GURU MADHYE STHITHAM VISWAM || VISWA MADHYE STHITHO GURU: ||
GURURVISWAM NACHAANYOSTHI || THASMAI SREE GURAVE NAMAHA ||
గురుమధ్యే స్థిత౦ విశ్వ౦ || విశ్వ మధ్యే స్థితో గురు: || గురుర్విశ్వ౦ నచాన్యోస్తి|| తస్మై శ్రీగురవే నమ:||

Gurudevadatta is the guru of all Gurus. He is also having 24 gurus. These gurus are nothing but the 24 tatwas of Prakrithi. They are the sakthis of our Sthoola and Sukshma body. Sthoola deha is with panchabhoothas Prithvi, Jala, Agni, Vayu and Aakaasha. The Sukshma body (Astral body) is a combination of 19 energies. They are, 5 gnana indriyas( 1. Hearing (ears) 2. Touch (skin) 3. Sight (eyes) 4. Taste (tongue) 5. Smell (nose)), 5 karma indriyas( 1. Speech (mouth) 2. Locomotion (legs) 3. Grasping (hands) 4. Excretion (anus) 5. Procreation (genitals)), 5 Thanmaatraas Shabda-Space, Sparsha-Air, Rupa-Fire, Rasa-Water, Gandha-Earth – Nurturing Body-Senses-Mind-Soul and the 4 elements of the “inner instrument”:manas –mind, buddhi –intellect, chitta –subconscious, ahamkara –ego. Paramathma is there in the form of AVYAKTHA rupa in these 24 Amshaas. Getting of avyaktha from these 24 amshas is YOGA. To tell this truth to us, Puranas are telling that Dattaguru is having 24 gurus.

From the 11th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam(Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 11: Chapter 7: Slokas 33~35)

Loads of difficulties are increasing day by day in our life, in spite of all our efforts. Life has series of problems such as poverty, disease, broken relationships, unhappy marriages, loneliness, depression, and prosecution and so on and so forth, besides, global suffering and natural disasters like earth quakes, floods, famines and tsunamis and the like. Some of them are very difficult to solve. It may not be so easy to get a right Spiritual Master for all to show the right path, either. Here comes Srimad Bhagavatham to help us to a great extent amidst many other things, with the story of 24 Gurus from the open nature, whom we can keenly observe and learn from them many helpful hints to solve many of our problems.  Canto 11in Srimad Bhagavatham teaches us about whatever we want in our lives by reciting the Nama of Lord Dattatreya. The beautiful story of 24 Gurus  is in Chapters 7, 8 and 9 in Canto11. (Nearly 109 Slokas ) Once  Lord Sri Krishna taught his best friend UDHAVA about Lord Dattatreya. This teaching is called Udhava Geetha written in the epic SRI MAD BHAGAVATHAM.  It goes as follows: Once King Yadu saw Lord Dattatreya (Avadhoot) in a forest and asked him how the Lord was so happy in spite of living in the jungle without kith and kin and without enjoying worldly pleasures. Then the Lord smiled and said that HIS BLISS AND CONTENTMENT WERE DUE TO SELF REALISATION AND THAT COULD BE ACQUIRED THROUGH 24 DIFFERENT GURUS AROUND HIM.  He began to narrate the details of those Gurus and the lessons he learned from each of them. Lord Dattatreya is considered as ADI GURU by many people. It is believed that Datta Guru had been existing on Earth from Krutha yuga. He is born to uplift the Humans from the whirlpool/chakra of life and death and lead them to the PATH OF SALVATION. Even though Lord Datta is a Guru himself he still considers 24 living beings on earth to be HIS GURUS from whom he learnt the moral that….

NEVER JUDGE ANYONE BY THEIR OUTER APPEARANCE BUT ALWAYS SEEK A INNER AND DEEPER TRUTH.

