Sri Guru Gita – 28 June 2014 – Episode 188

Jaya Guru Datta. Episode summary:
Jaya Guru Datta.
We were talking about the seeker and the lessons learned from the deer. We discussed that the seeker should never accept things that increase his desires. Those who encourage those desires in us should be kept at a distance, we should stay away from them. We must inculcate disinterest in those matters. That is why elders advise us to always stay away from the wicked.
Everybody wants to live a happy life, nobody wishes for unhappiness and sorrow. That is why, Avadhoota Swamy taught us, “Do not live like a deer, live like a human being, use your intellect to find out who you are and to uplift yourself. Otherwise, just as the deer in the forest who is lost in music gets captured by a hunter and puts itself in danger, a foolish man lacks control over his sense organs due to which he gets caught in the web of desires and gets ruined”. It does not mean that the deer should not listen to music. It can. However, it should be aware of the dangers it may encounter. If it instead closes its eyes and loses itself in the music, a hunter will capture the animal and take it away. On the other hand, if the deer is careful, if it keeps its sense organs in check and enjoys the music while being careful, that would keep it away from danger. Because you are engaged in one task, you should not forget the other tasks. Listening to music, if the farmer forgets to watch over his paddy field, the donkeys will eat the harvest and walk away. If the farmer who is watching over the field listens to music in ecstasy while still carefully watching over the field, there is nothing wrong with it. The poor deer has no intelligence. That is why, man who is endowed with intelligence, must make all efforts to keep his mind in control. You are not a deer. If you succumb to music like that, you will face danger. That is why, man should use his intelligence to keep his mind in control. He must make all efforts to keep his mind in control. Because the mind is hard to control, it should be concentrated on the Guru’s feet. That is why (it is said in the Guru Ashtakam):
Sloka (from Sankaracharya’s Guru Ashtakam):
Sareeram suroopam thatha va kalathram,
Yasascharu chithram dhanam meru thulyam,
Guroranghri padme manaschenna lagnam,
Thathah kim thatha kim, thatha kim thatha kim
If the mind is not absorbed at the Sadguru’s feet, there is no use. Even if it’s done forcibly, one who concentrates his mind on the Guru’s feet will be benefited, he will definitely be benefited. Avadhoota Swamy described all this to the King Yadu saying he learned about restraint of sense organs from the animals. Those who do not keep their mind in control are not even human. We should learn from this example and try to uplift ourselves.
Next, they talked about the fish. Remember that there is a difference in contentment between the older days and these days. There has been a lot of change since the older days. There were not many amenities back in the day, but everybody lived comfortably and happily. They were content with what they had and spent their life happily. Today, we have many modern comforts within reach. Science has progressed greatly. Yet, we are lacking when it comes to satisfaction.
Back in the day, people may not have been that well educated. Were they not knowledgeable? Many people that didn’t have much formal education became very knowledgeable. You should not assume that people back in the day were not at all educated. Some had greater education than we have today. Didn’t they have great knowledge, weren’t they knowledgeable?
Jaya Guru Datta.