We
have gone through the twenty four gurus of Dattatreya. They were creatures,
people and natural phenomena from which he learnt invaluable lessons for
walking the divine path. Dattatreya was the Adi Guru – the First Guru of the
Nath Panth. He was the first manifestation of the combined powers of Lord
Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva – the power of creation, the power of
sustenance and the power of destruction. He was born to teach and lead mankind
to God.
Yadu
met Dattatreya in the forest. Yadu was the son of King Yayati who was cursed by
a Rishi for this uncontrolled lust, to age earlier than normal and become old.
This curse could be reversed if he could exchange it with someone else. When
King Yayati asked his son Yadu to help him out, Yadu refused. He was aware that
both youth and lust are impermanent and youth is the time when both body and
mind are strong and can be used for spiritual sadhana and cultivating higher
consciousness. His father disinherited him as he refused to oblige him and Yadu
left home in a spirit of detachment, seeking a guru to show him the way to God. Yadu saw a naked ascetic with ash smeared
body walking towards him. This ascetic was radiant and full of bliss and Yadu
was strongly drawn to him. Yadu asked him who he was and the ascetic replied he
was an Avadhoot. Dattatreya explained that an Avadhoot is one who has cut
himself from the bonds of the impermanent and transient world and is linked
with what is Akshara – the Imperishable. The Avadhoot lives in bliss of his own
Self. He is beyond the ignorance, attachment and maya of this world.
Yadu
sought teachings from the Avadhoot. He too wished to learn to separate the
impermanent from permanent and reach the Akshara- the Imperishable. Dattatreya
was pleased with Yadu as he found Yadu was sincere and had deep longing to know
the truth. Dattatreya then explained to him the qualities needed in a sadhak or
disciple. If the disciple had the requisite qualities, he could learn from
Nature and Life. Dattatreya himself had learnt from twenty four such
situations. He had twenty four Gurus. For those who were rich in qualities of
discipleship, Life itself was a Guru. He then narrated the lessons and
situations of the twenty four gurus he learnt from. When Yadu finished hearing,
he was enlightened and paid homage to Guru Dattatreya and went on his way.
The
stories of the twenty four gurus of Dattatreya have tremendous implication for
any seeker and disciple. We must have openness of mind and receptivity to new
ideas. We must have capacity to understand, practise and reject concepts and
move on to reach the inner truth. We must have ability to see beyond forms into
the inner essence of things and situations. Discipleship is a state of
consciousness with an intense longing to experience the truth and not give up
until it is reached. In life we lose out,
as we move on from Guru to Guru, analysing their speech and motives because we
look at them through eyes of ego. Until we have the disciple consciousness or
state of mind, we will not be able to see beyond the words and learn from silence.
We keep missing the truth again and again and wander from Guru to Guru.
We
must learn first to be disciples. Discipleship is not an emotional intention or
an intellectual understanding of the Principle of Guru. Discipleship is a state
of consciousness, a state of being where one leaves ego and is present in
innocence before the Guru. In such a state of being, learning from the Guru
comes spontaneously and naturally as a sunflower opening up at time of dawn. Logic
and intelligence, discussions or debates do not work while learning from the
Guru. When the consciousness of the disciple is open to learning and he is
without ego, the essence of the Guru pours into the disciple. Then, like
Dattatreya, ants, spiders, sun, moon and water will teach great lessons of
Universal Truth. If we wish to progress in the divine path, we must develop the
state consciousness of the disciple.
