Story of Swans – Importance of Guru Aagya

As we focus on articles on the role of the Guru in the spiritual journey of a seeker, let’s also discuss the importance of the words and advice given by the Guru. This article sheds light on the importance of the commandments and orders that come directly from the Guru.

Not a single word spoken by the Guru is ever futile. Every word coming from the master should be contemplated deeply and followed to the very last extent. Everything that comes from the Master is ultimately for the true growth of the disciple.

Here’s a short story that helps us understand the importance of Guru’s words.

A flock of swans lived on a large tree deep in a forest. There was a vine plant at the bottom of the tree that slowly crept its way up on the tree’s trunk. An old and wise swan also lived in this group.

One day the old swan told the other swans – “You need to uproot the vine plant and you should do it immediately. Together, all of you can do it.”

The swans laughed and paid no heed to the old swan’s advice. They played, flew from place to place, rejoiced and returned by evening. This was their daily routine.

Although the swans agreed with the old swan’s thought and replied positively, but actually, they kept ignoring the advice.

After a few days, the vine plant that twirled around the stem had grown to reach the very top of the trunk. The old swan knew that using this creeper as support, anyone could climb up the tree and cause nuisance to the swans. He recognized the grave danger the swans were in, since hunters often came to the forest to capture the birds.

One fine day, a hunter found its way up on the tree with the help of the fully-grown vine plant. He climbed the tree and scattered his net to capture the swans. Unfortunately, the old swan was out-of-tree that day.

When the old swan returned and found that all the other swans were captured, he immediately visualized the entire incident. The netted swans saw the old swan and pleaded for help.

“Please save us. Please help us. We’re all captured.”

But, instead of providing any help, the old swan got very angry and lashed out at them.

“I reminded you plenty of times. You should have taken my advice and uprooted the vine well in time. See what has happened now!” Said the old swan.

“This is exactly what you deserve.”

The swans were extremely surprised at the old swan’s odd behavior. He was very calm by nature and had never even uttered a harsh word before.

But the old bird went on and his temper refused to go down. “You all deserve to die like this. No one can save you now.”

The swans cried and begged for their life. They knew that if someone could help them, it was the old swan. After a lot of persuasions, the old swan agreed to help them on one condition.

“You should do exactly as I say. One little mistake and I would never help you again in any way.”

The swans agreed unanimously. They didn’t want to die.

The old swan then whispered the plan.

“The hunter will return tomorrow to collect his captives. When he finds you in the net, all you need to do is Act as if you are dead!”

“Don’t move even an inch. Dare not a make a sound. Act as if you are not in the body. Let your body loose as if in deep meditation.” And the old bird went on.

“Finding you dead, the hunter will then release you and fling you on the ground. Don’t dare to fly when you are tossed on the ground. Stay still at the place where you fall. Don’t move an inch.”

“Keep lying down as if you are in a deep meditation and count your breath. Then hunter will then toss all of you on the ground, one by one. Count the sounds of each swan’s fall in your heart. Pay full attention. One…two…three…and exactly when you hear the hundredth member falling, you should all fly together, immediately. This is the only way for you to regain your freedom!”

The swans did exactly what was told to them. They rested still and kept counting the following sounds of all the swans hitting the ground. Finally, when the hundredth one touched the ground, all of them flew away in an instant.

The hunter was shocked. He couldn’t comprehend what happened. Frustrated, he collected his net and left the tree.

The swans cheered at their victory and continued to live a merry life once again. This incident taught them a lesson and they now obeyed everything that the old bird said.

But they still felt puzzled about one thing. They could not understand the reason behind the old swan’s odd behavior during their capture.

One day they asked him – “Why were you so much angry that day? We never believed that even you could be angry.”

The old swan then disclosed the secret. Laughing, he said- “It wasn’t anger. It was an act.

“All I did was acting. If I hadn’t done so, then I knew you would not stick to my advice and would surely make a mistake. The hunter would then know about your plan and only couple of you would have made it outside. Hence I wanted to ensure that all of you could escape. To achieve this, I deliberately used a mask of rage.”

This story carries a profound meaning. What did you learn from this story?

The swans could not realize the danger earlier and kept ignoring the wise bird’s advice. It cost them their imprisonment. They could have never got free, had the old swan not helped them. The capture of the swans in this story is only symbolic to the menace we bring unto ourselves by ignoring the Master’s advice.

We think by our limited minds and limited knowledge. We have no knowledge of who we really are. Hence we assume our false identity to be our body-mind and get attached with our desires. We take our mind to be our guru and due to prolonged conditioning of believing ourselves to be the limited body-mind, we tend to follow what our mind says. This attachment brings misery.

We cannot solve problems created by the mind using the mind itself. Hence a true Guru is needed to dispel our ignorance. A true Guru, who has transcended his body-mind, speaks from the experience of his source. Every word from the Guru can act as a stepping stone or bridge to get to the other side; the other side being the essence of your true nature.

And hence, paying full attention to the Guru’s advice and applying it in your life is the only true way to salvation.