THE STORY OF 24 GURUS

	First Guru: The Earth Mother earth is the first guru. She teaches to hold those who trample / scratch and hurt her also lovingly in the heart. She teaches to give them the best, remembering that their acts are normal and natural from their standpoint. MORAL: The Earth teaches course of Dharma, art of Tolerance, art of Performing Duty and learn Patience and Forgiveness. Like mountains and trees, one should devotedly dedicate self to the welfare of other living beings.
	Second Guru: The Air/Wind Air is pure and odorless in itself. And it blows on both sweet and foul-smelling things without any discrimination or preference. Though it momentarily seems to take on the smell of its surroundings, in a short while, it reveals its pristine quality. MORAL: Spiritual aspirants should live in the world of dualities with the same spirit. May it be Joy or sorrow the receiving should be the same way. And just as the air gives soothing feeling when it blows normally one should keep their mind cool unaffected by the external happenings so that their actions also will be soothing.
	Third Guru: The Sky The soul is also like the sky, which is omnipresent. Sometimes the sky (or space) gets thickly overcast, or filled with dust or smoke. At sunrise and during night, it apparently takes on different colors. But in fact, it ever retains its colorless self, and it is never touched or stained by anything. Sky carries many objects in it like The Sun , Planets and Galaxies but it always is untouched by them. Moral: The soul should never be affected, by the material body contamination. Like sky, the Soul is omnipresent, all-pervading, and infinite in nature. The inner emptiness of sky i.e. space, teaches the sage should be free of emotions from inside.
	Fourth Guru: Water It quenches the thirst of every creature. While it thus serves all living beings, it is never proud of itself. On the other hand, it humbly seeks the lowliest of places. Water teaches the quality of purity. MORAL: The sage should be like water free from all impurities and his speech should be as free as water flow and he should be down to earth without feeling proud.
	Fifth Guru: The Fire The element of Fire is present in all beings which possess latent heat. Fire burns everything by its flames and is untouched by impurities. Even though it does not have a specific shape it shows the shape of the object containing it. MORAL: The sage should be like fire accepting the food /anything given by others and burn them down with his power/knowledge. In other words he should burn others sins to ash with his power irrespective of the giver.
	Sixth Guru: The Moon The moon waxes and vanes in a month continuously. After every 15 days there is either a full moon day or a new moon day. This characteristic teaches many things. MORAL: The sage also should be untouched by the circumstances he is facing externally. Waxing and vaning should be to the body and not to the soul.
	Seventh Guru: The Sun The Sun is seen differently in different objects but the actual existence is only one. Sun illuminates its surroundings and gives life to Earth. The life cycles on Earth are done because of Sun but he is not attaching himself to them. MORAL: The sage should illuminate his surroundings by the flow of his knowledge like the sun.Even though he is giving life to many he should not get attached to worldly relationships.
	Eighth Guru: Pigeon Once there lived two pigeons in a nest with their three little siblings. One day when both the birds went out to fetch food a bird hunter threw net on the nest and caught the siblings. Seeing this both the pigeons jumped into the net and got caught. This shows love and affection. Moral: If a sage is got caught in worldly relationships , he can never try for salvation. Relationships/love do not lead to spiritual path.
	Ninth Guru: Python A Python does not go around for its food. It sits at one place waiting patiently for its food to come its way. Weather the food is tasty or not /sufficient or not the python is contended with its food. MORAL: A Sage should not run after worldly pleasures. He should sit at one place steadily and meditate. He should learn to be contended with what he gets in his life.
	Tenth Guru: Honey Bee A Honey Bee gathers nectar from many flowers without hurting them. It swallows the required amount for itself and converts the remaining into sweet Honey and stores in a bee hive. MORAL: A sage should gather information/knowledge from the books and digest it. He should transfer the essence of it as and when required.
	Eleventh Guru: Honey Thief/Honey Gatherer After the honey bee gathered the honey and its hive is full of honey, the gatherer comes to take away the honey. He drives the bees away and gathers honey. MORAL: Even after the sage gathered enough knowledge and is distributing the same to his fellow beings when Lord Yama(gatherer) comes, the sage should be ready to forego everything and be ready to leave this world.
	Twelvth Guru: Bird Of Prey Once a small bird was carrying its food to its nest. Seeing this a bigger bird chased it. The small bird tried a lot to escape but had to surrender to the mighty bird and left its food. MORAL: In order to lead a happy/peaceful and spiritual life one should leave the worldly possessions.
	Thirteenth Guru: The Sea / The Ocean The sea does not violate its boundaries when more water flows into it from rivers. At the same time it does not shrink during the summer. It stays calm and peaceful unrevealing the existence of pearls as well as the wild animals in its stomach. MORAL: The sage also should stay calm and peaceful. He should not be overwhelmed by joy and should not be depressed by sorrow. He need not show everyone his knowledge and prove his greatness.
