Essence Of Maha Bhagavatha Purana

Avadhuta secured inspiration from Nature

In this context, the Lord quoted a Brahmana ‘Avadhuta’ who visited King Yadu and told him that in a state of complete aloofness from the Society, one could learn great lessons from Nature (The Five Elements of Earth, Sky, Fire, Wind and Water), from Sun and Moon, as also from his personal experiences of a pigeon, python, Sea, moth, honeybee, honey thief, fish, elephant, deer, a prostitute Pingala, kurara bird, child, girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. The Avadhuta said that Spiritual Science was learnt in totality from these twenty four teachers as to how one could and should learn the art of detachment and align the self with ‘Paramatma’.

From Earth, he learnt the lesson of patience, service to and welfare of others. From Air, he learnt, maintenance of human body by its vital energy, without carrying the aromas or the foul smell of surroundings and also without  disturbing devotion to Almighty. Like the sky which is anywhere without being entangled with material attractions, the Avadhuta learnt keeping universal attractions away even in the thick of happenings. The Sky again is immune from the clouds, storms, mighty rains and floods and thus the Avadhuta learnt the knack of being calm without deviating from the target of the Supreme Energy. From Water, he learnt the washing of physical impurities and thereby ensuring cleanliness within. Fire taught the Avadhuta a whole lot of lessons ranging from cooking wholesome and simple food, illumination, worship by Homams, and burning of ‘Shatvargas’ – the six enemies of anger, desire, selfishness, attachment, meanness and jealousy. Moon taught the waxing and waning phases till eternity, cures diseases of body and brain and provides solace and peace to troubled humans, ideal for Spiritual  devotion.. Moon and Sun, being the Superior Evidences of every-being irrespective of Time, taught the Brahmana an inexplicable presence of Almighty. From Sun, the Avadhuta learnt the tendency to give rains to and absorb water from Earth and thus give away material senses and absorb spiritual energies at appropriate timings. A pigeon leading  peaceful family life developed excessive affection to wife and kids and as a hunter trapped the babies in a net while the parents searched food, the mother returned and got trapped too. Not able to overcome the pangs of attachment, the father pigeon volunteered into the net. Intense family attachments and extreme sex ruined the pigeon. An example of  python waiting patienly for food for days together be emulated instead of being a glutton;  Like the exterior of   Sea,  the outward appearance might look normal but  be deep and fathomless without self importance. Unlike the rivers rushing into the Ocean in rainy season or presenting a dried up look in Summer, Oceans are always of same level and thus the lesson would be to practise equanimity and composure. The Avadhuta learnt from a moth, not to rush into flames of material attractions as a lusty person loses mental balance if a glamorous woman found his way. A honeybee taught a lesson to the Brahmana to collect essence of  Scriptures  flying from flower to flower, but not to store honey in a beehive to be taken away by a bee-hive keeper . Lessons were received by a deer attracted to the sweet music of horn by curiosity and getting caught by a hunter; a fish attracted to a  bait of a net of the fisher man; an elephant desirous of mating a she- elephant and getting killed by more powerful elephants in competition ; a prostitute named Pingala changing bed mates for money and finally realising the folly as more honourable means of earning were available without spoiling her physical health and possibly achieving far greater enjoyment by devotion to Almighty; a weak hawk with a  meat piece but getting rid of it as attacked by stronger hawks giving momentary happiness by the riddance of the meat piece ; a happy Child  without anxitey and freedom comparable to that of an Avadhuta; a young girl husking rice, by removing bracelets with conch-shell bells on her hands to save noise and embarrassment in the presence of visitors thus using her common sense; an arrow maker making arrows with tremendous concentration to attain perfection of his job, even as the King of the land was passing by and watching beside him; a snake entering an anthill built by others by cleverness; a spider weaving out threads from its own mouth, expanding them, playing with them for a while, catching flies or other preys and finally destroying the threads indicating its playfulness and patience reflecting Almighty’s own example of creation, expansion and destruction-a typical cycle of births and deaths; and finally by an example of a wasp  which entered into a larva’s (insect’s) hive and the insect which was hiding in the hive for long time in meditation took the form and features of the wasp itself, signifying that a human being too could transform into the features of Almighty. These were the lessons that the Avadhuta absorbed from Nature; some by way of resisting temptations from material forces, some by absorbing the means of overcoming material attractions and others by attaining unity or oneness with the Supreme Energy!  Detachment and devotion are the two watchwords of existence as stated by the Avadhuta who was Lord Dattatreya Himself! This was disclosed to the King of Yadu at the end by Dattatreya, told Krishna to Uddhava.