Once while Dattatreya was roaming happily in a forest, he met King Yadu, who on seeing Dattatreya so happy, asked him the secret of his happiness, and the name of his guru. Dattatreya said, “Atman alone is my guru. And yet, I have learned wisdom from twenty-four individuals, who are therefore my gurus. There is much to learn from everyone and everything...”
“Mother Earth is my first guru. She taught me to hold lovingly in my heart all those who trample me, scratch me and heart me, just as she does. She taught me to give them my best, remembering that their acts are normal and natural, from their standpoint.”
“Water is my second guru. This force contains life and purity. It cleanses whatever it touches and provides life to whoever drinks it. Water flows unceasingly. If it stops, it becomes stagnant. Keep moving, keep moving, is a lesson I learned from water.”
“Fire is my third guru. It burns everything, transforming it into flame. By consuming dead logs, it produces warmth and light. Thus I learned to absorb everything that life brings and turn it into the flame that enlightens my life. In that light, others can walk safely.”
“The Wind is my fourth guru. The wind moves unceasingly, touching flowers and thorns alike, but it never attaches itself to the objects it touches. Like the wind, I learned not to prefer flowers over thorns, or friends over foes. Like the wind, my goal is to provide freshness to all, without becoming attached.”
“All-pervading and all-embracing Space is my fifth guru. Space has room for the sun, the moon and the stars, and yet it remains untouched and unconfined. I too must have room for all the diversities of existence, and still remain unaffected by what I contain. All visible and invisible objects have their rightful place within me, but they have no power to confine my consciousness.”
“My sixth guru is the Moon. The moon waxes and wanes, and yet it never loses its essence, totality or shape. From watching the moon I learned that waxing and waning, rising and falling, pleasure and pain, loss and gain, are simply phases of life. While passing through these phases, I never lose awareness of my true self.”
“The Sun is my seventh guru. With its bright rays, the sun draws water from everything, transforms it into clouds, and distributes it without favor, as rain. Rain falls on forests, mountains, valleys, deserts, oceans and cities. Like the sun, I learned how to gather knowledge from all sources, transform that knowledge into practical wisdom, and share it with all, without prefering some and excluding others.”
“My eighth guru is a flock of pigeons. When one fell into a hunters net and cried in despair, the other pigeons tried to rescue it and got caught too. From these pigeons I learned that even a positive reaction, if it springs from attachment and emotion, can entangle and ensnare.”
“My ninth guru is the Python who catches and eats its prey, and then doesn’t hunt again for a long time. It taught me that once my need has been met, I must be satisfied and not make myself miserable running after the objects of my desire.”
“The Ocean, which is the abode of the waters, is my tenth guru. It receives and assimilates water from all the rivers in the world, but never overflows its boundaries. The ocean taught me that no matter what experiences I go through in life, no matter how many kicks and blows I receive, I must maintain my discipline.”
“The Moth is my eleventh guru. Drawn by light, it flies from its dwelling to sacrifice itself in the flame. It taught me that once I see the dawn, I must overcome my fear, soar at full speed and plunge into the flame of knowledge, to be consumed and transformed.”
“My twelfth guru is the Bumblebee, who takes only the tiniest drops of nectar from the flowers. And before accepting even that much, it hums and hovers and dances, creating an atmosphere of joy around the blossom. It not only sings a song of cheerfulness, it also gives more to the flowers than it takes. It pollinates the plants and helps them prosper, by flying from one to another. I learned from the Bumblebee that I should take only a little from nature, and that I should do so cheerfully, enriching the source from which I receive sustenance.”
“My thirteenth guru is the Honeybee, who collects more nectar than it needs. It gathers nectar from different sources, swallows it, transforms it into honey and brings it to the hive. It consumes only a bit of what it gathers, and shares the rest with others. Thus, I should gather wisdom from the teachers of all disciplines, and process the knowledge that I gain. I must apply the knowledge that is conducive to my own growth, but I must be ready to share everything that I know from others.”
