Dattātreya

by

Antonio Rigopoulos

• LAST MODIFIED: 20 August 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0294

Introduction

Dattātreya is a Purāṇic deity, in origin a Tantric antinomian yogin later sanitized and adapted to the devotional milieu of the Purāṇas. The mythical ̣ accounts present him as the son of the rṣị Atri and of his wife Anasūyā. Thanks to the help offered by Anasūyā to the trimūrti of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, she and her husband are bestowed the grace that the trimūrti would be born as their sons: thus are born Soma, Datta/Dattātreya (“The Given One,” “The One Belonging to Atri’s Lineage”) and Durvāsas, who are avatāras of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, respectively. Significant Purāṇic loci are Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.11, 11.7.24–11.9.33, and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa chapters 17–19, 37–43. The vaiṣṇava character of the deity is intertwined with antinomian traits, and from its inception Dattātreya’s theology appears as an inextricable mixture of vaiṣṇava and śaiva elements. Although Dattātreya’s presence is traceable even in Nepal, his heartland is the Marāṭhī cultural area. The oldest testimony of his presence is in the literature of the Mahānubhāvs, a monastic community conceived as heterodox by Brahmanical authorities. Apparently, the Mahānubhāvs received Dattātreya through the medium of the yogic sect of the Nāths. In Maharashtra, the advent of the Dattasampradāya (“The Tradition of Datta [Followers]”) dates to the mid-sixteenth century when the Marāṭhī Gurucaritra (“Life of the Master”) was written by Sarasvatī Gaṅgādhar. This hagiography presents the lives of Śrīpād Śrīvallabh (b. c. 1323–d. 1353) and Nṛsiṃha Sarasvatī (b. c. 1378–d. 1458), regarded as the first historical avatāras of Dattātreya. The Gurucaritra emphasizes Brahmanical ritual orthodoxy, in an effort to counter Islamic dominance and Tantric excesses. In fact, quite a number of Tantric works centered upon ritual practice are attributed to Dattātreya, among which is a Dattātreyatantra, possibly dating to the twelfth century. Noteworthy is the circa 13th-century Dattātreyayogaśāstra, reputed to be the earliest work to teach both the eightfold system of Patañjali’s classical aṣṭāṅgayoga and the methods of haṭhayoga. The most popular texts ascribed to the deity are the Jīvanmuktagītā (“The Song of the Liberated-in-Life”), the Avadhūtagītā (“The Song of the Free”), and the jñānakhaṇḍa (“Section on Knowledge”) of the Tripurārahasya (“The Secret of [the Goddess] Tripurā”), which are all late compositions. On the whole, the Dattātreya movement exhibits ambivalent traits. On the one hand it expresses an integrative spirituality that accommodates even Islamic tenets, while on the other it is the catalyst of Brahmanical pride and of an assertive ritual orthodoxy.

Overviews on Dattātreya

Joshi 1965 presents a detailed study of the deity, tracing its Sanskrit literary sources and the birth and growth of the Dattasampradāya up to modern times, while Bahadur 1982 portrays the triune god in the light of Advaita Vedānta philosophy and offers the translation and commentary of the Jīvanmuktagītā and Avadhūtagītā. Rigopoulos 1998 provides an in-depth study of Dattātreya from its Purāṇic emergence up to its development in the Marāṭhī cultural area and explores the deity’s myths, doctrines, rituals, philosophy, mysticism, and iconography; while Rigopoulos 2009 is an encyclopedia article offering a synthetic introduction to the deity and a select bibliography. Joshi 1974 is a Marāṭhī anthology detailing Dattātreya’s chief literary sources in both Sanskrit and Marāṭhī, devotional hymns, thousand names, avatāras, ritual and meditative practices, sampradāya, and pilgrimage sites; while Keshavadas 1988 is an English anthology on Dattātreya that includes translations of texts such as the Jīvanmuktagītā, Gurugītā, and Avadhūtagītā. Morse 2012 analyzes the normative weight of the Gurucaritra, the foundational text of the Dattasampradāya, which functions as the veritable guru for all Dattātreya devotees. White 1972 was the first to note the relevance of Dattātreya for an understanding of what the author calls the “Sai Baba movement,” while Babu 1981 offers an overview of the deity and his avatāras, which is significantly dedicated to Shirdi Sai Baba (d. 1918). Krishnayya 2005 documents the presence of Dattātreya’s cult in the state of Andhra Pradesh: Śrīpād Śrīvallabh, who is venerated as the first avatāra of the deity within the Dattasampradāya, was born in Pīṭhāpūr in the East Godāvarī district of Andhra Pradesh.

