About Guru Dattatreya
- Date of Birth: Scholars speculate it must have been not less than 5000 B.C, or even earlier.
- Place of Birth – North Indian Hermitage.
- Parents – Anusuya and Sage Atri (According to Puranas).
- State of Living? (Samadhi or Alive) – Alive as he is considered to be an Avatar.
Dattatreya's Message to the World
Dattatreya always insisted on the inner truth. Here is the one thing which he stressed upon the fellow human beings during his life in the earthly plane of existence.
“Never judge by surface appearances but always seek a deeper Truth”.
~ Dattatreya
Path of Enlightenment
How did Dattatreya experience Enlightenment?
Dattatreya’s Guru Name:
Dattatryea 24 Guru’s brief introduction and their teachings:
Below are the teachings he learnt from his 24 gurus.
- Earth – Remain undisturbed even when the world try to suppress you. Keep on healing yourself when others injure you. Do your work sincerely following the dharma.
- Wind – Always be free. Resolute true to your own force.
- Sky – Sky has no limits so does Atma or Soul. Just like clouds passes material things does the same, stick to your own soul as it is the only permanent.
- Water – Even when others try to make you impure, remain pure always and cleanse yourself. Like saints who is not arrogant and discriminates no one.
- Fire – One needs to have energy to learn. Because, the heat of knowledge reforms everything it comes in contact with.
- Moon – Just like eternal existence of the moon so does the soul, it it continous and cycle of birth, death, rebirth can never change it’s nature of existence of eternity.
- Sun – Soul is like sun, everyone is connect to him. Even though we might not aware of our existence, all the souls are inter connected. One must share his gifts to others as a sense of duty.
- Pigeons – Since pigeons suffer losses in the hands of violent hunters, do not be obsessed with the material world. Everything here is transient and perishable. Through personal loss and damage human life is a rare opportunity to learn and grow within to reach the state of liberation or mukthi.
- Python – Be happy with whatever you have, make the most from life’s gifts.
- Bumblebee – Seek wisdom from all the sources and learn from everyone and everything like a bumblebee works hard to build and create it’s reserve by directly visiting the flowers. Go to the source of creation called soul. Leave others or other idealogies alone when you should.
- Beekeeper – None of the material wealth ever lasts and do not pile up the wealth as you are going to leave everything one fine day.
- Hawk – Take what you need but not more. Dattatreya observed this when hawk was teased to leave the food by other birds.
- Ocean – Go deep within to understand the undisturbed soul which receives sensory input like other rivers merge into ocean but undisturbed within. Be unperturbed by the life, be in equipoise at all the moments of life.
- Moth – Know that senses can deceive, try to seek the reason which your senses throws at you.
- Elephant – Do not be trapped by sensory gratification like the elephant fall into the pit by running after the smell of a possible mate due to lusty thoughts.
- Deer – Do not be feared like deer which is decieved by his fear by hunters to scare him into a waiting net. Never be afraid of the noise and be fall into the pressure created by others to you.
- Fish – There are plenty of opportunities everywhere and never be fall into the greed like fish is trapped by the food thrown at him by the fishermen. Dattatreya observed this through intense observation of fish’s suferring to death by going after the food it was attracted to.
- Courtesan – Do not do the things which will allow you to leave your self-respect and core values of your life. Never prostitute your valuble time, self-respect, and principles for many reasons. At the end of the day feel like leading a meaningless life.
- Child – Live a life of innocent bliss. Be curious and innocent at heart.
- Maiden – A yogi will never try to seek attention, he shares more and accomplishes more in his solitude. Dattatreya observed this while observing the course of life of a maiden.
- Snake – Just like a snake leaves his old molts, a yogi leaves his old body and ready to take a new body by taking a new birth. Dattatreya observed this through snake’s life.
- Arrowsmith – Intense concentration is the way to self-realization just like arrowsmith focuses on his work so intensively that he doesnt even bother to notice the king’s possession that has happened around him. Dattatreya observed this through intense observation of arrowsmith’s work.
- Spider – Be ready to abondon the web you created and entangled in it. Always move near to the soul.
- Caterpillar – Any Superior master was once a disciple. So starting will always be very small. Keep working towards your goal of self-realization to reach the ultimate bliss.
Brief Introduction to the Spiritual Practice he followed:
In some of the aghori traditions dattatreya is recognized as an adi guru.
In Avadhuta tradition also dattatreya is said to be the master. There is a famous book called Avadhuta Gita which deals mostly with his teachings and tradition.
In Natha Sampradaya of Shaivism, dattatreya is said to be the Adi Nath.
