I was browsing through a periodical my mother subscribes to; ‘Sadhan path’. Sadhana is a difficult word to translate into English, in Zen the analogous word would be zazen, in Sufism it is dhikr, in Christianity the closest phrase that convey an equivalent meaning (that I found in my rather limited study) is ‘Practice in the Presence of God’, which is borrowed from a book by that name written by the saint Brother Lawrence. Sadhana is code word that condenses a spiritual idea. Anyway, Sadhan path roughly translates to ‘the way of action/meditation/devotion’.
A very interesting article in this periodical impellled me to refresh my memory on a curious story from the Indian spiritual epic, Srimad Bhagavatam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavata_Purana). In this story, when asked my King Yadu, Sri Dattatreya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dattatreya) list his twenty-four gurus (masters). Who are his teachers? I find his list fascinating. Contrary to tradition, he doesn’t name a saint or enlightened being. His list: Earth, Air, Sky, Water, Fire, Moon, Sun, Pigeon, Python, Ocean, Moth, Honey bee, Elephant, Honey-maker, Deer, Fish, Prostitute, Hawk, Child, Young girl, Arrow-maker, Snake, Spider and Wasp.
Impressive list, right? Each of them comes with a story and why they are his teacher. I won’t go into that because in the periodical I was mentioning there is another story from another epic, The Mahabharata, where King Yudhisthir’s conversation with the great Bhisma on the later’s death bed references the list of teachers a saint Bodhya gave to King Yayati. Apparently, the Kings in those days were seeking the advise of saints and sages quite often, is it credible that politics wasn’t always as vile an influence on an individual as today’s world makes us believe? I take that back. Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Cicero were all (apparently) wise politicians, though Seneca credibility in putting his precepts to practice is quite controversial. Anyway, I digress. The list that Bodhya gave is just six, a subset of the list of twenty-four. I found the stories rather enthralling, and here is a brief account—
- Prostitute: In the old city of Mithila there lived a beautiful and vivacious prostitute. In the desire to earn a lot of money she would try to entice men of noble descent every night. But one light she waited and waited and no one came to his door. She felt an overwhelming sense of renunciation on that night of dejection, and consoling herself with the thought that this is how life is and it’s true worth is in desiring the Ultimate Lover (God), she consoled herself to bed. She is my teacher, said Bodhya, because by giving up the frustration from not obtaining material wealth, she could sleep well. That is the source of peace.
- Hawk: A hawk was flying with a piece of flesh held in its beaks and a flock of hawks followed trying to snatch it from him. They fought and wounded the hawk with their beaks. Only on letting go of the piece of flesh did he survive. It is my teacher, said Bodhya, because by giving up greed and attachment to objects one can be peaceful.
- Snake: A snake is always aware, always dynamic and always alone. It is quiet unless disturbed. It never makes a home but finds a burrow to live. It is my teacher, said Bodhya, because by not making a home and having few material possessions and being peripatetic, a seeker can live peacefully.
- Chaataka bird: A chataka bird never kills other living beings for food, and only drinks from rain. Likewise, by eating a drinking with purity and non-violence one can soar high.
- Arrow-maker: The story goes that an arrow-maker was so immersed in making his arrows and sharpening the arrow-head that he didn’t even notice the king, his employer and master, pass by his hut with an entire army! From him, said Bodya, I learn the power of concentration on the work at hand, and to fully apply oneself in ones action.
- Young girl: The story goes that a young girl, in the absence of any of the family members, became responsible to serve food to unexpected guests. There was no rice at home and she had to thresh rice-grains. But as she was threshing, her bangles were tingling loudly, and being a shy girl and not wanting the guests to know that she had no rice ready to serve, she removed most of her bangles except two on each wrist. They still made a sound! Finally she removed all but one. Said Bodya, in the company of many there is always noise and chatter. I learned from this story that spending time alone, like that lone bangle on the girls wirst, is peaceful.
Curious stories!
