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At one time, there lived two great Masters in the form of husband and wife – Rishi Atri and Anasuya. In the Yogic and Tantric traditions, female practitioners have historically attained spiritual power simply by serving their husbands, and Anasuya was one such woman. She attained to a tremendous spiritual stature just by serving her husband whilst he concentrated on his life of intense meditation and austerity. Her power and purity were so great that the Goddesses became jealous of her and wanted to challenge her. Thus, they approached the Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva – and requested them to come to Earth to test her.
In the Hindu tradition, if anybody visits a home, they must be provided with all due food and hospitality. It is seen as highly inauspicious to not feed a guest. One day, Anasuya was at home alone whilst Atri had gone to the river to take a bath. At this precise time, the three Gods appeared in the form of wandering monks begging for food. Because she did not have any prepared food in the house at that time, she told the monk to wait awhile for some food to be prepared. They answered, ‘Thank you, but we have one condition: you should serve us the food naked without any clothes on.’ In the Hindu tradition, if a saint asks for something, it is seen as unacceptable and very inauspicious to deny it. So Anasuya found herself in a dilemma about how she could respond these requests.
Anasuya then went inside, took some water in her hand and brought it out and sprinkled it on the monks. At that moment, all three of them turned into small babies. Anasuya then took them on her lap and fed them milk from her own breasts. As all the conditions of the test were technically fulfilled, the Gods were delighted and said, ‘We would like to bless you. Ask for a boon, and we will give it to you.’ She answered, ‘I would like you three to combine yourselves, enter my womb and take birth as my son.’ They accepted her request and blessed her by entering her womb as one entity. When Atri came back, he already understood everything that had happened and he was very happy.
Each Yuga, or era, has its own ‘Yuga Acharya‘ – an Avatar who acts as the Supreme Spiritual Teacher of that era. In the same way that Lord Krishna was the Yuga Acharya for Dvapara Yuga, Dattatreya was the Supreme Teacher of the preceding era of Treta Yuga. Within the aforementioned mythological story of Dattatreya’s birth, he was said to have been born with the three heads of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. His mother, Anasuya, said that this form would make it very difficult for him to survive in society, and thus the three heads condensed into one. Many whom worship Dattatreya today choose to see him as either Maha Vishnu or as Shiva. However, Datta, in His truest form, is actually the representative of the Absolute Reality that is beyond, and yet contains within It, the principles of creation, preservation and destruction.
While Dattatreya’s exact historical origins are unclear and trace to inconsistent mythologies, His life stories are more consistent. He is described in the Mahabharata as an exceptional Rishi with extraordinary insights, capacities and knowledge. The classical texts describe Him as having renounced the world and left His home early to lead the life of wandering ascetic. After leaving home, Dattatreya wandered naked in search of the Absolute. He seems to have spent most of His life roaming around the area between North Mysore, Maharashtra, and Gujarat as far as the Narmada River. He attained full realisation at a place not far from the town now known as Ganagapur near the peak at Mount Girnar. The original footprints of Datta are still believed to be located at the top of this mountain.
As Kali Yuga was beginning and Lord Krishna was preparing to leave both his body and the world behind, He realised that the purpose of His incarnation, which was the preservation of Dharma, would be forgotten. His death itself would spark the beginning of the Kali Yuga, and thereafter many that would take birth on Earth would be full of violence, greed and lust. Therefore, Lord Krishna consulted with Lord Dattatreya and called upon the Nava Narayanas, otherwise known as the Navnath Saints from the celestial plane to take birth on earth and establish a lineage of Masters to remain as a guiding force for humanity in the dark times that were to come. Lord Dattatreya then codified a system to preserve His teachings of liberation and thus the Nath Tradition was born.
The Dattatreya Tradition in its purest form, which is also known as the Avadhuta Tradition, remains totally uncodified and formless from its very beginnings. Masters within this Tradition, who may all be seen as emanations of Dattatreya in their own right, are all completely different in their appearance, expression and mode of instruction. Such a Master, being totally empty within, simply responds to the need of whoever comes to them and provides the relevant spiritual support structures to assist beings on the path of gradual liberation. It is the presence of such Masters, Datta Gurus, that keep presence and the story of Dattatreya alive. Today, such a Master is Brahmarishi Mohanji, who has fully modernised the Datta Tradition and has initiated the migrations of Datta’s story from the East to the West. Verily, whatever becomes of the Dattatreya Tradition in the modern world in coming times – it will stand directly on the shoulders of this tremendous Avadhuta.
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