My 25 Gurus for Life


        
    

As I struggle through life I realize

That I need teachers varied and wise

To teach me how to live my life

Without too much mental strife

So who are my Gurus who can teach

Serenity, knowledge and inner peace?

For I need to learn from as many of them

Because life’s journey is one crazy mayhem!

 

So I will try and learn from these 25 gurus

Qualities that will take me to my divine roots

 

I will learn from –

 

Divine earth, to be patient and tolerant

Wind, the quality of detachment

Sky, to remain calm and unaffected

Water, pure sweetness unadulterated

 

Fire, the ability to be unsullied and accepting

And above all to be forgiving

Moon, that my divine soul is constant

Sun, that my godly soul is omnipresent

 

Pigeons, detachment from kith and kin

Python, satisfaction in everything

Ocean, the lesson to be totally serene

No matter what lakes and rivers bring

 

Moth, to fly away from the passionate senses

Honey bee, to focus on the divine essence

Elephant, not to be attracted by feminine guiles

As it can lead me away from the Lord’s sight

 

Honey bee, to limit my worldly accumulations

Deer, to avoid senseless and empty incantations

Fish, to avoid the lure of the tongue’s might

Pingala, sleep innocently through the night

 

Kurara, that possessions are deadly

Child, to abandon pride and envy

Bangle, to move about in solitary fervour

Arrow-maker, to focus inward amidst clamour

 

Snakes, to possess as little as possible

Spider, to submit to the Lord’s will

Beetle, to meditate on His divine form

Incessantly, night, day, dusk, and dawn

 

And finally learn from this frail and helpless body

That material attachment is cheap and tawdry

My body is just a temporary instrument

To quickly make my heavenly ascent

 

Bless me, oh Lord, with Your lotus eyes

So I can learn these lessons in a thrice

And leave behind these worldly treats

And peacefully surrender to Your divine feet

Sources:

  1. A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s Sreemad Bhagavatham – Canto 11 (Chapters 7 through 10) 
  2. Melpathur Bhattathiri’s Narayaneeyam – Dasakam 93

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