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Dattatreya: The Origin of All Spiritual Traditions
(I'm sharing this story because Shirdi Sai Baba was a Dattatreya avatara -- my teacher Kaleshwara's comment is that there have been many saints who've been at least a partial embodiment of the Datta energy -- including Ramana Maharshi & Nityananda -- but nobody in recent history embodied Datta 90% -- except Shirdi Sai Baba. there's a lot to say about Datta, but this is a running start.........)
it's one of my favorite favorite stories in the Vedic tradition, since it involves the greatest of all divine teachers, Dattatreya, from whom all lineages and all traditions originate, whether people practicing those traditions or religions recognize him as the origin.
since the story ALSO features the three goddesses in a kind of not-so-flattering light, I think it's particularly fun.
it goes like this -- there was a great rishi named Atri, an extraordinary rishi. his wife, Anasuya, was, as you might imagine, also an exceptional character. her austerities were so strong that she once literally stopped the sun from shining in order to help out one of her devotees.
her name, Anasuya, means, 'without jealousy.' she was modest and capable, brilliant and loving.
so of course, her pure nature being what it was, it attracted the attention and then the inevitable jealousy of the three goddesses, Parvati, Saraswati, and Laxmi, the wives of the three major gods in creation, Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
together, these mischievous women (clearly ladies with too much time on their hands!) decided to play a malicious trick on Anasuya, and sent their husbands to her with an outrageous plan to insult her.
the three husbands, at the command of their wives, show up at Anasuya's door. because in the Vedic tradition, a houseguest is considered an expression of god, it's essential that a host honors any and all requests of a guest, according them the same respect and service one would render a god. (only in this case, they really ARE gods, showing up at Anasuya's door!)
Anasuya invites them in, and offers them refreshment. the three gods, in accordance with their wives' orders, ask that she feed them without any clothes on, totally naked.
in India, even today, women are extremely modest (witness the wrapping of a sari!) and such a request, besides being ridiculous, is outrageous in the extreme, an insult to that woman's virtue and purity.
but because the guest is god, Anansuya had of course to acquiesce to this request.
unflappable as she was, she found a perfect way out of the intended offense to her modesty. first, she turned each one of the gods into an infant. then, she stripped off all of her clothes and breast-fed each god, one by one.
thus she turned a prurient interpretation of nudity into a spiritual principle -- where being 'naked' means, stripped of the three gunas, entirely, free from the illusion of the gunas, without attributes at all. she fed the three infant gods, who in their turn, each represent one of the gunas, and of course to a baby a naked breast isn't a lustful sight -- it simply means food is on the way. nourishment.
after she foiled the plot in this way, and fed the babies, Anasuya got dressed once more and went about her duties in her home, serenely. she left the three deities as babies, however, and when her husband Atri got home in the evening, after a day of sadhana, he took in the situation at a glance and was proudly, and rightfully, amused at the attempted trick and his wife's genius in handling such a lila.
eventually, Parvati, Saraswati and Laxmi got to realizing that the day had turned to dusk, and their husbands STILL weren't home. understanding that perhaps something had gone awry, they went themselves to collect their husbands and see what was going on.
imagine their surprise when they were ushered into Anasuya's home only to discover that their husbands were little drooling baby boys!!! not only were they babies, but neither divine goddess could actually recognize their own mates!
Atri, laughing, suggested that Anasuya should restore the gods to their rightful forms, which she did.
the wives were furious, and embarrassed that their plan had backfired so ridiculously on them, and they left in a huff.
the three gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were so incredibly impressed with Anasuya (and so sheepish at their own collusion in the attempted mockery of her) that they each promised her a boon. they would grant any deep wish she wanted.
Anasuya being way too smart, asked for a baby, a son, from each of the deities' energy. they were happy to comply.
from Brahma, she received Soma, the moon. (also known as Chandra.)
from Shiva, she received Durvasas, a rishi known for his irritability and crankiness as well as his brilliance.
from Vishnu, she received Dattatreya, a most unusual child since he has three heads -- each one representing one of the three gods, the three gunas of creation, the three principles in the cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction.
Dattatreya went on to lead an illustrious and unorthodox life. he is the original yogi, the original aghori, and the original guru.
