How do we know who a Guru is? - A folk retelling

 How do we know who a Guru is? 

 A folk retelling 

Dattatreya was seated in what is today the Gangapura kṣetra. Parashurama, searching for a master who could defeat him and thus teach him, was directed to journey north of the Western Ghats. 

Arriving at the place, he saw people running from the appointed room. On asking after a guru, a stranger replied, “There is no guru here — only a drunkard, defiling the sanctity of that chamber.”

 

Enraged yet curious, Parashurama entered with axe in hand. Inside he saw Dattatreya — Parashurama’s mother upon his lap, a jug of wine in one hand, eyes bloodshot and rolled back. Fury surged; he raised his axe. Yet as he drew close, an inexplicable serenity overwhelmed him amid the blasphemous scene. His axe slipped to the floor; his knees yielded; and, without willing it, he bowed. “This is no mere drunkard,” he realised. “Without so much as a flinch, he has disarmed me.” 

Dattatreya taunted him: “Does your mother on my lap offend you? I am a kṣatriya; I may take any woman I wish.” He knew Parashurama’s fierce filial devotion and his animus toward warriors. 

Shaking with anger and wonder, Parashurama retorted, “Are you my father, fool?” 

Dattatreya replied, “I am father — even to you, O doer of foolish deeds.” अपि त्वं मे पिता मूढ?  पिताहं तेsपि मूढकृत्! Parashurama understood the layered pun: as Viṣṇu, Dattatreya is father of Parashurama’s avatāra; as Brahmā, father of beings; as Śiva, progenitor of the Bhṛgu clan. “मूढकृत्” also reads as “creator of delusion” — Māyā that confounds beings. 

He prostrated, recognising the master he had sought. The lady vanished; the wine-jug disappeared; a subtle fragrance lingered. Dattatreya, the iconoclastic avadhūta, stood revealed. 

Parashurama spoke, joy raising his pitch and humility softening his voice: “सुतोsस्मि ते सदा पाहि शिष्यो ज्ञानेप्सुको महन् । ब्रह्म किं तत् कोsस्मि विश्वम् उपदेशं प्रदेहि मे ।” [I am truly your son — protect me. I am your disciple, eager for knowledge. Grant me instruction: What is Brahman? Who am I? What is this world?] Dattatreya answered: “नास्ति विश्वं जगत् सर्वं अहं त्वं नैव किञ्चन । नास्ति किञ्चन मे कश्चिद् अथवा सर्वम् एव हि ।।” [There is no universe, no you, no I. Nothing is mine — indeed, I am All.] 

Caution: this tale is no licence for licentiousness. The sign of a true guru is the inexplicable stillness he brings, the intimate knowledge of your story, and the compassion to guide you. One must be of Parashurama’s calibre to meet Dattatreya — and the guru, at least as capable, to receive such a disciple. 

Book-learning alone does not carry us far; personality, experience, and maturity ripen realisation. Tradition holds that Parashurama attained his aim through a single, devastating utterance from the first great “nihilist” — Dattatreya.