| Twenty-Four Gurus of Shri Dattatreya |
| 1 |
The earth teaches patience and silent service |
| 2 |
Water symbolises the essential quality of purity. |
| 3 |
Air travels everywhere, and is yet utterly unattached to anything. |
| 4 |
Fire brings Self-knowledge and austerity. |
| 5 |
The sky pervades everything while remaining free of contact. |
| 6 |
The Moon is perfect and changeless, and it is only external associations that cast their shadow to create the illusion of its waxing and waning. |
| 7 |
The single Sun, reflected in different pots of water, appears as many; so also the single Brahman appears as the illusion of many different beings. |
| 8 |
The poacher sets out to catch young nestling pigeons, knowing that the parents will soon get entangled in his net, out of their loving concern for the young ones, showing how strong attachment is at the roots of bondage. |
| 9 |
The python is content to lie in one place, eating whatever that comes its way, teaching the lesson of contentment. |
| 10 |
The ocean remains the same, in spite of all the different rivers that empty into it, so also the wise person is untouched by temptations, difficulties and troubles. |
| 11 |
The moth teaches single-minded devotion. |
| 12 |
Just as the black bee flits from flower to flower, taking only a little from each, so should the sadhu take a little from each house, just enough to ensure his survival. |
| 13 |
Bees go to great lengths to gather honey in their hives, only to have it taken away by the gatherer, proving that hoarding is useless. |
| 14 |
The male elephant is so blinded by lust when chasing a female that he inevitable falls in the pit and is captured. Hence lustfulness is a flaw that must be corrected. |
| 15 |
The deer is distracted by its fondness for music, which causes it to be easily trapped. Similarly, common music is a distraction for the person on the spiritual path. |
| 16 |
Like a fish that gets caught with the offer of bait, people are enslaved or ruined by their appetites. |
| 17 |
The prostitute Pingala, resigned to few visitors on a particular day, gave up hope and immediately fell into deep slumber, teaching the lesson that abandonment of hope brings serenity. |
| 18 |
A crow carrying flesh in its beak is pursued and molested by other birds, finding peace and rest the instant it drops the tasty morsel; so also abandoning sensual pursuits brings peace of mind and freedom from troubles. |
| 19 |
The nursing infant is carefree and cheerful, so also, being childlike brings happiness. |
| 20 |
A maiden was busy husking paddy, the bangles she wore creating a lot of noise. Since her in-laws were visiting, she did not wish to attract attention to herself. She removed all except a single bangle, and the noise was stilled. Similarly, the renunciate must seek to attain the silence of solitude. |
| 21 |
Just as snakes dwell in burrows made by rats or in anthills, so also must the wandering sadhu avoid attachment to a dwelling, living in readymade quarters such as caves and temples. |
| 22 |
The arrowsmith teaches intense concentration of the mind. |
| 23 |
Just like spiders getting entangled in webs of their own making, men also tend to get caught up in their own illusions. To avoid this, it is important to concentrate only on the truth of the transcendent reality, or Brahman. |
| 24 |
The beetle catches a worm, and taking it to its nest, stings it with poison. The worm, terrified and obsessed about the return of its tormentor, constantly thinks of the beetle to the exclusion of all else, until it too becomes a beetle. Similarly, through contemplation upon the Self, it is possible to give up false attachments and to attain liberation. |
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