KarmaVaani
Smarta tradition
दत्तात्रेयDattatreya
Datta · Avadhuta · Gurudev Datta
The trimurti in one form: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as the supreme teacher.
- Abode
- Girnar; Ganagapur
- Consort
- None
- Vahana
- None
- Colour
- Fair
- Arms
- 6
Dattatreya, son of the sage Atri and his wife Anasuya, is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in a single person, and above all the Guru. He is shown with three heads, wandering with four dogs and a cow. The Avadhuta Gita is attributed to him, and in Maharashtra and Karnataka a long line of saints is held to be his incarnations.
Mantra
दिगंबरा दिगंबरा श्रीपाद वल्लभ दिगंबरा
Digambara Digambara Shripada Vallabha Digambara
A chant of Dattatreya's names, sung in Datta temples.
How Dattatreya is shown
A three-headed ascetic standing under a fig tree, with a cow behind him and four dogs at his feet.
- Three heads
- Creation, preservation and dissolution as one.
- Four dogs
- The four Vedas.
- Cow
- The earth, and dharma.
- Kamandalu and rosary
- The ascetic's simplicity.
Stories
The twenty-four teachers
Asked who his guru was, Dattatreya named twenty-four: the earth for patience, the air for detachment, the honeybee, the python, a child, a maiden's bangles and more. Everything in the world, he said, is a teacher to one who watches.
