One more thing !
......About Gurus and the lessons !!
Twenty four Gurus ? There could always be valid questions and doubts on the Avadhuta story of twenty four Gurus .
Is one Guru not enough ?
All the more so, since Krishna Himself said that one can uplift himself and for a person his own self can be his guide !
When Avadhuta referred to twenty four Gurus, all the Gurus are allegorical. If you learnt any thing from any body, that person is equivalent to a Guru, whether declared or not !! Avadhuta drew a lesson from each of the twenty four elements which he observed. Hence the twenty four elements became twenty four Gurus.
In the Avadhuta story, Avadhuta is relating what he observed in nature and the corresponding lessons he drew from the same. He is not relating the complex scriptures or Upanishads etc.,. He is relating only the every day events and the lessons he has drawn from them. So, in a way it is continuation of Krishna's statement that one can lift himself up by his own efforts. Avadhuta's happiness came about by his own effort in the form of lessons drawn by him from the nature.
So all though twenty four Gurus are listed, the real Guru is Avadhuta himself
Also a word about the lessons.
There are two types of lessons .
One type is the good part which provides lessons that one needs to follow. This is easily understood with the examples of earth etc As an example the habit of Bee in extracting the essence is to be followed by an intelligent man in extracting the essence of scriptures, or for that matter essence of anything else.
The other type is the bad part which also provides lessons about what one should not follow. The habit of the "bee" to store is one that is not to be followed.
A guru may give a lesson in one type or the other type and in a case like the "Bee" both types of lessons are there to be drawn !!
The twenty four gurus is an excellent story of how nature itself provides us examples that one may follow or learn from.
om tat sat !