DATTATREYA JAYANTI

Dattatreya Jayanti is an important Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon night of the month of Margashirsha (December). Lord Dattatreya is considered one of the 24 incarnations of Lord Vishnu, depicted with three heads and six hands. His three heads stand for the trinity—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The various accoutrements of the three gods are held in his six hands—Brahma’s kamandalu and japa mala, Vishnu’s conch and chakra, and Shiva’s trident and damaru (drum).

An interesting Puranic story relates to his birth. Sage Atri’s wife, Anasuya, renowned for her great chastity, caught the attention of the wives of the trinity—Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati. Learning about Anasuya’s virtue from the sage Narada, they persuaded their husbands to test her chastity. Dressed as mendicants, they appeared at the ashrama when Atri was absent, begging for food. Anasuya, obliging, told them to seat themselves. However, they claimed they would eat only if served by a naked woman. Unfazed, Anasuya, through her chastity, transformed the three gods into small babies and proceeded to feed them naked. Yet, she did not restore them to their original forms. Concerned, their wives visited the ashrama, discovered the plight of their husbands, and, convinced of Anasuya’s chastity, pleaded with her to return them to their original forms. She agreed, asking for a boon in return—that they should be born as her sons.

Dattatreya was born as a result of this boon, possessing the powers and accoutrements of the three deities. Thus, by worshipping him, we gain the benefits of worshipping all three gods. Interestingly, he is always followed by four dogs, representing the four Vedas, of which he was a master. Temples dedicated to Dattatreya are found in Gangapur (Karnataka), Narasimha Wadi (Kolhapur, Maharashtra), Pitapuram (Andhra Pradesh), Audumbar (Sangli), and Girnar (Saurashtra).

Dattatreya taught that anything on this earth can become a guru for us with the right perception. He enumerated 24 gurus, including the great five elements that make up this world and our own bodies. Earth taught him patience, air taught him that a true sadhu should be detached, like air that carries all odors but does not retain any for itself. The sky never gets covered with clouds; they come and go. The moon waxes and wanes but never really changes. He took up all the forces of nature and showed how every single thing is capable of teaching us something. Thus, he gained wisdom by observing many things in Nature, such as the pigeon, python, honey bee, osprey, sea, moth, elephant, deer, fish, Pingala the prostitute, child, maiden, snake, arrow maker, spider, and caterpillar.

These are some of the great truths taught by Dattatreya to King Yadu, a forefather of Lord Krishna. On his Jayanti, let us pray to him to bless us with all wisdom and the ability to love everything and learn from all the teachers that Nature provides for us. The following is his gayatri:

Aum Digambaraya vidmahe

Yogeeshwaraya dimahi

Tanno datta prachodayath