Dattatreya -- the son of the amazing rishini Anasuya and the equally amazing rishi Atri, conceived through the energy of Vishnu in response to a lila of illusion from the three goddesses -- is the expert on handling the Mother Divine in all her forms and nature.
his guru, in fact, WAS Nature Herself.
Datta had 24 separate gurus from Nature -- the five elements, the sun, the moon, the ocean, a host of animals and insects, each of which taught him some different aspect of the divine and sadhana, and four human beings: a child, a maiden (virgin), a blacksmith, and a prostitute.
(I'm sharing this story because Shirdi Sai Baba was a Dattatreya avatara -- my teacher Kaleshwara's comment is that there have been many saints who've been at least a partial embodiment of the Datta energy -- including Ramana Maharshi & Nityananda -- but nobody in recent history embodied Datta 90% -- except Shirdi Sai Baba. there's a lot to say about Datta, but this is a running start.........)
it's one of my favorite favorite stories in the Vedic tradition, since it involves the greatest of all divine teachers, Dattatreya, from whom all lineages and all traditions originate, whether people practicing those traditions or religions recognize him as the origin.
since the story ALSO features the three goddesses in a kind of not-so-flattering light, I think it's particularly fun.
it goes like this -- there was a great rishi named Atri, an extraordinary rishi. his wife, Anasuya, was, as you might imagine, also an exceptional character. her austerities were so strong that she once literally stopped the sun from shining in order to help out one of her devotees.
her name, Anasuya, means, 'without jealousy.' she was modest and capable, brilliant and loving.
so of course, her pure nature being what it was, it attracted the attention and then the inevitable jealousy of the three goddesses, Parvati, Saraswati, and Laxmi, the wives of the three major gods in creation, Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
together, these mischievous women (clearly ladies with too much time on their hands!) decided to play a malicious trick on Anasuya, and sent their husbands to her with an outrageous plan to insult her.
the three husbands, at the command of their wives, show up at Anasuya's door. because in the Vedic tradition, a houseguest is considered an expression of god, it's essential that a host honors any and all requests of a guest, according them the same respect and service one would render a god. (only in this case, they really ARE gods, showing up at Anasuya's door!)
Anasuya invites them in, and offers them refreshment. the three gods, in accordance with their wives' orders, ask that she feed them without any clothes on, totally naked.
in India, even today, women are extremely modest (witness the wrapping of a sari!) and such a request, besides being ridiculous, is outrageous in the extreme, an insult to that woman's virtue and purity.
but because the guest is god, Anansuya had of course to acquiesce to this request.
unflappable as she was, she found a perfect way out of the intended offense to her modesty. first, she turned each one of the gods into an infant. then, she stripped off all of her clothes and breast-fed each god, one by one.
thus she turned a prurient interpretation of nudity into a spiritual principle -- where being 'naked' means, stripped of the three gunas, entirely, free from the illusion of the gunas, without attributes at all. she fed the three infant gods, who in their turn, each represent one of the gunas, and of course to a baby a naked breast isn't a lustful sight -- it simply means food is on the way. nourishment.
after she foiled the plot in this way, and fed the babies, Anasuya got dressed once more and went about her duties in her home, serenely. she left the three deities as babies, however, and when her husband Atri got home in the evening, after a day of sadhana, he took in the situation at a glance and was proudly, and rightfully, amused at the attempted trick and his wife's genius in handling such a lila.
eventually, Parvati, Saraswati and Laxmi got to realizing that the day had turned to dusk, and their husbands STILL weren't home. understanding that perhaps something had gone awry, they went themselves to collect their husbands and see what was going on.
imagine their surprise when they were ushered into Anasuya's home only to discover that their husbands were little drooling baby boys!!! not only were they babies, but neither divine goddess could actually recognize their own mates!
Atri, laughing, suggested that Anasuya should restore the gods to their rightful forms, which she did.
the wives were furious, and embarrassed that their plan had backfired so ridiculously on them, and they left in a huff.
the three gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were so incredibly impressed with Anasuya (and so sheepish at their own collusion in the attempted mockery of her) that they each promised her a boon. they would grant any deep wish she wanted.
