Dattatreya Jayanti 2017: Date, Significance and Story Behind Margashirsha Purnima
Dattatreya Jayanti is also known as Datta Jayanti and it is celebrated to commemorate the birthday of Hindu God Dattatreya (Datta) who is seen as a combined form of the male divine trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
According to Rigopoulos, in the Nath tradition of Shaivism, Dattatreya is revered as the Adi-Guru (First Teacher) of the Adinath Sampradaya of the Nathas, the first “Lord of Yoga” with mastery of Tantra (techniques).His pursuit of simple life, kindness to all, sharing of his knowledge and the meaning of life during his travels is reverentially mentioned in the poems by Tukaram, a saint-poet of the Bhakti movement.Over time, Dattatreya has inspired many monastic movements in Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, particularly in the Deccan region of India, south India, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himalayan regions where Shiva tradition has been strong.According to Mallinson, Dattatreya is not the traditional guru of the Nath sampradaya, he was coopted by the Nath tradition in about the 18th century as a guru, as a part of Vishnu-Shiva syncretism. This is evidenced by the Marathi text Navanathabhaktisara, states Mallinson, wherein there is syncretic fusion of the Nath Sampradaya with the Mahanubhav sect by identifying nine Naths with nine Narayanas.
On Datta Jayanti people take bath in the morning and observe fast. Devotees read the sacred books Avadhuta Gita and Jivanmukta Gita, which contain the god’s discourse on this day and pledge to follow in his steps. Dutta Jayanti is celebrated with much fanfare in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. It is believed that donation and charity done on this day gives thirty-two times better results than usual, hence Margashirsha Purnima is also called Battisi Purnima.