“My fourteenth guru is the Elephant. Once I saw a wild elephant being trapped, a tame female elephant in season was the bait. Sensing her presence, the wild male emerged from its domain and fell into a pit that had been cleverly concealed with branches and heaps of leaves. Once caught, the wild elephant was tamed to be used by others. This elephant is my fourteenth guru because he taught me to be careful with my passions and desires. Worldly charms arouse our sensory impulses, and while chasing after the sense cravings, the mind gets trapped and enslaved, even though it is powerful.”
“The fifteenth guru is the Deer. With its keen sense of hearing, it listens intently, and is wary of all noises. But it is lured to its doom by the melody of the deer hunter’s flute. Like the deer, we keep our ears alert for every bit of news, rumor and gossip, and are skeptical of much that we hear. What I learned from the deer, is that we become spellbound by certain words, which due to our desires, attachments, cravings and vāsanās, we delight to hear. This tendency creates misery for ourselves and others.”
“My sixteenth guru is the Fish. The fish who swallows a baited hook, and is caught by the fisherman. This world is like bait. As long as I remember the fish, I remain free of the hook.”
“My seventeenth guru is a Prositute. They know that they don’t love their customers, nor do their customers love them. They enact the drama of love, but it is artificial love and pleasure they give and receive for payment. Through them, I realize that all humans are like prostitutes, and the world, like the customers, is enjoying us. The payment is always inadequate, and we feel dissatisfied. Thus, I determine not to live like a prostitute. Instead, I will live with dignity and self-respect. I will not expect this world to give me either material or internal satisfaction. I will find satisfaction myself, by going within.”
“My eighteenth guru is the little bird who was flying with a worm in its beak. Larger birds flew after it and began to peck it. They stopped only when the little bird dropped the worm. Thus, I learned that the secret of survival lies in renunciation, not in posession.”
“My nineteenth guru is the baby that cries when it is hungry, and stops when it suckles at its mother’s breasts. When the baby is full, it stops feeding, and nothing its mother does can induce it to take more milk. I learned from this baby to demand only what I really need. When it is provided, I must take only what I require, and then turn my face away.”
“My twentieth guru is a young woman that I met when I was begging for alms. She told me to wait while she prepared a meal. Her bracelets jangled as she cooked, so she removed one, but the noise continued, so she took them all off, one by one, until only one remained. Then, there was silence. Thus I learned that wherever there is a crowd, there is noise, disagreement and dissention. Peace can be expected, only in solitude.”
“My twenty-first guru is the snake, a snake who makes no hole for itself, but rests in holes other creatures have abandoned… Or curls up in a hollow of a tree for a while, and then moves on. From this snake I learned to adjust myself to my environment, and enjoy the resources of nature without encumbering myself with a permanent home. Creatures in nature move constantly, continually abandoning their previous dwellings. Therefore, while floating along the current of nature, I find plenty of places to rest. Once I am rested, I move on.”
“My twenty-second guru is the arrow maker, who was so absorbed in shaping his arrow heads, that the king and his entire army passed nearby without attracting his attention. Thus I learned to be absorbed in the task at hand, no matter how big or small. The more one-pointed my focus, the greater my absorption. And the greater my absorption, the more subtle my awareness. The goal is subtle, it can only be grasped by subtle awareness.”
“My twenty-third guru is the little spider who built itself a nice cozy web. When a larger spider chased it, it rushed to take refuge in its web, but it ran so fast that it got entangled, and was swallowed by the bigger spider. Thus I learned that we create webs for ourselves, by trying to build a safe-haven. And as we race along the threads of these webs, we become entangled and are consumed. There is no safety to be found in the complicated webs of our actions.”
“My twenty-fourth guru is the worm that was caught by a songbird and placed in its nest. As the bird began to sing, the worm became so absorbed in the song, that it lost all awareness of its peril. Watching the little creature become absorbed in a song, in the face of death, reminded me that I too must develop the art of listening, so that I may become absorbed in the eternal sound, the Nāda, that is always within me.”
“All these gurus who bestowed their knowledge upon me were not external, but only aspects of my own self. So it is this self, this Atman, which is not different than Brahman: immortal, and prevading all that is the true form of the guru.”
At that, King Yadu fell at his feet. Accepting the king’s salutations, Dattatreya blessed him and continued his wanderings.