Story of the Avadhuta :  

(Avadhuta is a class of liberated saints whose realization of sameness of everything lifts them above the rest).

Lord Krishna relates the story of Avadhuta to Uddhava . The story is a conversation between the King Yadu and the Avadhuta.

It is as follows.

Seeing a learned and young Avadhuta roaming about fearlessly and happily , King Yadu who is well versed in religion asked him.

“ O Brahmin you are not engaged in action, from where have you got this knowledge, attaining which you roam over the world like a child ?"

"Most often men exert themselves for virtue . wealth , desire and enquiry about Atman and that too with a motive of gaining longevity fame and prosperity".

"But you in spite of your being able , learned , dextrous, well formed, possessed of mellifluous speech, neither work nor exert in the least as if you are senseless, lunatic or a ghost!"

"While people are being scorched by the fire of lust and greed you are not affected by that fire, like an elephant standing within the waters of Ganges"

"O Brahmin do tell us how you derive your bliss in your self alone, untouched by sense objects and living a solitary life”

Bhagavan continued.

‘Being thus asked and honored by King Yadu who is devoted to Brahmins , the noble Brahmana bent his head in reverence and answered ‘

Avadhuta said

“ O King I have many teachers whom I have adopted to through intellect and receiving the wisdom from them I roam about the earth at large. Listen about the Gurus whose wisdom I have received ! " .

"Oh King I have taken shelter of twenty four Gurus."

"The twenty four gurus are the following . The Earth, the Air, the Sky, Water, Fire, Moon, Sun, Pigeon, Python, the Sea, the Moth, Honeybee, Elephant and Honey Thief, the Deer, the Fish, the Prostitute Pingala, the Kurara Bird, the Child, the young Girl, the Arrow maker, the Serpent, the Spider and the Wasp. By studying their activity I have learned the science of the Self".

"Please listen O Son of Yayati ! I explain to you what I have learned from each of these Gurus !"

" A sober person should never be distracted from progress on his own path even if he is harassed by other living beings, because they are acting helplessly under the control of God. He should be as steady as the Earth. Like the mountain and the tree, he should dedicate himself to the service of others. This is what I learned from Earth !

A transcendentalist may be surrounded by innumerable material objects possessing good and bad qualities. But like the wind he should never be entangled by them. When the wind carries different aromas, it never mixes with them. This is what I learned from Vayu!

Though the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within it. It does not mix with anything. The soul and Super soul have the same quality. The sky is never implicated or affected by the blowing action of the wind. In the same way the living entity is never affected though it may enter a body of material elements. This is what I learned from Sky !

The saintly person is like water because he is free from all impurities. Gentle by nature and a Saintly person creates a beautiful vibration like the flowing of water when speaking. By seeing, touching or hearing such a saintly person, the living entity is cleansed as if coming in contact with pure water. This is what I learned from water!

Even if a saintly person eats contaminated food by chance he is not affected, like the fire that burns up contaminated substances that are offered to it. Like fire, he is sometimes concealed and sometimes revealed. As the spiritual master he burns up the past and future reactions of his disciples. The Supreme Soul is like fire in that He enters different bodies as fire manifests differently in various pieces of wood. Like the flickering fire, the waves of time flow constantly and imperceptibly bring with them birth, growth and death. But just as nobody can follow the changing pattern of a flame, no-one can see the changes wrought by time upon them. This is what I learned from Fire !

 Though the moon waxes and wanes, it is not affected by this “change.” Similarly the living entity is not affected by the changes of the body from birth to death. This is what I learned from Moon !

A saintly person can accept a material thing with his senses and at the appropriate time he gives that thing to the proper person. So also the sun evaporates water and returns it to earth as rain. Sun and saint are never entangled by this. The sun is reflected in many objects but is never divided. Also the soul is reflected into various bodies but is always one and the same. This is what I learned from Sun !

"The example for excessive attachment, is a pigeon because he chose to be captured by the hunter after seeing his wife and children also captured, thinking that without them life was not worth living. The excessive attachment led to his doom . This is what I learned from Pigeon !”
( to be continued)

Om tat Sat