2 August 2001, 09:13am IST
Lata Jagtiani.
Emerson said, "every man is in some way my superior, in that i learn of him". dattatreya went a step further; he accepted not only man but the entire universe to be his teacher.
When king yadu met the joyful dattatreya in the forest, he was curious to find out what made him so happy, was it his guru? dattatreya simply answered that while the atma was his guru, he had learnt from 24 other gurus. to the question who these 24 gurus were, he answered that they were the following: the earth, water, air, fire, the sky, the moon, the sun, pigeons, a python, the ocean, a moth, a honey-gatherer, a bee, an elephant, a deer, a fish, a dancing girl, a raven, a child, a young girl, a snake, an arrow maker, a spider and a beetle.
He then elaborated that each one of them had taught him different things, such as from the earth he learnt both patience and to continue giving crops etc despite all injuries borne by it; from water, the sage learnt that one must purify others that come into contact with him; from the air he learnt that one must move everywhere and yet remain unattached to a single place; like fire one must ever glow with the splendour of wisdom; like the sky, one must contain stars and yet remain beyond them; and so on and so forth.
Man needs to seek commonality with others on this planet. the global warming that has resulted from man's neglect towards other forms of life is now threatening to put a question against man's own life. that we are all inter-connected and that we all have strengths that need to be acknowledged is something dattatreya knew and understood. to see the danger and to learn from it for the future, to know what path will inevitably lead to a happy end, to use every experience, to understand its significance ^ will not only extend our lives but certainly enhance them. the joy that dattatreya felt is for all of us to share; all we have now to do is see with seeing eyes. and for that the first thing we have to drop is our armour of cold steel.
Lata Jagtiani.
Emerson said, "every man is in some way my superior, in that i learn of him". dattatreya went a step further; he accepted not only man but the entire universe to be his teacher.
When king yadu met the joyful dattatreya in the forest, he was curious to find out what made him so happy, was it his guru? dattatreya simply answered that while the atma was his guru, he had learnt from 24 other gurus. to the question who these 24 gurus were, he answered that they were the following: the earth, water, air, fire, the sky, the moon, the sun, pigeons, a python, the ocean, a moth, a honey-gatherer, a bee, an elephant, a deer, a fish, a dancing girl, a raven, a child, a young girl, a snake, an arrow maker, a spider and a beetle.
He then elaborated that each one of them had taught him different things, such as from the earth he learnt both patience and to continue giving crops etc despite all injuries borne by it; from water, the sage learnt that one must purify others that come into contact with him; from the air he learnt that one must move everywhere and yet remain unattached to a single place; like fire one must ever glow with the splendour of wisdom; like the sky, one must contain stars and yet remain beyond them; and so on and so forth.
Dattatreya lays bare before us the secret key to happiness: to be open enough to learn good things from all sides, for there is goodness even in the most dangerous and most contemptible of god's creations, such as a snake or a spider.
Dattatreya's openness, his spirit of learning are essential ingredients for a life of happiness. to accept everything, to recognise the good in all, to learn even from the most repulsive, requires a certain humility. as children we learn and stand corrected with no difficulty whatsoever; we correct our mispronunciations, our jaunty walk, how to eat with a spoon etc. it is only later that we seem to hand over the reins of good sense to our other self, the ego self, which hates to admit an error. while this ego self has its place and utility and helps sustain our survival, it is unfortunately the armour that comes between us and another person's hug. we cannot enjoy embracing life if we are still wearing the cold steel armour. it is when we drop the armour and we allow ourself to be vulnerable that there can be any chance of our enjoying the warmth and love of an embrace from life.
And yet, although dattatreya embraced life he learnt from life that detachment is essential for joy. dattatreya watched a pigeon and saw the dangers of attachment; he saw how a fowler spread a net to catch young birds and how the mother pigeon, attached to her babies, followed them into the net. and, from the ocean that remains unmoved even if hundreds of rivers fall into it dattatreya learnt that the wise man too must remain unmoved among all kinds of difficulties and troubles in life. from the moth's slender life he learnt another lesson: attracted by the brilliance of the fire the moth falls into it, destroying itself; similarly, lust can often draw a person to that which will prove to be his undoing.
In the new world of the twenty-first century where distances have been shortened thanks to aviation and where the internet makes communication instant between any two people in the world, there is an even greater need to pay heed to liberal voices such as dattatreya's. here there is no prejudice against any man, woman or child, there is a compassionate understanding not only of animals and birds, but even of the elements and those creatures that man routinely dreads. the catholicity of heart that includes all and excludes none is the need of the hour.
Man needs to seek commonality with others on this planet. the global warming that has resulted from man's neglect towards other forms of life is now threatening to put a question against man's own life. that we are all inter-connected and that we all have strengths that need to be acknowledged is something dattatreya knew and understood. to see the danger and to learn from it for the future, to know what path will inevitably lead to a happy end, to use every experience, to understand its significance ^ will not only extend our lives but certainly enhance them. the joy that dattatreya felt is for all of us to share; all we have now to do is see with seeing eyes. and for that the first thing we have to drop is our armour of cold steel.
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