Once Dattatreya was sitting in meditation when King Yadu passed by and saw this young person sitting unaffected, happy and calm.

King Yadu approached Dattatreya and humbly asked, “ How do you remain unaffected by troubles, happy and calm? Why do you always seem to be floating in bliss (happiness)? What has made this possible?”

Dattatreya replied, “O King Yadu I have observed the world closely and obtained a little knowledge from a number of gurus (teachers). Listen carefully! I will tell you what I have learnt.”

Datta Guru (teacher) was the Elephant.

Datta said, “Studying the life of an elephant, I learnt the elephant is a very strong and intelligent animal. It is very difficult to capture.

Yet the elephant often gets caught by men due to the weakness of touch and lustfulness.

The male elephant will rub against the female elephant and get excited. The hunter will use this weakness as a bait. A pit is dug and covered with bamboo. A stuffed female elephant is used as a decoy and placed on the covered pit. The male elephant rushes towards it mistaking it for a real elephant and falls into the pit.

Also a stronger male elephant seeing another elephant with a female elephant tries to drive the other elephant away. The elephants will fight until either one dies."

So too human beings, tempted by the attraction of the opposite sex get bound by the fetters of infatuation.

I concluded the following : 

(i) I should not get carried away by the sense of touch.

(ii) I should stay away from objects that cause lustful thoughts.

(iii) The seeker of liberation should remain free from lust.

Lessons learned from the Elephant further illustrated