The Avadhuta's Wisdom

Uddhava: "Krishna, You have told me of the Avadhuta's twenty-four teachers. But how did he live after learning these lessons? What was his daily existence like?"

Krishna: "The Avadhuta wandered the earth like a child, like a madman, like a ghost. He had no home, no possessions, no fixed appearance. Sometimes he wore fine clothes given by admirers; sometimes he went naked. He accepted both honor and insult with the same equanimity."

Uddhava: "Did people not mock him? Did they not think him insane?"

Krishna: "Many did. Children threw stones at him. Learned men dismissed him as a fool. But the Avadhuta understood that praise and blame are like waves on the ocean—they rise and fall, but the ocean remains unchanged. He had become the ocean."

Uddhava: "How did he maintain such steadiness? Even wise men are disturbed by harsh words."

Krishna: "Because he knew who he truly was. He would say: "I am not this body that grows old and dies. I am not this mind that swings between pleasure and pain. I am the witness of all this—unchanging, unborn, imperishable. How can words touch what has no form?""

Uddhava: "But Lord, is such detachment not cold? Does it not make one indifferent to the suffering of others?"

Krishna: "No, Uddhava—true detachment is not coldness; it is freedom. The Avadhuta was the most compassionate of beings because he had no self-interest. When he helped someone, there was no calculation, no expectation of gratitude. He gave as the sun gives light—naturally, to all, without discrimination."

Uddhava: "Tell me more of his teaching. What did he say about the body?"

Krishna: "He said: "This body is a city of nine gates, through which the soul experiences the world. But the soul is not the city—it is the king within, who can leave whenever the city crumbles. Why then should I fear the death of the body? It is merely moving from one house to another.""

Uddhava: "And about the mind?"

Krishna: "The mind," he said, "is like a wild elephant—powerful and dangerous when uncontrolled, but immensely useful when trained. I do not fight with my mind; I befriend it. I show it the futility of chasing pleasures, and gradually it learns to rest in peace."

Uddhava: "What about relationships? Did he avoid all human contact?"

Krishna: "He neither sought nor avoided. But he was clear-eyed about attachment. He would say: "I have seen how the pigeon destroyed itself through blind love. I love all beings, but I am not bound to any. True love does not cling—it allows the beloved their freedom while remaining ever available.""

Uddhava: "This seems like a lonely existence."

Krishna: "To those who do not understand, yes. But the Avadhuta was never lonely because he was never alone. He saw the same Self in every creature, in every tree, in every stone. How can one be lonely when one recognizes oneself everywhere? He had billions of companions—the entire universe was his family."

Uddhava: "Did he ever teach others formally?"

Krishna: "Rarely with words. His very presence was a teaching. People would come to him troubled, and something in his stillness would calm them. They would leave without knowing what had happened, only feeling lighter, more at peace."

Uddhava: "What was his message, in essence?"

Krishna: "He would say: "You are already free. You have always been free. Your bondage is only a dream, and like a dream, it vanishes when you wake up. Stop asking how to become free—ask instead who is it that thinks they are bound. Find that one, and you will see there was never any cage.""

Uddhava: "This is the teaching of the highest sages!"

Krishna: "Because he was among the highest, though he claimed nothing, held no position, and gathered no disciples. The world measures greatness by what one accumulates. True greatness is measured by what one can happily do without."

Uddhava: "What became of him in the end?"

Krishna: "There was no end, Uddhava. One day he simply did not appear anymore. Some say he walked into the forest; some say he dissolved into light. But for one who has realized the Self, there is no coming or going. He had already merged with the infinite while appearing to live in a body. His departure was merely the dropping of a costume after the play."

Uddhava: "Krishna, I feel that this Avadhuta was not just a sage of the past. His teaching lives on."

Krishna: "Indeed it does. Every generation produces such beings. They walk among you unrecognized—the simple farmer who faces drought without complaint, the widow who feeds others before herself, the child who shares without being taught. The Avadhuta consciousness is not rare; it is simply overlooked because it does not advertise itself."