Yadu
Yadu Mahārāja was a great king. He was the ancestor of the Yādava line, the family into which Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa was later born. In the 11th Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa he meets the wandering avadhūta (a renunciate free of all worldly ties) Dattātreya, and asks him about the source of his joy.
Who Yadu was
Yadu Mahārāja was the son of Yayāti. He was the forefather of the whole Yadu-vaṃśa, the line of Yadu. Though he was a king, he was open to wisdom wherever it could be found.
The meeting with Dattātreya
Yadu found Dattātreya wandering alone and happy in a forest. He had no companions, no possessions, no disciples and no shelter anyone could see. His clear contentment was very different from the way people in the world chase happiness. This struck Yadu deeply.
Yadu came to him with great humility. He asked: what is the source of your joy? Who is your guru? In what have you been trained?
Dattātreya answered that he had taken twenty-four beings and things of nature as his gurus. From each one he had learned a particular lesson that leads to freedom. This answer is the Dattātreya Gīta, which fills Chapters 7–12 of the 11th Skanda. It is one of the best known teachings of the Bhāgavata.
Why the meeting matters
The meeting shows that the ancestors of the Yādava line, the line in which Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa would be born, were people who truly sought wisdom. It also gives the Bhāgavata a way to teach about the guru. Wisdom does not belong only to one institution or one person. It is open in every part of creation to anyone awake enough to receive it.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skandha, Chapters 7–9
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skandha, Chapter 7