Today, I would like to share the birth mythology of Duttatreya. I have a small personal connection of having Ravi Varma’s Duttatreya in our Purathanam - lithograph collections. Dattatreya iconography varies regionally. Ravi Varma has depicted Duttatreya in the Maharashtrian version.
He has shown Duttatreya with three heads, six hands, one head each for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who represent Trimurti the 3 main Hindu Gods. Also the each pair of hands shown holding properties that belong to each gods. One set of hands are shown holding a pink lotus (in some paintings the lotus is replaced by Japamaala (prayer beads)) and water pot of Brahma, another set of hands shown holding conch and a chakra (discus) which of Vishnu’s and the last set of hands shown holding trishula (trident) and a damaru (drum) which is of Shiva. Also most of his paintings and carvings are always shown him surrounded by four dogs and a cow.
Like I said, Dattatreya’s iconography varies region to region. Dattatreya is shown with one head and two hands accompanied by four dogs and a cow in temples of Himalayas, Southern Maharashtra, Varanasi.
The story of Duttatreya has slight variations from region to region. Some say Duttatreya lived in Mahur, Nanded District, Maharashtra. Another states that his father lived in the western Deccan region. The Tripura-rahasya refers to the disciple Parasurama finding Dattatreya meditating on Gandhamadana Mountain near Rameshwaram, Tamizhnadu, South of India. There’s another claim that Duttatreya was born in the jungles of Kashmir near the sacred Amarnath Temple. Some say he was born along with his brothers Durvasa and Chandra, to an unwed mother named Anusuya. Some say, sage Atri was very old when young Anusuya married him and they sought the help of the trimurti gods for a child. In Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh there is a common belief that Dattatreya an Avatar (incarnation) of the divine trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.
Who is Duttatreya?
Dattatreya is an ideal example of a sanyasi (Monk), some cult with great respect they say Dattatreya is as the Adi-Guru (First Teacher), the first "Lord of Yoga" who is also a teacher of Yoga, with clear Tantric traits. The word Datta is derived from Sanskrit. Datta means "Given", Datta is called so because the divine trinity have "given" themselves in the form of a son to the sage couple Guru Atri and Anusuya.
Anasuya and the Birth of Dattatreya!
Here I would like to share a version which I read from the book “Marriage: 100 Stories Around India's Favourite Ritual” by Devdutt Pattnaik.
Anusuya was the daughter of Devahuti and Kardama in the Hindu epics. she lived with her husband in a small hermitage in a forest.
Her name Anasuya is composed of two Sanskrit words: Nah and Asuya. Nah' is a negative prefix which means absence, while Asuya means jealousy. Anasuya could be translated into English as the one who is free from jealousy or envy. So that is the meaning of Anasuya.
She was a chaste wife. In the folk narratives they say Anusuya’s chastity even made the goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga go jealous that they sent their husband to test her. She was extremely devoted to Atri. Once Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva decided to come down to earth disguised to test Anusuya’s chastity. They came to earth in the form of three handsome sages to ask bhiksha (offering) saying that they had been fasting for twelve years and to break their fast they need a chaste woman to breast feed them. This was the tricky request made by the three monks in order to trick Anusuya.
Anasuya without knowing their intention, decides to help genuinely to break their fast but she says sorry that she is helpless and might not be able to help them as she has not become a mother, yet to produce breast milk. The monks knew how to handle the situation so they come forward to suckle her breasts, but to their surprise they turned in to three kids in front of her and the milk started to pour out of Anasuya’s breasts. They acknowledged the chastity of Anasuya and apologised for their trickery. They blessed her with a son, Dattatreya. And that’s the birth story of Duttatreya!
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