• Babu, Sarath R., ed. Dattatreya: Glory of the Divine in Man. Dedicated to Lord Sainath of Shirdi. With the Blessings of Acharya Sri E. Bharadwaja. Ongole, India: Sainath Printers, 1981.

  An introductory publication on Dattātreya and his avatāras. The ācārya Ekkirala Bharadwaja (b. 1938–d. 1989), founder of the Sai Baba Mission in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, is himself revered as a Dattātreya incarnation.

• Bahadur, Sri Jaya Chamarajendra Wadiyar. Dattātreya: The Way and the Goal. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982.

  Originally published in 1957 (London, George Allen & Unwin), this was the first English monograph written on Dattātreya.

• Joshi, Hariprasad Shivprasad. Origin and Development of Dattātreya Worship in India. Baroda, India: Mahārāja Sayajirao University of Baroda Press, 1965.

  This study is divided into two parts: the first explores the god’s origins by tracing its literary sources from the Vedic period up to the Purāṇas and Tantras; the second portrays the development of Dattātreya’s worship, from the inception of the Dattasampradāya up to 19th- and 20th-century saints who are identified with him.

• Joshi, P. N. Śrīdattātreyajñānkoś. Bombay: Surekha Prakashan, 1974.

  A veritable encyclopedia on Dattātreya. Written in Marāṭhī, it comprises images of the deity’s major icons, guru figures, and places of pilgrimage.

• Keshavadas, Sadguru Sant. Sadguru Dattatreya. Oakland, CA: Vishwa Dharma, 1988.

  This anthology offers an overview of Dattātreya’s main Purāṇic stories, saints, yogas, mantras, hymns, and thousand names.

• Krishnayya, M. V. “Dattatreya Worship in the Popular Hinduism of Coastal Andhra.” In Incompatible Visions: South Asian Religions in History and Culture; Essays in Honor of David M. Knipe. Edited by J. Blumenthal, 171–183. Madison, WI: Center for South Asia, 2005.

  This article offers an overview on the place of Dattātreya in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where the deity is quite popular.

• Morse, Jeremy G. “The Literary Guru: The Dual Emphasis on Bhakti and Vidhi in Western Indian Guru-Devotion.” In The Guru in South Asia: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by J. Copeman and A. Ikegame, 222–240. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.

  Based on the author’s ethnographic work in Maharashtra, this article highlights the function of the Gurucaritra as the authoritative guru for all contemporary devotees within the Dattātreya cult.

• Rigopoulos, Antonio. Dattātreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatāra: A Study of the Transformative and Inclusive Character of a Multi-Faceted Hindu Deity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998.

  The revised version of the author’s PhD thesis, this book is a comprehensive study of Dattātreya from its Purāṇic emergence up to modern times, focusing on its foundational Sanskrit and Marāṭhī texts.

• Rigopoulos, Antonio. “Dattātreya.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Vol. 1. Edited by K. A. Jacobsen, H. Basu, A. Malinar, and V. Narayanan, 513–516. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2009.

  This article offers a general introduction to the deity.

• White, Charles Sidney John. “The Sai Baba Movement: Approaches to the Study of Indian Saints.” Journal of Asian Studies 31.4 (1972): 863–878.

  DOI: 10.2307/2052105

  The first scholar to coin the expression “Sai Baba movement,” linking Shirdi Sai Baba—along with a few disciples and connections of his—to Sathya Sai Baba. C. S. J. White was the first to highlight the relevance of the god Dattātreya and of the poet-saint Kabīr for understanding these charismatic figures.