Itaḥ kūpaḥ tataḥ tatī! It means that you cannot go either forward or backward. You have danger in both the ways. When we take up any task, we must observe the consequences of it thereafter. One must not welcome dangers by taking up tasks either by excessive pride or because of lack of wisdom.
There lived a son of a brahmin in a village. He had keen interest upon studies. His desire was to get admitted into a good school (gurukul) and attain proper education. In order to fulfill his desire, he joined a gurukul. By serving Guru, he grasped all kinds of education. All the Gurus appreciated the intellect he possessed. At the same time, they all were very glad for his humble nature. They all taught him several secrets of Yoga and hatha Yoga. Out of them, the most important is the Sanjeevaini vidya. One can give back life to a dead body with this skill. The brahmin boy learnt all such kinds of education, prostrated before Guru and came home.
On his way, he had to pass through a jungle which was home to many wild animals. Out of them, a bear saw this brahmin boy. It wanted to catch hold of him. He felt very sad because his Gurus did not teach him how to protect his life from the bear. He kept on brooding over that he had learnt all kinds of education except this. He somehow wanted to protect himself from the bear. So, he started to run forward. Meanwhile, he saw the dead body of a tiger. He recollected the words of the elders – Seeing the tiger, a bear runs away. Immediately, he brought back life to the tiger using the Sanjeevini mantra that he knew. The tiger roared, got up as though it woke up from sleep and rose up. The boy seeing the tiger said to it, “I protected your life. Now I am in trouble. Show your gratitude towards me by protecting me from this bear.” The tiger could not understand any of his words. It was very hungry. It only saw its prey right in front of its eyes. It was about to jump onto the boy. Now he could neither move forward nor backward. He had brought danger all by himself. He understood that his death is certain at that moment itself. So, he prayed Sadguru and with his grace, some voice rang in his ears, “You also know how to become invisible. So, using that save your life”. Those words opened his eyes. With his knowledge, he became invisible to both tiger and bear.
Despite having the knowledge of different kinds of education, it is only the education that offers timely help with the grace of Guru that protects the human. Without the grace of Guru, difficulties bother. So, be careful! You must also know how to utilize the knowledge when you learn something.
Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!