Dattātreya

Avatars

Dattātreya (sometimes referred to as Datta) is one of the 24 avatārs of Vishnu. In terms of entities, Dattātreya incarnated from a jiva. When Parabrahma Purushottam Narayan enters the jiva entity, it is capable of incarnating as an avatār. He was a great yogi, born to Atri Rushi and Anusuya on Purnima (full moon day) of Magashar. His original name was Datta; however, he was known as Ātreya because he was the son of Atri. He became well-known as Dattātreya, however.

He gave Kārtavirya a thousand arms and a golden chariot. He also gave wisdom to King Yadu and liberated him. He made 24 gurus:

(1) Earth, (2) wind, (3) space, (4) water, (5) fire, (6) moon, (7) sun, (8) pigeon, (9) python, (10) ocean, (11) moth, (12) honeybee, (13) elephant, (14) fly, (15) deer, (16) fish, (17) prostitute, (18) hawk, (19) child, (20) virgin, (21) arrow maker, (22) snake, (23) spider, (24) wasp.

Therefore, many yogis and ascetics consider Dattātreya as their guru. The purpose of this avatār in Treta-Yug was to give the knowledge of the Vedas. After studying the six Shastras and examining the truth in their principles, he gave predominance to the Vedant Shastra.