The word Guru generally means teacher. Of course today there are many different types of teachers. Some teach mundane subjects and others teach the transcendental sciences. In the Srimad Bhagavatam the heaviest of all teachers "Srila Vyasa" teaches us how to see reality the beautiful (Sri Krishna) in all walks of life. He teaches us how to take lessons from the 24 Gurus mentioned below.
From Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.33-35 (paraphrased).
The 24 gurus are: the earth, the air, the sky, water, fire, moon, sun,
pigeon, python, the sea, the moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief, the deer,
the fish, the prostitute Pingala, the kurara bird, the child, the young girl,
arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp.
1. Earth: a sober person should never be distracted from progress on his
won path even if he is harassed by other living beings, because they are acting
helplessly under the control of God. He should be as steady as the earth. Like
the mountain and the tree, he should dedicate himself to the service of
others.
2. Air: a
transcendentalist may be surrounded by innumerable material objects possessing
good and bad qualities. But like the wind he should never be entangled by them.
When the wind carries different aromas, it never mixes with them.
3. Sky: Though
the sky extends everywhere and everything rests within it, it does not mix with
anything. The soul and Supersoul have the same quality.
The sky is never implicated or affected by the blowing action of the wind.
In the same way the living entity is never affected though it may enter a body
of material elements.
4. Water: The
saintly person is like water because he is free from all contamination, gentle
by nature and when speaking creates a beautiful vibration like the flowing of
water. By seeing, touching or hearing such a saintly person, the living entity
is cleansed as if coming in contact with pure water.
5. Fire: Even if
a saintly person eats contaminated food by chance he is not affected, like the
fire that burns up contaminated substances that are offered to it. Like fire, he
is sometimes concealed and sometimes revealed. As the spiritual master he burns
up the past and future reactions of his disciples. The Supreme Soul is like fire
in that He enters different bodies as fire manifests differently in various
pieces of wood. Like the flickering fire, the waves of time flow constantly and
imperceptibly bring with them birth, growth and death. But just as nobody can
follow the changing pattern of a flame, no-one can see the changes wrought by
time upon them.
6. Moon: Though
the moon waxes and wanes, it is not affected by this "change." Similarly the
living entity is not affected by the changes of the body from birth to
death.
7. Sun: A
saintly person can accept a material thing with his senses and at the
appropriate time he gives that thing to the proper person. So also the sun
evaporates water and returns it to earth as rain. Sun and saint are never
entangled by this. The sun is reflected in many objects but is never divided.
Also the soul is reflected into various bodies but is always one and the
same.
8. Pigeon: he is
an example for excessive attachment, because he chose to be captured by the
hunter after seeing his wife and children so captured, thinking that without
them life was not worth living.
9. Python: he
does not make arrangements for food, but waits for food to come to him. This
exemplifies peacefulness and patience.
10. The sea:
just like a tranquil sea, the saintly person, being full of knowledge, is never
disturbed.
11. The moth: a
foolish man is captivated by a woman's charms just like a moth is captivated by
a flame and burns within it.
12. The
honeybee: a renounced person who begs a little food from different houses is
like a madhukari, or honeybee. Also a honeybee takes nectar from different
flowers. So also an intelligent human being takes the essence of different
scrip-tures. But a saintly person should not become greedy and collect too
much.
13. The
elephant: A saintly person should remember how the great bull elephant is
captured by the she-elephant; therefore he should never desire to touch the body
of a young girl.
14. The honey
thief: sannyasis and brahmacaris are entitled to take away the wealth of the
laboring householders, just like a hone thief takes away the honey from the nest
of the busy bees.
15. The deer:
they are bewildered by the sound of a hunter's horn, and thus are killed. A
renounced person should never become attracted by mundane sounds like sensuous
music, especial-ly the sweet singing and dancing of beautiful women.
16. The fish:
they are caught on the hook by their uncontrollable tongues. A learned man
should control all his senses by first controlling the tongue, which is the most
powerful sense of all.
17. Pingala:
this prostitute gave up her plans for earning money through sex indulgence out
of frustration. Feeling satisfaction from her abandonment of material desires,
she could remember Krsna and became peaceful.
18. The kurara
bird (hawk): When a hawk carrying some meat was attacked by larger hawks, he
gave it up out of fear for his life. Renouncing and saving himself, he felt more
happiness than he did when he took the meat.
19. The child: a
foolish child is happy due to ignorance, and a saintly person is happy due to
having surrendered to Krsna.
20. The young
girl: receiving some prospective bridegrooms on a day when her parents were away
from home, she went into the kitchen to prepare food for them. While beating
rice, her bracelets jangled, and she was afraid that the young men would think
her family was poor because she was doing all the work in the home. She broke
all the bracelets except two on each arm, but these also jangled. She then
removed one from each arm, leaving only one on each arm. Thereafter she worked
in silence. So too, when many people live together, there will be clashing of
interests and fighting. It is better to live alone.
21. The arrow
maker: the devotee should be so absorbed in the Lord that he does not see
duality, just as the arrow maker was so absorbed in his work of making a
straight arrow that he did not notice the king passing buy.
22. The snake:
he makes no home for himself, but takes over the homes of others, having eaten
them. A sage should similarly make no endeavors for his own shelter.
23. The spider:
God is like the spider because He creates the network of the cosmos from his own
potency and then withdraws it into Himself.
24. The wasp: he
trapped a weaker insect in his hive. This insect took on the mentality of a wasp
out of intense fear of the wasp, and thus became a wasp in its next life. This
illustrates how one attains in the next life what one's mind is fixed
upon.
