraka. A fisherman caught the fish and a hunter used the piece of metal found in the fish for his
arrow's point.
The gods led by Brahma and Indra approach Krishna and plead with him to return to his realm. "O Lord! Now that
your mission of relieving the earth of its burden has been accomplished, we seek your return to your transcendent
realm in Vaikuntha and bless us." Krishna assures them: "O Brahma! O Indra! It has already been decided by me to
return after the destruction of the Yadus.
The process had already begun with the curse of the sages". The gods return to their abodes.
Krishna, noticing grave portents over Dwaraka, asks the elderly among the Yadus to shift to a sacred place called
Prabhasa forthwith. Uddhava, the friend and devotee of Krishna, overhears this. Overwhelmed with sorrow, he
approaches Krishna in seclusion and prays to him with joined palms: "O Yogacharya! Although capable, you have
chosen not to counteract the sages curse. I cannot bear to part with you even for a moment. Kindly take me also
with you to your divine realm." Krishna replies: "O blessed one! Uddhava, It is my intention that the sages curse take
effect. The purpose of my descent has been accomplished. The Yadus will perish through mutual strife, and on the
seventh day, the sea will overflow and submerge Dwaraka. The moment this mortal world is forsaken by me, it will
be assailed by Kali - the dark age, engulfing all auspiciousness. People will conceive a liking for unrighteous ways.
You, Uddhava, shall concentrate on me, and rid of all your attachment, go about the earth looking upon all with
equanimity."
Uddhava prostrates before Krishna and says: "O Master of Yoga! This cult of renunciation without any expectation,
preached by you is well-nigh impossible for those who are not devoted to you. I am ignorant, my Lord! I am
attached to this body and children, a creation of your maya (power of delusion). I am immersed in this notion of 'I'
and 'mine'. Therefore instruct me so that I may easily attain the state of renunciation."
Krishna answers: "Those who are engaged in investigating the true nature of this world, often lift themselves up by
their own efforts, ridding themselves of the pleasures of the sense. By way of an illustration, vigilant ones narrate the
ancient legend in the
form of a dialogue between an ascetic of a high order (Dattatreya - the son of Atri and Anasuya) and Yadu, our
ancestor.
"Perceiving a youthful brahmin with an unclean body, though full of wisdom, Yadu asks that fearless brahmin: "O
sage! You remain inactive, but how do you get this penetrating wisdom, going about the world like an innocent boy,
but enlightened from within? You are learned and virtuous, but you covet nothing and behave like a dunce or a
maniac. Pray, tell us the cause of the joy abiding in your mind, although you are single and devoid of any
enjoyment." Yadu bowed to the brahmin boy with humility.
"The ascetic answered: 'Many are my preceptors, O King! With a keen sense, I select and acquire wisdom -- due to
which I wander freely without turmoil and worry. These twenty four of them have been accepted me as my
preceptors: The earth, the air, the sky, water, fire, the sun and the moon, the dove, the python, the sea, the moth,
the honey-bee, the honey-gatherer, the elephant, the deer, the fish, a courtesan named Pingala, the osprey, the
infant, the maiden, the forger of arrows, the serpent, the spider and the the bhringa (a kind of wasp). From the
conduct of these I have learnt all that there is to be learnt for my good.'
"Questioned further by Yadu, the ascetic explains how and why these were considered by him as his gurus.
1. I imbibed from Mother Earth her vow: to be unperturbed even while being oppressed by living beings. One should
not deviate from the course of dharma, although conscious of the fact that they are subject to the will of Providence.
(Other units of the earth, the mountains and trees teach us altruism and submission to the will of others).
2. From air one learns to move freely among all objects possessing diverse characteristics, but remain unaffected by
all odours (which actually belong to the earth, wafted by the air and not the air itself). Similarly one has to train the
mind to be unaffected by the merits and demerits of any situation.
3. From the sky, we learn to visualise the affinity of our all-pervading soul with the sky, in the shape of freedom from
all
limitations and absence of attachment. The soul is not touched by material adjuncts like the body - just as the sky is
by phenomena like the clouds tossed by the wind.
4. From the water, one learns to be transparent, soft by nature, sweet and a seat of purity -- and also purifies
people.
5. From the fire, we learn not to imbibe any impurity, although consuming anything and everything. One's glory, like
the fire, is
made brighter and formidable by austerities, having no vessel other than one's belly. Although having no shape of its
own, the
fire assumes the shape of the firewood through which it reveals itself. Similarly, having entered a particular body, the
soul reveals the traits through that body - divine or otherwise.
6. From the sun, which sucks moisture in summer, and releases it during monsoon through its rays, a seeker enjoys
various objects through his senses and parts with them according to the needs of the moment, without any
attachment. As the sun, and the sun reflected in a vessel of water are not one and the same, one realises that the
soul is not the body itself.
