Considered as the foremost in the line of divine teachers to incarnate on earth, Sri Dattatreya is venerated by both the orthodox and subaltern Hindus. The Puranas mention Dattatreya as the son of sage Atri and Anasuya. The story of his birth found in the Puranas is full of absurdities. According to F.E.Pargiter, Dattatreya was a descendant (not son) of a historic person Prabhakara, who is called Atri or Atreya. Rigopoulos Antonia is of the view that Dattatreya was a Yogin- possibly a historic figure who became legendary and later adapted into the more sanitized and bhakti oriented views of the Puranas. Similar is the view of J.N.Banerjea who says that Dattatreya seems to have been a famous sage in actual life, who was deified. It was in the Puranic period that Dattatreya was raised to the status of an avatara of Vishnu.
According to Brahmanda Purana, Dattatreya did penance from his childhood and became a hermit. According to Markandeya Purana (dated between 5th to 7th century A.D.) he was staying near a water reservoir on Sahyadri mountain and was called Avadhuta. Avadhuta is a generic term for those enlightened sages of India who wander about, naked and free of all attachment to the world. In the Jabalopanishad, Dattatreya is referred to as a Paramahamsa and there is an Upanishad named after him. Texts like Avadhuta Gita and Tripura-rahasya are attributed to Dattatreya.
Dattatreya is always connected in tradition with the great Haihaya king Arjuna Kartavirya who propitiated him and was favoured by him. This means that Dattatreya was a contemporary of Parashurama, who exterminated Arjuna Kartavirya and who is also considered an avatara of Vishnu.
Evolution of Dattatreya’s worship
According to Harivamsha, Vishnu assumed Dattatreya’s incarnation for the specific purpose of the revival of true knowledge – Sat-dharma. This emphasis on the role of Dattatreya as the saviour of truth and knowledge is of cardinal importance in understanding of the Dattatreya’s cult. It is this emphasis that is the origin of the custom of referring to Dattatreya as Sri Guru. Once this concept of Dattatreya as ‘Guru’, the great preacher of dharma, had taken firm root in the religious tradition of the society, a very interesting phenomenon occurred. New sects and philosophical systems that arose later on, especially during the 9th and 13th century A.D., have attempted to bring Dattatreya and his great prestige in their fold.
The Shaktas were probably the first to do so, as the Markandeya Purana would show. It depicts Dattatreya engaged freely in the enjoyment of wine and meat and practising the five ‘ma’ kar rites of the Shaktas. He chose Mahur, the famous Shakta centre as his abode, according to that Purana.
Next came the Nath Sampradayins who claim Dattatreya as their guru. The Goraksha-Siddhanta Samgraha quoting the Tantra-maharnava mentions Dattatreya as one of the 12 great Nathas or Maha Nathas: seventh in rank. The Natha Yogins played a substantial role in the expansion of Dattatreya’s cult and it was primarily through Nathism that Dattatreya was introduced to the Marathi speaking area and was adopted by the Mahanubhavas. Similarly, the Aghoris consider Dattatreya, the first teacher (Adi-guru) and Shiva incarnate.
Shankaracharya’s relationship with Dattatreya
Shankaracharya is traditionally credited with the authorship of various hymns in Dattatreya’s praise, such as Dattatreya-bhujanga-stotra. According to Shankara-vijaya-vilasa, Dattatreya manifested himself to Shankaracharya at Badrinath. The Juna Akhada at Ujjain- one of the seven Akhadas founded by the Dashanami Naga Sannyasins has Dattatreya as its tutelary deity, identified as Rudra-Shiva. Dattatreya’s link to Shankaracharya and the Dashanami order was certainly inspired by the former’s characterization as a divine Jnana-Yogin.
The Mahanubhava sect
The Mahanubhava sect was founded by Guru Chakradhara (died 1272 A.D.). They acknowledge in the Reality of one god Parameshvar, who has five major incarnations: Krishna, Dattatreya and three sect figures namely Cangadeva Raul (Chakrapani), Gundam Raul (Govinda Prabhu) and Chakradhara. The Mahanubhavas rejected the caste system and the worship of idols and refused to acknowledge the ritual and scriptural authorities of Brahmins. They regard Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata and the Sutrapatha (a collection of aphorisms of Chakradara) as the standard and classical religious works.
Dattatreya Sampradaya
The Dattatreya Sampradaya was founded by Narasimha Sarasvati (1378-1458 A.D.) was a religious order, orthodox in its outlook and which stressed the values of ritual observances and believed in the varnashramadharma (caste system). The basic religious text of this Sampradaya is the Guru Charitra written in Marathi by Sarasvati Gangadhar around 1538 or 1550. The devotees of this Sampradaya consider and revere Sripada Vallabha (1323-1353 A.D.) and Narasimha Sarasvati as the historical avataras of Dattatreya. The important pilgrimage places connected with this Sampradaya are Audumbar and Narsobavadi in Maharashtra and Ganagapur in Karnataka. Popular saints of Maharashtra like Eknath and Dasopant were devotees of Dattatreya.
According to G.S.Ghurye the credit for the spread of Dattatreya’s cult in Maharashtra goes to Narasimha Sarasvati. Similar is the view of Rigopoulos Antonio who says that Narasimha Sarasvati may be considered as the actual founder of the religion of Dattatreya in the Marathi region.
Representation of Dattatreya
Dattatreya is now represented with three heads and six arms and is surrounded by four dogs of different colours said to represent the four Vedas and by a cow said to represent Mother Earth. This three headed portrayal of Dattatreya was popularized by Narasimha Sarasvati and one can find no certain reference to this modern three headed Dattatreya prior to the work Guru Charitra composed around 1550 A.D. The oldest carving of Dattatreya represents the deity in a standing posture with one head (ekmukhi) with two or four arms, often bearing the common emblems of Vishnu, coupled with the Padukas, usually placed in front of the murti. At Mahur Dattatreya is worshipped in one headed form. The Vishnu-dharmottara Purana says that Dattatreya should be sculptured exactly like sage Valmiki. In all Dattatreya’s shrines the chief object of worship is the Padukas (wooden sandals) of Narasimha Sarasvati.
At present, the Dattatreya cult is confined to western India – Gujarat, Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. Dattatreya is considered as the most potent deity for driving out evil spirits and today the important centres of the Dattatreya cult are more well known for their miraculous supernatural powers rather than centres of philosophical learnings or Yoga. There is little doubt the latter would have been more befitting to Sri Dattatreya’s role as Guru - the preacher of dharma, says M.S.Mate.
Reference
Antonio Rigopoulous – Datta – The Immortal Guru, Yogin and Avatara, State University of New York Press, 1998
M.S.Mate – Temples and Legends of Maharashtra, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1962
G.S.Ghurye – Gods and Men, Popular Book Depot, Bombay, 1962
Hariprasad Shivprasad Joshi – Origin and Development of Dattatreta Worship in India, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 1965
F.E.Pargiter – Ancient Indian Historical Traditions, London, 1922
Jitendra Nath Banerjea - Hindu Iconography (Vyuhas and Vibhavas of Vishnu), Journal of The Indian Society of Oriental Art, vol - xiv, 1946
I.M.P.Raeside – Dattatreya, Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, vol.45, No 3, 1982
Haridas Bhattacharyya – (Editor) –The Cultural Heritage of India, vol – IV, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta, 1956
P.V.Kane – History of Dharmashastras, vol -5, part-2, BORI, Poona, 1962
Vettam Mani – Puranic Encyclopaedia, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, 1975
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