	Fourteenth Guru: The Moth The Moth is attracted by the fire and jumps into it and gets burnt. It does not even think before jumping. MORAL: The human being even after been given the ultimate wisdom and a great opportunity to take the path of salvation does not utilize it in a right way. He gets attracted to worldly pleasures and gets into the cycle of birth and death.
	Fifteenth Guru: Elephant In order to catch a male elephant (tusker) first a stuffed female elephant is prepared and it is put visible to the tusker. Seeing this the male elephant thinks that it can reach the female and runs into the trap (pit) dug in its way and gets caught. MORAL: One should win over the feeling of LUST. Else they get caught in its trap and cannot come out of it to take the right path.
	Sixteenth Guru: Deer Deers are fond of music. While catching them the hunters play a melodious music and lure them. MORAL: Passion and sensual desires become a hurdle to spiritual progress.
	Seventeenth Guru: Fish Fish does not have control on its tongue. As a result it runs for a small bait and invites death. It never leaves its home and can’t live without its home(water) MORAL: The sage should have control on his tongue in terms of taste as well as speech. If the tongue is under control all other sense organs will be under control. And one should not leave his own self.
	Eighteenth Guru: Pingala(Name Of A Prostitute) / Dancing Girl Once the Dancing Girl Pingala waited for a person who promised her that he would pay a visit to her home and pay her money if she satisfied his desire. But the entire night she waited for him in vain. Finally she realized that she was neglecting the soul and wasting her time for external joy and went to bed. MORAL: One should never expect any material benefit from other person. Temptation for seeking an object from others is the seed of misery and frustration.
	Nineteenth Guru: The Child A child is always happy and joyful. He is not touched by the three gunas like satva, rajo and tamo guna. The child is free from worldly desires. MORAL: The sage should be crystal clear in his heart and deeds like a child. He should be innocent and should not leave the supreme joy.
	Twentierth Guru: Unmarried Girl There once lived an unmarried girl with her parents in a small village. One day her parents were out of town and at the same time her Bride Groom came with his family to see her. The girl wanted to cook food for them. So she went into the kitchen and started beating the rice. Her bangles made a lot of noise. So to stop that noise she removed some bangles and found that the noise was still there. She then wore one bangle each to her hands and finished her job. MORAL: Even though a place consists of people from spiritual background, company of too many people will lead to clash of thoughts. So the sage should learn to live a single life. Path to salvation should be carried by every one individually
	Twenty First Guru: The Snake The snake lives alone and avoids other creatures. It sheds its old skin very often to get a new skin. MORAL: Sage should live alone in his heart’s cave. He should realize that basing on his actions or deeds of karma of this birth his next life is decided. He should not fear death and should be ready to leave this life easily just as the snake leaves its skin.
	Twenty Second Guru: The Fletcher (Maker Of Arrows) Once lived a Fletcher who was famous for his arrows. When he was making the edge of an arrow he never bothered to salute even the king who was passing by. MORAL: Concentration and Devotion are very important for spiritual discipline.
	Twenty Third Guru: The Spider The spider creates its own home(web) with its mouth. It happily lives in it, plays and finally one day draws the entire web into it. MORAL: God has created the entire world. The soul of the humans is also a part of the almighty but projected outward for a short span. So one should not forget to return to Almighty finally.
	Twenty Fourth Guru: The Caterpillar The caterpillar is hunted by a bird and is brought to its nest as food. To paralyze the caterpillar, the bird stings it and leaves the nest. The caterpillar is so terrified by the bird and its brain goes blank. Except about the bird it does not think of anything else. As the caterpillar puts its entire energy and thinks of the bird, it also turns into the bird and flies away. MORAL: The next life of a living being is decided by its own thoughts. So at the time of death one should think of the lotus feet of the Almighty. And in order to put it in practice , one should be in the thoughts of God always. By this one day he will blossom into a spiritually evolved person.

 

The details of the 24 Gurus (Spiritual Masters) and the lessons learned from them as told by the Parama Gnani Brahmin to King Yadu can be summarized as follows:

Summarizing the 24 Gurus:

The Earth represents the Dharma. The Wind symbolizes freedom of Truth. The Sun,  Moon and Ocean emphasizing the unchanging Nature of Truth. The Sky shows the Infinite Nature of Self. The Spider reminds the Transient Nature of Material World. The Moth, Elephant, Deer and Fish warn against the Overwhelming of distraction caused by desires. The Pigeon, Honeybee, Kurari Bird and Pingala warn against the Worldly Attachments. The Child evokes the happiness of freedom from material care. The Python and Honeybee emphasize the benefits of simple living. The Fire and Water teaches the Power to Purify the Contamination of Material World. The Snake teaches to avoid any distraction caused by unwanted things. The Arrow smith, teaches to remain focused and concentrate towards the goal. The Caterpillar teaches that by concentrating on God, one can return to Godhead, the Ultimate Goal.

||Vande Ham Guru Poorna, Bodhamanisam, Sri Datta Yogeeswaram ||