There are few other traditions which depicts him as an Avatar (Godman).
The saint tukaram mentions about his simple life and prfound teachings through his poems.
As the years pass by, Dattatreya has inspired many sadhus, saints, yogis across all the major traditions of Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.
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Prajnatma eBook DownloadStory of Dattatreya Avadhuta:
Dattatreya is said to be born in Maharashtra. Consort of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva were amazed by the chastity that Anusuya followed.
To test her will power of chastity they send their husbands to Anusaya house to feed them the food in her nude form.
Anusuya agreed to the request of three great beings and convert them into small babies and fed them with no clothes.
Seeing this Atri converted the three babies in to one baby with three heads using his spiritual powers.
There are many stories like this which has interpreted in different time and in different occasions.
The story of Dattatreya various across different traditions and his actual details are still unavailable.
In most of his photos he is depicted as a sadhu with four dogs represents four dogs, and three heads representing brahma, vishnu, and shiva.
Disciple Experience about Shri Guru Dattatreya
Avadhuta Gita Book
“Through the grace of God alone, the desire for nonduality arises in wise men to save them from great fear. Nonduality – monistic Consciousness, in which the knower, knowledge, and knowable – soul and God – become one; the highest realization of Divinity.
Fear – The word “fear” includes also such states of mind as insecurity, despair, and grief, all of which arise from a consciousness of oneself as limited and separate from others and which therefore can be dispelled only by realizing oneself as the All.”
~ Dattatreya
This is an excerpt from Avadhuta Gita.
“Furthermore, the unfolding of the Dattātreya icon illustrates the development of Yoga as a synthetic and inclusive body of ideologies and practices. Although fundamentally a jñāna-mūrti, Dattātreya is a “honey bee” Yogin: one whose character and teachings are developed by gathering varieties of Yoga’s flowers. For all religious groups whose propensity it is to include ideas, practices, and teaching from the ocean of traditions, Dattātreya is truly a paradigm.”
— Antonio Rigopoulos, Dattātreya: the immortal guru, yogin, and avatāra
Guru Dattatreya's Best Quote
Dattatreya Temples:
There are many temples of the Lord Dattatreya across India.
There is one in Badrinath, significance of this temple is the meeting of Shri Adi Guru Shankaracharya with the Lord Dattatreya.
There are many temples which has diety in different forms like with three heads, with single head and so on.
Below are list of the temples of dattatreya across many regions in India.
- Chandannath Temple – Jumla, Nepal
- Sri Dattatreya temple – Gulbarga, Karnataka
- Sripada Srivallabha temple – Pitapuram, Andhra Pradesh
- Shri Datta Mandir – Garudeshwar, Gujarat
- Shri Datta Mandir – Nareshwar Gujarat
- Sri Kalagnishamana Datta – Mysuru, Karnataka
- Sri Datta Mandir – Hingoli, Maharashtra
- Sri Yogiraja Vallabha Datta – Prodduturu, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Yogiraja Vallabha Datta – Bangalore, Karnataka
- Sri Gnana Sagara Datta – Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Syama Kamala Lochana Datta – Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Atrivarada Datta – Machalipattanam, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Sivaroopa Datta – Jayalakshmipuram, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Jagadguru Datta – Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Adiguru Datta – Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Sri Digambara Datta – Rishikesh, Uttarakand
- Sri Viswambara Avadhoota Datta – Akiveedu, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Deva Deva Datta – Nuzivedu, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Avadhoota Datta – Hyderabad, Telangana
- Sri Digambara Datta – Gandigunta, Andhra Pradesh
- Sri Siddaraja datta – Cochin, Kerala
- Sri Mayamukta Avadhoota Datta – Acharapakkam, Tamil Nadu
- Sri Leela Viswambarava Datta – Surat, Gujarat
- Sri Kshetra Narada Gadde – Raichur, Karnataka
- Shri Dattatreya Temple, Bijalpur, Indore, M.P.
- Shri Dattatreya Temple – Dharwad, Karnataka
- Shri Datta Mandir Sansthan Ruibhar, Osmanabad, Maharashtra
- Shree datta mandir pulgaon.dist wardha maharshtra
- Datta mandir gangapur. Maharshtra
- Datta mandir salaquin
- Shripad shrivallabh datta mandir karnja dist amravti maharstra
FRIENDLY NOTE:
The details put up here are to bring about the awareness of the guru and their noble teachings to the layman’s understanding.
SoulPrajna is not at all responsible for any monetary involvements related to the organizations mentioned over here in any way.