7. The story of the dove: A dove couple lived in a nest in a forest enjoying life with its fledglings. While they were out
to fetch nourishment, the dove's young were entangled in a hunter's net. The female dove returns. Screaming out of
grief, she too gets
into the trap. The male dove, unable to bear the impending separation, wails hopelessly -- and foolishly walks into
the trap of
its own accord. The hunter returns home with the complete catch. Like the dove, a householder, caught in pairs of
opposites (pleasure and pain, joys and sorrows, heat and cold etc.) comes to grief like the dove. A wise man would
refrain from attachment after attaining the human body -- which is an open door to the mansion of final beatitude.
8. From the python, one learns to eat food, obtained without effort, whether it is sufficient or not, bitter or sweet.
9. From the sea, one learns to remain calm -- inscrutable, dominated by none, unaffected by time and space, and
unperturbed by likes and dislikes. The sea does not swell when rivers flow into it, nor dries up when they do not. So
also, one should not feel elated or depressed, when one's desires have been achieved or not.
10. From the moth which falls into the fire, one learns to be aware of greed and lust.
11. From the black bee, an ascetic learns to take just enough food for his sustenance, without troubling the
householders who provide them. He also should not be a hoarder like the bee, which loses its store of food and also
perishes. A discriminating person gathers the essence from the scriptures, great or small, like the bee collects honey
from various flowers.
12. From the elephant, an ascetic learns to stay away from women. The elephant is bound in chains after being
attracted by the touch of a female elephant.
13. From the honey-gatherer one learns that riches amassed with great pains by misers are neither enjoyed by them
nor gifted away, but are enjoyed by somebody else.
14. From the deer, one learns to shun vulgar songs. The deer is ensnared, attracted by the music of the hunter. It
was such undesirable song and dance, which made a great sage Rishyashringa, a plaything in the hands of women.
15. From the fish one learns not to be enraptured by the love of taste. It is through a tasteful bait that the fish meets
its end. Of all the senses, the tongue is the most difficult to be controlled. Fasting helps control all other senses, but
increases the power of
the sense of taste.
16. The story of Pingala, a courtesan of Videha (Mithila): She decorates herself at night and sits at the door waiting
for a paramour. She waits, observing all passers-by, expecting that some rich man would come and she would earn
plentiful of
money. She restlessly kept going in and out of her house, until she was frustrated due to the long wait. Realisation
dawns on her. "How senseless I am! -- expecting the fulfilment of my desire from a lustful and greedy paramour,
which can only result in sorrow, grief and infatuation. Shouldn't I have adored the eternal and real Lord, residing in
my heart, giving wealth and joy forever. I shall redeem myself, seeking refuge in him. Fallen in the well of
worldliness and deprived of the sense of discrimination, who else can save me?" When one observes the world being
devoured by the serpent of Time, one is overcome with frustration, helping one to realise that one's Self is the only
protector.
17. The ospreys (Kurari birds): An osprey flew carrying a piece of flesh. The stronger ospreys attacked the osprey
with the flesh. The osprey drops the piece of flesh and felt happy. The source of misery is indeed the acquisition of
whatever one love's most.
18. The infant: Like a child free from care, I wander about, sporting in the Self. Only two are free from cares and
anxieties and are immersed in supreme bliss. One is the guileless child and the other is one who has transcended the
three gunas (satva, raja and tamas).
19. The maiden: Some people came home to see a prospective bride while her relations had gone to some other
place. The maiden had to attend to all the chores to provide for the guests. While she was pounding paddy, her
bangles jingled. Ashamed
that the guests would know about it, she broke the bangles one by one, retaining only one bangle in each hand,
which did not make any noise. From her I learnt that when many dwell together, quarrels ensue. Therefore, it would
be better if an ascetic
wandered alone, just as the single bangle on the maiden's wrist.
20. The forger of arrows: The maker of arrows was so absorbed in his work working on the tip of the arrow, that he
does even
notice the king passing by in a royal procession with all kinds of noises. One can learn from him the power of
concentration, to
focus the mind on the Self.
21. The serpent happily inhabits a borrowed hole built by others: The ascetic wanders, as building a house for
himself is foolish
and fraught with misery.
22. Just as the spider projecting the web from his heart through the mouth, sports with it and then swallows it, so
does the Lord
creates, preserves and then destroys the universe.
23. The wasp: the larva confined by the wasp in a hole in the wall keeps contemplating on the wasp. And without
discarding its
former body, transforms itself into the wasp.
(The moon has been taken as a guru along with the sun.)
'Now listen to what I have have learnt from my own body, O son of Yayati (Yadu)! This body, subject to birth and
death and a
source of afflictions is my guru -- it promotes renunciation and discrimination. It helps me contemplate on realities
although it belongs to others. Every physical organ drags him in a different direction, pulling him from all sides. The
Lord rejoiced at the culmination of his creation of the human body, endowed with reasoning and capable of realising
the Supreme.
'Having thus freed myself from all attachments, egotism and developing dispassion, acquired from these preceptors,
I roam
about the world, established in the Self.'
Krishna continues -- "O Uddhava, the ascetic, having shared his wisdom of his preceptors with King Yadu takes leave
and delightedly went his way. Yadu rid himself of all his attachments and gained equilibrium of mind."