Once while wandering in the forest in search of
spiritual knowledge, Yadu saw Lord Dattatreya. Dattatreya was radiant and
blissful. So Yadu asked him who he was and what he was doing in the forest. He
also wished to know the secret of Dattatreya’s inner radiance and contentment.
Dattatreya replied that he was an Avadhoot. An Avadhoot is a person who is free of all
material bondages and ties. His bliss and contentment were the results of self
realisation. Dattatreya lived in peace with Nature and had observed Nature and
had gained wisdom from Creation. He described the lessons he had learnt from 24
of God’s Creations. The lessons from the moth, elephant, ant and fish are:
The Moth: Dattatreya often observed that the moth was
tempted by the glitter of fire and the sparks that came out from it. Being
tempted by the warmth and dazzle of fire, the moth came nearer and nearer and
got burnt by the fire and died. Most men are like the moth. They are tempted by
the dazzling pleasures of the material world and come nearer and nearer and are
enmeshed by them. Then they are caught in the endless cycles of birth and
death. Their desires lead to self- destruction.
Such behaviour is very different from the behaviour of the wise man. A wise man
gets a glimpse of fire of wisdom and abandoning everything else, he leaps into
it. The result is that he burns down the illusion that he is a limited self and
he realised that he is One with the Supreme Power.
The Elephant: The wild elephants in the forests are
difficult to catch. The elephant handlers know the trick of catching the huge
tuskers easily. They create a stuffed female elephant and leave it in a place
frequented by the wile male elephants. Lust lures the male elephants into the
trap and they are caught effortlessly by the elephant handlers. Similarly man
is also caught by the lure of the opposite sex. Then he gets bound by the
chains of desire and infatuation. Those who walk on the spiritual path should
take great care and not get caught in lust. This is an easy snare in which all
are trapped. The seekers of self realisation must be free from lust. Films,
pictures, stories of pornographic nature must be avoided. Even thinking
constantly on the opposite sex will divert the energies towards lust and pull
down a person from his one pointed search of God.
The Ant: The
ant is a tireless worker. It is never discouraged by obstacles or hindrances in
its work. It searches for food and carries the food back to its nest. It
overcomes all sorts of setbacks and works to collect the maximum food possible.
A yogi who seeks to unite himself with God will meet many hurdles and obstacles
in the path. Like the ant, he should overcome them tirelessly and forge ahead.
The ant also has another lesson to teach. The ant is a
hoarder of food. It stores up a lot of food material which it does not eat or
give away to others. Hence larger and stronger creatures are tempted to plunder
the ant hill and rob the ant of its collection of food. In such adventures,
there is loss of life to ant and also loss of the collection of food. By observing the ant, Dattatreya learnt that
when man collects too much of treasures of food, wealth and possession and does
not give anything in charity, he becomes a victim of robbery and theft. He and
his family could also lose their lives when plundered for wealth.
The Fish:
Dattatreya learnt two lessons from the fish. There is plenty of food in the water, yet the
fish is tempted by the fat and tasty worm dangling in the water. When the fish
goes to catch the worm, it gets caught in the hook and is reeled in. The
craving for delicious and varied food is a big downfall of man. When the tongue is controlled, all other
senses can be easily controlled. A fish
never leaves it home i.e. water. In same way, a yogi should never lose sight
that he is Divine and should strive tirelessly to attain the truth.
