Dattatreya Jayanti : Date, Significance and Story Behind Margashirsha Purnima or
Story or Mythology of God Dattatreya
Dattatreya was the son of sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Anasuya, a chaste and virtuous wife performed severe tapasya to beget a son equal in merits as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The consorts of the three male deities Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati became jealous and goaded their husbands to test her. The three gods appeared before Anasuya as sanyasis (ascetics) and asked her to give them alms naked. Anasuya was taken aback but she did not lose her composure and chanted a mantra and turned the three ascetics into babies. Then she breastfed them with her milk, naked, as they had wished. When her husband Atri returned she narrated the entire incident to him. He transformed the three babies into a single baby with three heads and six arms. Today’s Full Moon is Last Supermoon of 2017, Moon Before Yule, Frost Moon and Also Commemorates Dattatreya Jayanti
Since the three divine deities did not return their consorts became worried and soon approached Anasuya. The goddesses begged for forgiveness and requested Anasuya to return their husbands to which she agreed. The three male deities then appeared in their true form and blessed Anasuya and Atri with a son named Dattatreya; this is why Dattatreya is regarded as a form of all the three deities. However, popularly he is considered an avatar of Vishnu while his brothers, god Chandra and sage Durvasa are considered forms of Brahma and Shiva respectively.
Significance of Dattattreya or Datta Jayanti
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.
