Dattatreya Ji talked about the twelfth Guru, the elephant. While wandering along the trails in the forest, he observed an energetic elephant walking valorously. A group of hunters had dug a deep trench. They even placed a wooden female elephant into the trench and scented the dummy with the volatile secretions produced by the female counterparts. As the elephant approached near the trench, he smelled the scent and, the gush of lust flowed in his veins. He peeped into the trench and jumped into it, without giving a second thought. The hunters saw the entire episode through the bushes and finally rejoiced. They captured the elephant and took it to the zoo. The elephant lost its freedom and spent its remaining life in captivity.
He explained that the power of worldly attractions brings doom. People lose their freedom once captured by the clutches of lust. Thus, the concept of Brahmacharya Vrata, the celibacy was highlighted.
Dattatreya Ji remembered about his thirteenth Guru, the hawk. He saw that a hawk held some pieces of flesh in his beak as well as in the talons. It was greedy. Soon, a mob of crows saw the bait and began following the hawk, creating a lot of nuisance. The hawk was clever. It opened its beak and its talons and dropped the flesh. Soon, the crows stopped following the hawk and began targeting the flesh. The hawk took a higher flight and enjoyed a light flight.
Dattatreya Ji suggested letting go of all the material benefits and enjoying a light life.
He even told about the fourteenth Guru, the deer. The deer felt attracted to the pleasant music. A piece of light music attracted a grand group of deers. The hunters cleverly used that quality. They played music to lure the deers, and the gentle beings collected near the source to enjoy the music. Soon, the hunters captured them.
Dattatreya Ji explained that slavery under the commands of the senses brought to doom. The deer lost its life for the sake of music. We need to be the slave of Divine command, not the senses.
In today’s era, more than 99 percent of the population behaves as deers. People prefer enjoying worthless music by plugging their ears with electronic deafness-makers, the earplugs. Earplugs not only disturb the eardrum but also affect the internal ear. Serious problems like vertigo and the rest can ruin our lives. So, it is better to behave like humans, rather than being worst than an animal.