Anusuya, the wife of the sage Atri rishi[1], was very chaste and virtuous. The fame and lustre of Anusuya’s chastity and virtue had already spread far and wide in the three worlds (heaven, earth and nether world). Goddess Savitri, Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Parvati, wives of the three Gods Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesh became jealous due to the splendour of the religious merit of Anusuya. The great sage Narada[2] instigated the three divine goddesses who then convinced their husbands to test Anusuya for her chastity and virtue. With this intent, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesh approached the hermitage of sage Atri as guests in the form of Brahmins.
Sage Atri was away from the hermitage at that time. Anusuya prepared food for the three guests. But then the three guests made a strange request, “we will accept your food only if you feed us without wearing any garment”. Embarrassed with this strange request of the guests, Anusuya was highly confused. Her virtue andchastity were at stake on one side and her hospitality was at stake on the other hand. Then Anusuya took some water from the Kamandalu14 of sage Atri and sprinkled it on the guests. Miraculously, the guests turned into babies and started crying. Due to their crying, the motherly affection in Anusuya was stimulated and she breast-fed all the three babies.
When the three Gods did not return as expected, their wives Savitri, Lakshmi and Parvati became very anxious and worried. They approached Anusuya’s hermitage, claiming their husbands. Anusuya informed them “Your husbands did not come here. The three guests that did come here are in the cradle at present”. The three Goddesses found it impossible to identify their husbands in the form of babies. The Goddesses then surrendered themselves to Anusuya and requested for her help. Anusuya then once again sprinkled the water from sage Atri’s kamandalu on the babies and the babies assumed their original forms of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesh.
Due to the splendour and glory of the religious merit of Anusuya, the three Gods individually left a portion of their Divine essence with Anusuya before returning back. The Divine essence of the three Gods integrated in one form and Lord Dattatrey was born at Sunset time on Margasheersh Poornima[3] Day.
In the Hindu mythology, there is a second narration of this event where the three Gods, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Mahesh blessed Anusuya and sage Atri with three sons. Each son was blessed with the Divinity of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahesh respectively. Moon, their first son was the form of passion, represented Lord Brahma; Datta, the second son with the form of goodness, represented Lord Vishnu; and Durvasa was the third son with the form of ignorance, represented Lord Mahesh. After a few days, the two sons Moon and Durvasa merged their divinity into Datta and went away. Moon took his place in the sky and Durvasa opted for penance. Thus all the three Divine forms, merged into Datta, who then became known as Dattatrey with three faces and six hands.
[1] Atri Rishi: Atri maharishi is one of the ten sons of Creator Brahma, created by just the will of the Almighty and therefore designated as a Maanasa-putras (mentally generated issues). There were ten of these. Atri’s wife is Anasuyaa, a daughter of Kardama Prajapati. They had three sons: Datta, Durvasa and Soma. Rama, the son of Dasaratha, visited Atri Maharishi’s Ashram during his fourteen years of stay in the forest. It was Atri who showed the way to Dandakaranya forest to Rama, after showering his hospitality on him. Atri Maharishi is considered to be one of the great discoverers of sacred Mantras of Hinduism. In his family line there were a few other seers of mantras namely: Shaavaashva, Avishtir, and Purvaatithi. There were also other great Rishis in that line: Mudgala, Uddaalaki, Shaakalaayani, Chaandogya, etc. Atri-samhita and Atri-smriti are two works attributed to Atri.
[2] Sage Narada: A divine sage, who is an enduring chanter of the names Hari and Narayana which are other names for Vishnu, considered to be the supreme God by Hindus. He is regarded the Manasputra (son born of one’s mind) of Brahma as he was born of his thoughts. He is regarded as the Triloka sanchaari, the ultimate nomad who roams the three lokas of Swargaloka (heaven), Mrityuloka (earth) and Patalloka (nether-world). He does this to find out about the life and welfare of people. He was the first to practise Natya Yoga. He is also known as Kalahapriya as he playfully causes quarrels amongst Gods (devas), Goddesses and
people.
[3] Margasheersh Poornima: Full moon day of the ninth Hindu month and the month of December as per English Calendar.