Overview
Dattatreya (Sanskrit: दत्तात्रेय, IAST: Dattātreya), also called Dattā or Dattaguru, is a Hindu deity revered as a paradigmatic sannyasi (monk) and one of the lords of yoga. In several Puranic texts, including the Bhagavata Purana, the Markandeya Purana and the Brahmanda Purana, he is described as a combined avatar of the Trimurti — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — and as a manifestation of Parabrahma, the supreme being. Stories of his birth and origin vary across these texts.
Dattatreya occupies an important place in the Vedanta-Yoga tradition of Hinduism. Several Upanishads are dedicated to him, and the Avadhuta Gita (literally, "song of the free soul"), one of the notable texts on non-dualism and renunciation, is traditionally attributed to him. His teachings emphasise simple living, kindness to all beings, and the sharing of spiritual knowledge gathered through wandering and observation of nature.
Over the centuries, Dattatreya has inspired monastic movements within Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, with strong followings in the Deccan region, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and parts of the Himalayas. He is reverentially mentioned in the devotional poetry of Tukaram, a saint-poet of the Bhakti movement.
Scholarly views on his place in the Nath tradition differ. According to Rigopoulos, Dattatreya is regarded in the Nath tradition of Shaivism as the Adi-Guru (First Teacher) of the Adinath Sampradaya and the first "Lord of Yoga" with mastery of Tantra, though many traditions and scholars treat Adi Nath as an epithet of Shiva. Mallinson argues that Dattatreya was not the traditional guru of the Nath Sampradaya but was incorporated into it around the 18th century as part of Vishnu–Shiva syncretism. He cites the Marathi text