Word

Dattatreya

Sanskrit

दत्तात्रेय

IAST

Dattātreya

In General

Lord Dettatreya is a avatar of Vishnu. Anasuya, the wife of Sage Atri got a boon that Trimurtis will be born to her and accordingly Vishnu was born to her as Dattatreya. He mastered Vedas at a very young age and became a yogi, a wandering sage and an avadutha.

Lord Dettatreya is a very high spiritual figure and thus always pictured in mystic way. He is worshiped in places of worship as a man with three heads and six hands. The three head represent the Trimurthis (Brahma, Vishnu, Siva) and six hand represent six ethical steps in yogic practice ( Yama , Niyama , Sama , Dama , Daya and Santhi ) . He is followed by four dogs representing four Vedas and a cow representing mother earth. He attracted many young man like Prahlada, Yadu, Kartavirya, Alarka as his disciple

The authorship of the Aavadhuta gita, the Jivanmukti Gita, and the Tripura Rahashya are ascribed to him.

Purana

Bhagavatha records a dialogue between the Dattatreya as an Avadutha and a king named Yadu. The Avadhuta tells how, using his keen power of observation, he imbibed lessons in renunciation from his twenty four gurus he met during his wandering days. The gurus he described were sky, fire, sea, honeybee, child, wasp, and such natural objects; the story is simple and brilliant. About Sea he says: Sea is one of my teachers. Through all the rivers empty into the sea the sea is not concerned; it is not proud. It does not overflow. So also, a sage should remain calm and peaceful what-ever pleasure, pains, or temptation may flow towards him.

Lord Dattareya appears in Mahabharata, Ramayana, Dattareya Upanishads