Avadhuta Gita

Avadhuta Gita is a sacred text attributed to Lord Dattatreya Himself, and therefore it can be seen as the main scripture of the Dattatreya-Avadhuta Tradition. The text, whose title can be roughly translated as ‘Song of the Free’, presents a crystal clear vision over the course of 289 shlokas of the pure non-dual, non-relative goal of the Avadhuta Path—the condition of Perfect Avadhutahood—Complete Liberation.

There is no exact date on record for the composition of the text, but it is thought to have been composed in its present written Sanskrit form between the 9th and 10th centuries. That the text was written at this time along with the fact that Lord Dattatreya was only known to be incarnated in His fully embodied form during the higher Yugas of Satya and Treta—all of this actually points to a possible hypothesis that the text was transmitted from Lord Dattatreya through one of the embodied Nath or Avadhuta Masters of the time. One such Nath Master, whose possible authorship of Avadhuta Gita has been questioned, is Gorakhnath. This possibility would make sense due to the fact that Gorakhnath is seen, alongside Lord Dattatreya, Adi Nath Shiva and Matsyendranath, as one of the fountainheads of the Nath sect. In this case, the question of authorship may be immaterial because the consciousness of such Masters, and the way they actually perceive Reality, cannot really be said to be different. Thus, such texts like Avadhuta Gita that repeatedly describe and affirm, in no uncertain terms, the nature of Reality could easily be written by any Master who is fully established in the Supreme Consciousness.