Self

 Yadu asked an Ava-dhûta how he could get that clear spiritual vision, by which he was able to give up all attachments, and roam like a child in perfect bliss.

The Ava-dhûta replied: —

I have many Gurus, O king — Earth, Air, Âkâsa, Water, Fire, the Moon, the Sun, the pigeon, the huge serpents, the ocean, the insect, the bee, the elephant, the collector of honey, the deer, the fish, Pingalâ, the osprey, the child, the maid, the maker of arrows, the serpent, the spider and the wasp. These are my twenty four Gurus.

Though oppressed by the elements, the Earth does not deviate from her path, as she knows that they are only guided by the divine law. This forbearance I have learned from the Earth. I have learned from the mountain (which is a part of the Earth) that all our desires should be for the good of others and that our very existence is for others and not for self. I have learned entire subordination to other's interests from the trees (also part of the Earth).

I have learned from the vital air, that one should be content only with such things as keep up the life and should not care about the objects of the senses. (The sage should keep up his life so that his mind be not put out of order and his mental acquisitions lost; but at the same time he should not be attached to the objects of the senses, so that his speech and mind be not disturbed.)

Though placed in the midst of the objects with different attributes, the Yogi should not be attached to them. This I have learned from the outside air. The soul enters the body and the bodily attributes seem its own, but it is not so. The air is charged with smell, but the smell is no attribute of air.

Âtmâ is all pervading and it is not affected by the body and bodily attributes. This I have learned from Akâsa which, though all pervading, seems to be conditioned by clouds and other objects.

Transparency, agreeability and sweetness, I have learned from water. The sage purifies others like water.

Powerful in knowledge and glowing with asceticism, the sage receiving all things does not take their impurities even as fire.

Fire eats the sacrificial ghee when offered to it and consumes the sins of the offerer. The sage eats the food offered to him by others but he burns up their past and future impurities.

Fire is one though it enters fuels of various sorts.

One Âtmâ pervades all beings, however different they may appear by the action of Avidyâ.

Birth, death, and other affections are states of the body, not of Âtmâ. The moon looks full, diminished and gone, though it is the same in all these states.

The sun draws water by its rays and gives it all away in time. The sage takes in order to give, and not in order to add to his own possessions.

The sun reflected on different surfaces appears to the ignorant as many and various. The Âtmâ in different bodies, even appears as such.

Too much attachment is bad. This I have learned from a pair of pigeons. They lived in a forest. One day they left their young ones in the nest and went about in search of food for them. When they returned they found the young ones netted by a hunter. The mother had too much affection for the young ones. She fell into the net of her own accord. The father also followed suit and the hunter was pleased to have them all without any exertion of his own.

The huge Ajagara serpent remains where he is and is content with whatever food comes to him.

The sage is calm and deep, not to be fathomed or measured. He is limitless (as the unconditioned self is manifested in him). He is not to be disturbed even like the tranquil ocean. The ocean may receive volumes of water from the rivers at times or may receive no water at other times. But it remains the same, even as the sage at all times.

He who is tempted by woman is destroyed like an insect falling into fire.

The bee takes a little from every flower. The Sanyâsî should take only a little from each Grihasthâ, so that the Grihasthâ may not suffer.

The bee extracts honey from all flowers big or small. The Sage should extract wisdom from all Sâstras big or small. Do not store anything for the evening or for the morrow. Have only so much for your bhikshâ (alms given to a Sanyâsî) as may suffice for one meal. The bee is killed for his storing.

The Bhikshu shall not touch a woman though made of wood, even with his feet. The elephant is shewn a female and is drawn into a trap. The woman is the death of the sage. He should never approach her. The elephant seeking a female is killed by stronger elephants.

The miser neither gives nor enjoys his riches. What ever he collects with difficulty is carried away by some one else. The collector of honey carries away the honey collected by others. He does not make it by his own effort. The Sanyâsî without any effort of his own gets food from the Grihasthâs, as it is their duty to feed him.

Do not hear vulgar songs. The deer is attracted by songs and is entrapped.

The love of taste is to be conquered above all, for it is most difficult to conquer. When the sense of taste is controlled, all other senses are controlled. The fish is killed when tempted by the bait.

Pinglâ, a courtesan of Videha waited the whole day for some lover who might come and make presents to her, with breathless expectation. The night approached and she grew restless She then thought within herself: — "For what a trifle, am I so uneasy. Why not seek Íshvara, the eternal giver of all pleasures and all desires." She gave up all hopes and expectations that troubled her ere long and became happy. She had good sleep in the night. It is hope that gives us trouble. Without hope we are happy.

When the bird kurara (osprey) gets some flesh to eat, the stronger birds kill him. He is happy when he renounces the flesh. Renunciation of dear objects is good for the sage.

The child has no sense of honor or dis-honor. It has not the thoughts of a man of the world. It is self content and it plays with self. I roam about like the child. The child is however ignorant, but the sage crosses the limits of the Gunas.

Some people came to select a bride. The maid was alone in the house. She received the men who came. She went to a solilary place to beat off the impurities of the rice for their meal. She had shell-made bracelets on her wrists. These made a great noise. She felt disgust and broke the bracelets one by one, till only one remained on each hand. When there are two or more at one place, they cause a jarring sound, and they quarrel. I have therefore earned solitariness from the maid.

I have learned concentration of mind from the maker of arrows.

The serpent has no home. It roams in solitude. So do I.

Nârâyana draws in the whole creation at the end of the Kalpa and becomes one, the resort of all.

By Kâla Śakti, the thread, Mahat, first comes out and the universe is again brought into manifestation. The spider brings the thread out of himself, spreads out the web and devours it himself.

(There is a kind of wasp, which catches a particular insect and carries it into a hole. It is supposed that the insect assumes the form of the wasp through fear.) When either through affection, hatred, or fear, a man throws his whole heart upon some object and the mind holds it fast, he attains the form of that object. I have learned this from the wasp.

Thus I have learned from my Gurus, My own body is also my Guru. I have learned from it dispassion and discrimination. The body is born only to die. Constant misery is its lot. I know the truths, by a discriminative study of the body. Still I regard it as not mine and so I feel no attachment for it (The body belongs to the dogs and jackals who devour it after death. Śridhara.)

What does not a man do for the enjoyment of the body — but it comes to an end after all, having created the germs of another body.

The possessor of the body is now drawn away by this sense, now by that sense, now by this action now by that action. The senses suck his very life blood, even as the many wives of one husband.

The Lord created vegetable and animal bodies. But he was not satisfied with them. For the human body only has the power to perceive Brahmân.

Therefore after many births, when the human body is once attained, one should strive promptly for his supreme bliss.

Yadu heard these words of wisdom, and he gave up all attachments.

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