O King, I have taken shelter of twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon and python; the sea, moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief; the deer, the fish, the prostitute Piṅgalā, the kurara bird and the child; and the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self.
— Canto 11, Chapter 7, Verses 33-35
I have many teachers, O king,
Through my own awareness I have learned from them all,
And now I wander about this earth free from its turmoil.
Let me tell you of my teachers.
The earth, air, and space,
Water and fire,
The sun and moon,
The dove and the python,
The sea,
The moth and the bee,
And the elephant.
The honey gatherer,
The deer and the fish.
The prostitute Pingala
And the osprey,
The infant and the maiden.
The man who makes arrows
And a certain serpent,
The spider, and the insect
Captured by the wasp.
Those, great king, have been my teachers,
They number twenty-four in all.
From them and their ways
I have learned all that I know,
And all of it has been to my benefit.
— Dialogue 2, Verses 33-35
From the earth I learned the rule that a learned person should not deviate from the path and keep steady, however much he is harassed by his fellow living beings who simply follow what is arranged by fate. From the mountain one must learn to be always there for others, that one must devote all one's actions to the welfare of others. For a pious person to the example of a tree be dedicated to others constitutes the sole reason for his existence.
A sage should be happy with the mere movement of his vital air and not seek his satisfaction in sense gratification. His spiritual knowing will thus not be lost and his mind and speech will not be distracted. A yogi free from selfhood should, just like the wind, never get entangled in relating to the objects of the senses and all their different favorable and unfavorable qualities. When a self-realized soul has entered different bodies made of earth [elements] in this world and is endowed with their different qualities, he, well aware of himself, will not connect himself with these qualities, just like the wind does not with different odors
A sage should meditate upon the soul stretched out in all moving and nonmoving living beings and thereby, with his different contacts [embodiments], consider himself a pure spirit, equal to the ether that expands everywhere Just as the realm of the ether is not touched by the winds that blow the clouds, a person [in his real self] is not affected by his physical bodies consisting of fire, water and earth that are moved by Time according to the modes of nature.
A sage who by nature is a pure, softhearted, sweet and gentle place of pilgrimage for human beings, sanctifies just like water, the souls who gather [the friends], by being seen by them, touched and honored
Brilliant, glowing and immovable because of his austerity, he who only eats when it is necessary is connected in the soul. Even when he eats everything [and thus goes beyond necessity], he does not lose his purity, just like a fire does not [irrespective what it consumes]. Sometimes [like a fire under ashes being] concealed, sometimes being manifested and being worshipable to those who desire the real benefit he [the sage, when he serves as their guru] always enjoys their offerings and burns both their past and subsequent [present] misfortuneThe Almighty One assumes the identity of each after, just like fire appearing in firewood, having entered the different types of bodies of the higher and lower life forms He created by His potency ['true' and 'untrue' ones, god or animal.
The state of the body [one undergoes] from one's birth until one's death changes by the course of Time that itself cannot be seen; it is the body that changes, not the soul, just as the phases of the moon [change, but not the moon itself, Just as with flames [one cannot see apart] from a fire individual souls cannot be seen separately from the bodies that constantly die and are born again, also the [absolute of] Time itself cannot be seen, despite [the relativity of] its speeding, compelling stream .
A yogi with his senses accepts and forsakes sense objects depending the moment [according to the chakra order] and does not attach to them, just as the sun with its rays engaged in [evaporating and returning] bodies of water is not ruled by them. When the sun seems to have fallen apart in its reflections one, unless one is dull-witted, does not consider its original form as being different. Similarly the soul, despite of having entered in reflections [of different selves], is not seen as different.
One should never lose oneself in too much affection or close association with anyone, because thus indulging one will suffer great distress, just like a foolish pigeon A certain pigeon once in the forest built its nest in a tree and dwelt there for some years with a female companion. The pigeons, with their hearts full of love, lived a householder's life whereby their glances, bodies and minds were tied to each other [like with ropes]. Trusting each other making love they in the trees of the forest were engaged in resting, sitting, walking, standing, communicating, playing, eating and so on. Whatever she would like, oh King, was what he, desirous to please her, did. He mercifully catered to all her desires, even when it was difficult and had no control over his senses. The chaste female pigeon got pregnant for the first time and delivered, in due course, in the nest the eggs in the presence of her husband. From them at the appropriate time the little ones hatched with the tender limbs and feathers that were created by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord. The couple then very pleased nourished their progeny, to which they compassionately listened to the awkward sounds of the chirping children that surrounded them. To see the little ones happy with their fluffy wings, their endearing chirping and their activities of jumping up to fly, filled the parents with joy. With their hearts bound together by their affection they, not giving it any further thought, completely bewildered by the illusory potency of Vishnu, fed their children, their offspring. One day the two heads of the family left for finding food for the children and wandered far away, most anxiously searching all around in the forest. Some hunter who happened to pass through the forest saw the young birds moving near their nest and caught them with a net he had spread. The male and female pigeon who were always eagerly engaged in taking care of their children, thereupon returned to the nest to bring them food. The female pigeon saw that the little ones born from her, her children, were trapped in the net and rushed forward in utter distress crying out to them, who were also crying. Bound to her love constantly she had looked after her children without a thought for herself and so she, overwhelmed by the mâyâ of the Unborn One, forgot about herself and was also trapped in the net. The unfortunate male pigeon most miserably lamented that his children and his wife so much alike him, had been caught. They were more dear to him than his life: 'Alas, just see how I, so unintelligent and of little merit, find my destruction. Unfulfilled I failed in my life's purpose and have ruined my family life, the threefold path She who suitable and faithful accepted me as her husband, as her god, has gone to heaven with her saintly children, leaving me behind in an empty house. What now is the purpose of my life with my wife and children dead? What is there for me, miserable and wretched living in an empty nest?' Seeing them caught within the net, still in the grip of death, he in misery sat motionless and also landed empty minded in the net. The ruthless hunter who had achieved his purpose, took the householder, his children and his pigeon wife and headed for his home.
A family man who dissatisfied with the soul takes pleasure in material opposites [like that of man and wife], will [unmeditated] suffer greatly with his relatives, just like this bird so miserable in maintaining its family. A person who achieved the human position, but with the door of liberation wide open, is attached to family affairs like this bird, may, to whatever height he might have reached, be considered fallen
