Lessons from the Bhagavatam: Earth and Air

Tatha smiled and leaned forward.

“So,” he asked, “who do you think was Dattatreya’s first guru? Any guesses?”

Sid thought for a moment. Then said doubtfully, “I think it would be his teacher…?”

Ananya shook her head immediately.

“No,” she said. “Tatha already said he didn’t learn from classrooms. He learned by observing things around him.”

She paused, then added, “So… wild guess. Was it a tree?”

Tatha chuckled. “Close,” he said. “But not quite.”

He leaned close to both of them and said, “It was the Earth.”

The Earth carried everyone. The fast and the slow. The winners and the ones still trying. It didn’t push anyone down to rise higher. It didn’t shout to be seen. It didn’t harden itself to survive. Rivers flowed away from mountains and the mountains let them go so everyone could share the water. Trees bore fruit, not to prove they were the best, but so someone else could eat.

People came. They drank the water. They plucked the fruits. Some even cut the trees. The Earth didn’t shout or protest.

“Doesn’t that feel unfair?” Sid asked.

Tatha nodded.

“That’s exactly what Dattatreya noticed.”

He noticed how the Earth never asked, Why am I giving so much? or What do I get back? It didn’t change itself just because something else looked more exciting. The river flowed because that was its nature. The tree bore fruit because that was its place.

Tatha looked at the children.

“Have you noticed,” he asked quietly, “how often we want to do something only because someone else is doing it?”

Ananya thought of things she had tried just because her friends are doing the same.

The Earth never did that. It didn’t try to become something else to be noticed. It simply stayed where it was and did what it was meant to do.

From the Earth, Dattatreya didn’t learn how to win.

He learned how to belong.

Not by copying others.
Not by becoming louder or tougher.
But by understanding that everyone has a different role to play.

“You don’t need to be louder to be heard,” Tatha said gently. “You don’t need to compete to matter. And you don’t need to try too hard to have value. Your qualities will speak for you.”

Sid sat quietly. He thought about how tired he felt trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations.

The Earth never tried to keep up. It simply held everything together. And somehow, that was enough.

🌬️ The Second Teacher

Tatha paused for a moment. “And after the Earth,” he asked, “who do you think Dattatreya noticed next?”

“Ummmmm…” Sid thought hard.

Ananya said, “Maybe the sun? It’s always there, even when we don’t notice.”

Tatha smiled.

“Hmmmm,” he said. “His second teacher was something you can’t see at all.”

They both looked puzzled.

“It was the Air.”

Sid blinked. “The air?”
Tatha nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “The air that moves through everything. The air that keeps everything alive. And yet… never asks for more than it needs.”

Dattatreya noticed the air inside living beings.

It didn’t ask for flavours. It didn’t demand variety. It didn’t want excess.

It only needed just enough breath, just enough energy to keep the body going.

And then Dattatreya noticed people. They filled every silence. Every free moment. Every empty space. If something was happening somewhere else, they felt they should be there too. If someone else was enjoying something, they felt they should join in. If nothing was happening, they felt restless.

Tatha looked at the children.

“Yeah,” said Sid thoughtfully. “FOMO!”  Ananya nodded slowly. Sid sighed and said, “All the time.”

Tatha looked puzzled now, “What’s FOMO?” he asked.

“Fear of Missing Out, Tatha”, said both in unison.

“Ohh,” said Tatha and continued, “Dattatreya saw that the more people tried to fit everything into their lives, the heavier they became. Their minds grew noisy. Their thoughts crowded. Even happiness felt rushed.”

The air never did that. It didn’t stay longer than it needed to. It didn’t rush to be everywhere at once. It came in. It went out. And in between, there was space.

From the Air, Dattatreya didn’t learn how to do more. He learned how to leave room.

Room to breathe.
Room to pause.
Room to be still.

“You don’t have to fill every silence,” Tatha said softly. “You don’t have to chase every pleasure. And you don’t have to say yes to everything.”

Sometimes, missing out is how you take a breath.

“Hear that,Ananya?” said Sid with a sly smile. “You can keep quiet sometimes,” he said mockingly.

“You can close your ears if you don’t want to listen to me. But yeah, you will miss out on gossip nah,” said Ananya.

“Okay, so,” Tatha said gently.

Ananya quickly added, “From the Earth, Dattatreya learned to live his own role. And from the Air, he learned to pause.”

“Wow, that was a quick inference,” said Tatha.

“Yeah, I am smart,” said Ananya gloating away.

“Didn’t you just learn from the Earth? Stop trying so hard, your qualities should speak for you,” teased Sid.