We were discussing the interesting story of Avadhoota – a totally liberated person who was moving around like a mad man, completely nude. Though Avadhoota had attained the ultimate knowledge, he never had any specific Guru. He imbibed whatever he knew from various sources which he considered as his Gurus. Some of these were not even human.
In the previous episode, we saw 4 of those Gurus namely earth, air, sky, and water. We also saw what Avadhoota learnt from these Gurus. Let us continue with some more of his Gurus in this episode.
Guru 5: Fire – Fire consumes everything – pure as well as impure. But fire never gets polluted even when it consumes filthy things. It always remains the same, emanating brightness, power and purity. It never takes any impurity into itself. Instead, it sanctifies everything without any malice or discrimination.
By looking at fire, Avadhoota also learnt to remain pure and resplendent even when he is in the company bad people. Like fire, he remained totally dormant like a stupid person, till kindled by knowledgeable people who know his worth. For them he showered his knowledge and helped them to nullify their sins.
Guru 6: Moon – As time progresses, the moon goes through different phases. On some day, the moon appears to be completely dark and on some other day it appears bright. In between, it appears to go through a series of stages of waxing and waning. But in reality, the moon remains unchanged in spite of all these apparent changes.
Similarly, our bodies go through various stages of childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age. But the soul that resides in the body remains unaffected by these changes. It neither takes birth nor it dies. Nor does it go through any changes. Avadhoota says that he learnt this truth by observing the apparent changes that go on in the moon. He realized that the changes are only in the body and not in the soul, in the same way the phases of the moon are only visual effects and not really changes in the moon. The soul is untouched by any change.
Guru 7: Sun - Avadhoota looks at the Sun. The Sun absorbs water from all kinds of sources – both pure and impure. But it does not get polluted by those waters. It showers rains with the same purity irrespective of the quality water that the Sun had absorbed.
In the same way, Avadhoota learns to indulge in sense pleasures without in anyway getting overpowered by them. He knows that it is only his body which is either accepting or rejecting the sense inputs depending on the circumstances. He remains untouched by those acts of the body just as the Sun remains pure even when it absorbs impure water.
Like the sun that gets reflected in multiple water bodies or other reflecting surfaces, giving an impression that there are many suns, Avadhoota understands that the same single entity namely the God appears as many individual souls when that God resides in multiple bodies.
Guru 8: Pigeon – Avadhoota observes a pigeon family. This family had a male, a female and a few chicks. They were very close to each other and happy. The male and female would go out and fetch food for the young ones and feed them. There was no end to their joy.
One day, when these two birds were out, a hunter appeared there and put a snare in which the chicks were caught. The mother pigeon who was returning to its nest, saw that from a distance and unmindful of what she was doing jumped into the snare to rescue her kids. In doing that she too got entrapped in the snare. No matter what she did, she could neither free her kids nor herself.
By that time the male pigeon also arrived there. He understood whatever was happening. He knew very well that he could do nothing to free the female nor the kids. But he felt that his life would be meaningless without them. He would rather die with them than live alone. So, he too willingly jumped into the snare.
Observing these happenings in the pigeon family, Avadhoota learnt how worldly people fall into the trap of family bonds and ruin themselves. They waste their only opportunity to attain liberation which is quite possible if only they handle their emotions properly. Instead, they develop deep attachment to their family and get caught in the web. They do not understand that neither they can liberate their family nor themself. So, Avadhoota chose to remain aloof or single.
Guru 9: Boa constrictor – Avadhoota saw a huge boa constrictor. It is quite huge and powerful. If it wants, it can go and catch its prey and feed on it. But it never does it. It lies down dormant as if dead. It eats whatever that comes in its way, without making any special effort. If it does not get any food, it continues to lie down without overly worried about food.
Avadhoota learnt that one should be like a boa constrictor. One should not be over concerned about filling one’s stomach. If someone offers some food, no matter the quality of the food, one should just consume it. If no food is offered, one should starve till some food arrives his way. He should concentrate more on uplifting himself through meditation and such other spiritual practices rather than be over worrying about mundane things like food.
Guru 10: Sea – The sea is an epitome of self-control. No matter how many rivers flow into it or how many of them dry out, the sea maintains its same level. It neither swells nor diminishes. By observing this state of the sea, Avadhoota learnt that he too should remain unperturbed by whatever happens in life. He should neither be elated when good things happen, nor grieve when faced with failures. He should take both good and bad, pleasure and pain, with the same equanimity.
Guru 11: Moth - Avadhoota observes a moth. The moth gets attracted to a flame. Though it knows that the fire can hurt it, it jumps into the flame with the uncontrolled desire and attraction. In doing that, it ends its own life. In the same way, worldly people get attracted to physical pleasures, worldly riches, and fall into a trap like the moth and ruin themselves. So, Avadhoota tries to remain away from these traps. These traps though extremely attractive, can be very dangerous. It is better to avoid them.
Guru 12: Bee – Avadhoota observes how a bee goes from flower to flower and collects nectar in small amounts. In gathering the honey, the bee makes sure that it does not hurt the flower from which it sucks the honey. Avadhoota too learns how to accept alms from various houses in small quantities, just enough to sustain his life. He takes care not to overburden any of his donors. He never accumulates the food for the next day.
Avadhoota very well knows that if he hoards the food like the bee does, one day someone would come and snatch it from him. The bee keeps accumulating more than what it needs. And finally, one day some smarter person steals that stored honey from the bee’s hive. In doing so, that person not only deprives the bee of its honey but also destroys its house. So, Avadhoota learns two lessons from the bee – accept only as much as essential and never accumulate anything.
Guru 13: Elephant – Avadhoota observes how tuskers fight among themselves for the sake of the female elephant. Ultimately, only one elephant would succeed. Others would either be killed or they are forced to run away. In the same way, Avadhoota understands that going after the lure of women is a certain call for trouble. So, he keeps away from falling into that trap.
Krishna goes on with more of Avadhoota’s Gurus. Let us discuss them in the next episode.
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