Anasuya being way too smart, asked for a baby, a son, from each of the deities' energy. they were happy to comply.
from Brahma, she received Soma, the moon. (also known as Chandra.)
from Shiva, she received Durvasas, a rishi known for his irritability and crankiness as well as his brilliance.
from Vishnu, she received Dattatreya, a most unusual child since he has three heads -- each one representing one of the three gods, the three gunas of creation, the three principles in the cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction.
Dattatreya went on to lead an illustrious and unorthodox life. he is the original yogi, the original aghori, and the original guru.
Dattatreya -- the son of the amazing rishini Anasuya and the equally amazing rishi Atri, conceived through the energy of Vishnu in response to a lila of illusion from the three goddesses -- is the expert on handling the Mother Divine in all her forms and nature.
his guru, in fact, WAS Nature Herself.
Datta had 24 separate gurus from Nature -- the five elements, the sun, the moon, the ocean, a host of animals and insects, each of which taught him some different aspect of the divine and sadhana, and four human beings: a child, a maiden (virgin), a blacksmith, and a prostitute.
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Re: Dattatreya
Tue, September 27, 2005 - 7:04 PMVery intersting, what ever happened to the other 2 sons, and what were the 12 animals?
Uconditional Love and Light
Dave -
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Re: Dattatreya
Wed, September 28, 2005 - 2:29 AMone of the two sons, Chandra, became the moon. not bad work if you can get it.
the other, Durvasas, is another cranky rishi -- a highly irritable creator-being -- who figures in many epic stories of India.
about the other teachers -- sheesh, figures you'd ask.
here's one write-up -- I would argue there are deeper analyses available, especially about the elements, since the miracle energies of creation are hidden in the Five Elements and were certainly NO secret, ultimately, to Datta. all Datta saints are high-level siddhas. Jesus was certainly the most prominent, historically, of them.
but here's the list from a lovely book about Dattatreya:
the Five Elements:
earth -- from which he learned firmness, forbearance, and the importance of doing good to others
air - from which he learned non-attachment and freedom
sky - from which he learned that the self is all-pervading and yet has no contact with any object whatsoever
water -- from which he learned purity, clearness, and coolness
fire -- from which he learned austerity and the devouring flame of self-knowledge
the moon, from which he learned impermanence and how the self is always perfect and changeless, unperturbed
the sun, from which he learned how the atman, though one, appears as many due to its reflections
pigeons, from which he learned the dangers of attachment (as when a householder of poor sense takes delight in conjugal life and, with his mind thus perturbed, goes to ruin along with the family)
python or boa constrictor, from which he learned how to lie actionless and yet sleepless, giving up all efforts at obtaining food
sea, from which he learned to remain quiet and unmoved, as the deep sea remains unmoved even though hundreds of rivers flow into it
moth -- from which he learned the danger of being enticed by women and thus of ruining himself like a moth flying into the fire
bee -- from which he learned that he should only beg a little food from one house and then from another, without becoming a burden to the householder
male elephant -- from which he learned about the fettering bonds of passion and the pitfalls of lust
honey gatherer (bear?) -- from which he learned that hoarding is the root cause of all misery
deer -- from which he learned not to fall prey to alluring melodies and captivating songs, creating erotic passions
fish -- from which he learned not to develop greed for tasty food and the importance of subduing the sense of taste
the courtesan Pingala -- from whom he learned that dejection may lead to self-inquiry, detachment, and freedom from hope,
osprey -- from which he learned that one who possesses and collects worldly goods will always live a life of struggle
a child -- from whom he learned the virtue of cheerfulness and freedom from anxiety and all material cares
a maiden -- from the noise of whose bangles he learned the values of solitude and silence
arrow maker or blacksmith -- from whom he learned mind concentration, leading to complete absorption in the self
serpent, from which he learned that a renouncer should not be marked out by his behavior nor should he ever build a home for himself but rather live in holes, caves, or temples built by others
spider -- from which he learned how Lord Narayana creates, protects, and withdraws the universe, just like a spider extends through its mouth the cobweb through its heart, sports with it and again swallows it
wasp -- from which he learned that one may attain to the semblance of whatever object his or her soul concentrates on with love, hate or fear. (like a worm thinks on a wasp and becomes a wasp, can change form just by thinking on another form.)
