Examples from the 11th Canto of SB
(24 Gurus)


The 24 gurus are: 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, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. (SB
11.7.33-35)

1. Earth: a sober person should never be distracted from progress on
his won 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.

2. Air: 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.

3. Sky: Though the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within
it, it does not mix with anything. The soul and Supersoul 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.

4. Water: The saintly person is like water because he is free from all
contamination, gentle by nature and when speaking creates a beautiful
vibration like the flowing of water. By seeing, touching or hearing
such a saintly person, the living entity is cleansed as if coming in
contact with pure water.

5. Fire: Even if a saintly person eats contaminated food by chance he
is not affected, like the fire that burns up con-taminated 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 dis-ciples. The Supreme Soul is like fire in
that He enters dif-ferent bodies as fire manifests differently in
various pieces of wood. Like the flickering fire, the waves of time
flow constant-ly 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.

6. Moon: Though the moon waxes and wanes, it is not affected my this
“change.” Similarly the living entity is not affected by the changes
of the body from birth to death.

7. Sun: A saintly person can accept a material thing with his senses
and at the apppropriate 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.

8. Pigeon: he is an example for excessive attachment, because he chose
to be captured by the hunter after seeing his wife and children so
captured, thinking that without them life was not not worth living.

9. Python: he does not make arrangements for food, but waits for food
to come to him. This exemplifies peacefulness and patience.

10. The sea: just like a tranquil sea, the saintly person, being full
of knowledge, is never disturbed.

11. The moth: a foolish man is captivated by a woman’s charms just
like a moth is captivated by a flame and burns within it.

12. The honeybee: a renounced person who begs a little food from
different houses is like a madhukari, or honeybee. Also a honeybee
takes nectar from different flowers. So also an intelligent human
being takes the essence of different scrip-tures. But a saintly person
should not become greedy and collect too much.

13. The elephant: A saintly person should remember how the great bull
elephant is captured by the she-elephant; therefore he should never
desire to touch the body of a young girl.

14. The honeythief: sannyasis and brahmacaris are entitled to take
away the wealth of the laboring householders, just like a hone thief
takes away the honey from the nest of the busy bees.

15. The deer: they are bewildered by the sound of a hunter’s horn, and
thus are killed. A renounced person should never become attracted by
mundane sounds like sensuous music, especial-ly the sweet singing and
dancing of beautiful women.

16. The fish: they are caught on the hook by their uncontrollable
tongues. A learned man should control all his senses by first
controling the tounge, which is the most powerful sense of all.

17. Pingala: this prostitute gave up her plans for earning money
through sex indulgence out of frustration. Feeling satisfaction from
her abandonment of material desires, she could remember Krsna and
became peaceful.

18. The kurara bird (hawk): When a hawk carrying some meat was
attacked by larger hawks, he gave it up out of fear for his life.
Renouncing and saving himself, he felt more happiness than he did when
he took the meat.

19. The child: a foolish child is happy due to ignorance, and a
saintly person is happy due to having surrendered to Krsna.

20. The young girl: receiving some prospective bridegrooms on a day
when her parents were away from home, she went into the kitchen to
prepare food for them. While beating rice, her bracelets jangled, and
she was afraid that the young men would think her family was poor
because she was doing all the work in the home. She broke all the
bracelets except two on each arm, but these also jangled. She then
removed one from each arm, leaving only one on each arm. Thereafter
she worked in silence. So too, when many people live together, there
will be clashing of interests and fighting. It is better to live
alone.

21. The arrow maker: the devotee should be so absorbed in the Lord
that he does not see duality, just as the arrow maker was so absorbed
in his work of making a straight arrow that he did not notice the king
passing buy.

22. The snake: he makes no home for himself, but takes over the homes
of others, having eaten them. A sage should similarly make no
endeavors for his own shelter.

23. The spider: God is like the spider because He creates the network
of the cosmos from his own potency and then withdraws it into Himself.

24. The wasp: he trapped a weaker insect in his hive. This insect took
on the mentality of a wasp out of intense fear of the wasp, and thus
became a wasp in its next life. This illustrates how one attains in
the next life what one’s mind is fixed upon.

This is so organically oldschool.

It reminds me of Taoist-like lessons.

Just as one can learn from a fool --so too, one must be reminded at all
occurences who to remain "fixed-up".