Dattatreya
Dattatreya Jayanti
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva in one child, the Guru of gurus, taught by all creation.
Tithi: Margashirsha Purnima
In the simplest words
Birthday of Dattatreya: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in one gentle teacher, who called even the earth, a pigeon and a python his gurus.
The story & purpose
To test Anasuya's sati-dharma the trimurti came as mendicants with an impossible demand; her purity turned them into infants, and at Atri's ashram the three merged into one child: Datta, 'the given', Atreya, son of Atri. Three heads, six hands, four dogs (the Vedas), and the wish-cow beside him: the whole cosmos as one guru-figure.
The rest of the story
The Bhagavata's Dattatreya (Bhagavata Purana 11.7–9) names twenty-four gurus, among them earth, wind, a pigeon, the sea, a courtesan and an arrow-maker, for the wise learn from all things. The avadhuta walks free of every frame; the Datta sampradaya of Maharashtra and Karnataka keeps his jayanti with Gurucharitra parayana through the week.
What is done
Datta puja
The trimurti-form honoured under an audumbara (cluster fig) where possible, the tree dearest to him.
Gurucharitra parayana
The seven-day reading concluding on the jayanti, in the Datta tradition.
Guru jaap
Om Dattatreyaya Namah, or Guru Brahma, the lineage saluted.
Anna-seva
Feeding wandering sadhus and the hungry; Datta walks as the unexpected guest.
Best timings
Puja at dusk into the purnima moonrise.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Gangapur, Narsobawadi, and Mount Girnar are his great seats; Girnar's 10,000 steps end at his padukas.
'Digambara Digambara Shripada Vallabha Digambara' is the sampradaya's own refrain.
He is honoured across lines: Nath yogis, Mahanubhavs, and even Sufi-adjacent shrines keep Datta's name.