[Rigopoulos notes that this version, from a purana, reinforces the mysogynism of ascetic traditions in India, and does not necessarily reflect Datta's lessons accurately. like the pigeons, the moth, deer and the elephant, which imply that the householder's life and relationships with women were 'veritable death' to men.]
from Antonio Rigopoulos, Dattatreya, The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara -
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Re: Dattatreya
Thu, October 6, 2005 - 5:13 PMMore about Dattatreya --
it's really important to understand something of this wild character, whom people called the first guru, the first yogi, the first spiritual teacher and the first aghori -- Datta.
because he's the combination of all three G-O-D principles in one, Brahma the Generator, Vishnu the Operator, Shiva the Destroyer, Datta is completely unpredictable in his behavior.
one minute he's completely melting you with his huge love. the next minute he's full of the divine knowledge, so brilliant. the next minute, he's whacking you with a stick even while you're asking him for help.
the reason is -- he's in a constant cycling of the three principles of creation, the G-O-D, which are also expressed in the three gunas, Tamo Rajo Satva. Tamo related to Shiva, expresses dullness and ignorance (which is what Shiva is really destroying). Rajo = Brahma, the wild raw creation energy. Rajas also implies irritability, anger, fiery nature. Satva guna = Vishnu. pure divine, loving, melting, irresistable truth.
WHY is Datta so crazy and unpredictable? how come he tortures his students (who can't get ANY handle on him at all) through his behavior?
how come he even tortures the Mother Divine through his behavior?
there's a great story about Datta --
how he's sitting in the cremation grounds, among the ashes and the burning corpses, hanging out eating meat and throwing the bones around the graveyard, and smoking ganja, drinking alcohol, with at least one gorgeous woman on his lap --
DEFYING all the conventional ideas about how a 'spiritual' character is supposed to behave.
Mother gets so upset -- so completely upset with him -- She comes scolding him to stop his outrageous Frat Boy behavior.
he's laughing and laughing.
finally, in utter desperation to get him to stop acting out, Mother gives him the one thing no other soul in creation has:
She shows Datta the mechanism of how a soul is made.
not even Brahma the Creator really knows this mechanism.
then all the gods are bitching, all the rishis who've done millions of years of meditation and austerities to gain this kind of information from Her, are complaining -- "how come HE got that from you??????"
it's a DEEP mechanism in how Datta plays with Mother -- he's the PERFECT character to break Her illusions because he USES Her material illusion (like the meat, the alcohol, the sex, all the 'forbidden' stuff) back on Her, in Her illusion creation, in order to gain Her secrets.
that's why all gurus are, to some degree or another, representing as Datta characters, some more, some less so. some hidden.
they are the experts on Maha Kali (Mother Nature). they know perfectly how to play with Her. they know how to break Her illusions. Datta confuses Her maya, by changing so frequently through the gunas, that She doesn't really know who She's dealing with at any given moment.
Shirdi Baba was nearly 100% pure Dattatreya, and mostly the Shiva quality of Datta.
so was Jesus Christ.
Ramana Maharishi was about 5% Datta. so was Bhagavan Nityananda, the master of Baba Muktananda -- Nityananda was about 15% Datta.
what's also interesting is that Datta is in charge of this creation. he's the ultimate guru, the ultimate kind of judge of all of us. what's he judging? how well we understand his mechanisms.
it's a deep subject.
you can see why my love for and devotion to Shirdi Baba is so extreme.
Alx -
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Re: Dattatreya
Thu, July 13, 2006 - 4:11 AMHi Alx,
Ya In Guru Charitra every thing is mentioned clear... I red that book.....
But while reading sai Charitra we can feel & njoyee & some of concepts also we can follow... Because Baba told what ever your read try to follow .... Ex. like Before eating some thing try to distribute it ... If anybody is not around you remember Sai... is always with you.
un necessarly don't comment on others while doing pooja to sai in their own way....
First time I red that its very difficult to me to follow all those... But now I am also following those...
But In Guru charitra he explains very very deep... Even while reading some times we can't read it in fullfledged.... with meaning & feeling... its a deep subject...
In that book clearly mentioned Sai avatharaas... Dattatraya ( Ganaga puram), Sri Padukala vaaru,...
Sai Ram
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