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Dattatreya nama-mantra
ॐ दत्तात्रेयाय नमः
Simple reading
Om dat-taat-re-yaa-ya na-mah
Oṁ Dattātreyāya Namaḥ
About this mantra
Salutation to Dattatreya, son of Atri and Anasuya, in whom Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are honoured together; the adi-guru of the avadhuta tradition.
Meaning
Om, salutations to Dattatreya. Datta is 'given' and Atreya is 'of Atri': the Lord given as a son to the sage and Anasuya. In him the tradition honours all three cosmic functions in a single guru's body. This is the avadhuta who called twenty-four things his teachers, among them earth, python, pigeon and child (Bhagavata Purana 11.7–9). The mantra asks for exactly that eye, the one that can learn from anything.
Learn it by heart
Say the first line until it comes without reading, then add the next line and say both, until the whole mantra comes on its own.
Whole mantra
This mantra is a single line. Learn it whole, then add it to your review deck so it comes back for a check.
ॐ दत्तात्रेयाय नमः
Oṁ Dattātreyāya Namaḥ
0not said yet
Aim for eleven. Stop reading as soon as the whole mantra comes on its own.
Progress stays on this device.
When to recite it
Datta Jayanti (Margashirsha Purnima) and Thursdays, the guru's day; recited before seeking guidance, meeting teachers, and by those learning from life's unlikely instructors.
Word by word
- ॐoṁ
- the primordial sound
- दत्तात्रेयायdattātreyāya
- to Dattatreya, son of Atri
- नमःnamaḥ
- I bow, salutations
Source: Traditional nāma-mantra (Datta tradition)