DattātreyaAuthor(s): I. M. P. RaesideSource: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 45,No. 3 (1982), pp. 489-500Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/614921Accessed: 20/02/2010 04:48

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cup.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

School of Oriental and African Studies and Cambridge University Press are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon.

http://www.jstor.org

DATTATREYA

By I. M. P. RAESIDE

1. Introduction The object of this brief account is primarily to make available the

Mahanubhava evidence on Dattatreya-most of which, where it is published at all, is published in Marathi. The little written on the subject in the West is either out-dated or extremely sketchy,1 and fails to distinguish between what is said of Dattatreya in the early Mahanubhava texts and the tales of the later material. At the same time it is necessary to provide some kind of context by referring to the Puranic evidence and also to the more recent developments of the Dattatreya cult which is confined almost entirely to western India-Gujarat, Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. These sections are far from exhaustive for there are more trails than can be pursued in the course of one article.

Dattatreya is the most enigmatic as well as the most fascinating of the Mahanubhava paica krsna-the five manifestations of god (paramesvara) on earth that the sect worships. His standing is neither that of an all-India pan- Hindu figure like Krsna, nor that of purely Mahanubhava cult-figures such as Cakradhara or Govindaprabhu.2 It is true that the third avatar, Cakrapani or Cangadeva Raula, is clearly shared by the Mahanubhavas and the Natha sect, but so little is known of him that speculation, though agreeable, has practically nothing upon which to operate. For Dattatreya there is more background, though even here almost every line of enquiry ends in a question mark.

Although an impressive bibliography in English and Marathi could be assembled around the name Dattatreya, most of it would consist of hagio- graphical works emanating from one of the modern cult-centres in Maha- rashtra and Gujarat, or from offshoots of these in neighbouring Andhra and Mysore. There are only two basic scholarly works: by H. S. Joshi in English and R. C. Dhere in Marathi. The more recent Sri Dattatreya jidnackosd draws largely on these two books, and although it adds more details of cult centres and their associated legends these are scarcely ever supported by references and are impossible to evaluate, at least historically. Out of all the Marathi writers, Dhere alone, though extremely tactful, does not present himself as a committed devotee of Dattatreya in one form or another.3

2. Purmina In the Mahdbhdrata Dattatreya is a rishi who when propitiated granted

gifts, notably 1000 arms, to Kartavirya or Sahasrarjuna.4 In the Puranas, those late ones which mention him at all, it is generally agreed that he was born

1 Examples would be J. N. Farquar, An outline of the religious literature of India, Oxford, 1920, 247-9; J. Gonda, Die Religionen Indiens, II, Stuttgart, 1963, 67, 177-8.

2 . M. P. Raeside, 'The Mahanubhavas ', BSOAS, xxxix, 3, 1976, 593-4. 3 R. C. phere, Datta sampraddydcd itihdsa, 2nd ed., Poona, 1964; P. N. Josi, 'ridattdtreya

jndnakosa, Bombay, 1974; H. S. Joshi, Origin and development of Dattatreya worship in India, Baroda, 1965.

4 III. cxv. 8+; XII. xlix. 30+ ; XIII. cxxxvii. 5-6; cxxxviii. 12; cxlii. 21. The references are to the BORI edition which is not the most convenient since it consigns the first two cases to an appendix or footnote as interpolations. The references to Dattitreya in the Anusdsanaparva have, however, been allowed to remain. It is of interest to recall that the Kartavirya episode provides Madeleine Biardeau with a platform from which to launch one of her attacks on the 'reconstructed' Mahdbhdrata text, although she is not here concerned with Dattatreya. M. Biardeau, 'The story of Arjana Kartavirya without reconstruction,' Puri.na, xII, 2, July 1970, 286-303.

I. M. P. RAESIDE

to Anusuya and the rishi Atri as a fragment of Visnu 5 or as the Visnu part of a trio when Brahma Visnu and giva all consented to be born as three sons from the womb of Anusuya.6 A common though doubtless mistaken etymology of his name is datta -+ dtreya (' the given son of Atri '), though in the trio story his brothers are given the names of Soma, son of Brahma, and Durvasas, son of gankara, while he is just Datta. Since Atreya is also a name of Durvasas some conflation seems to be indicated. Whatever the origins of the name Dattatreya and whatever the relationships between the Mahdbhdrata and the Purdnas, problems which are doubtless destined to remain unsolvable, it is enough for us to know that by say A.D. 1000 the connexion of Atri with Dattatreya was firmly established. The same Purdnas repeat, usually at greater length, the Kartavirya episode from the Bhdrata,7 and the story reaches its maximum elaboration in the Mdrkandeya-purSna where Dattatreya has become a Yogisvara and is heavily tinged with Shaktism-indulging in meat and wine and showing himself in the company of a beautiful woman, his sakti, with whom he himself claims to have been making love.8 Only when the aspirants for his favour, whether gods or men, persist and declare that they know both him and his woman, the world mother, to be beyond all such trivia,9 does Dattatreya relent and grant them their requests. Kartavirya is one of these aspirants, and it is perhaps significant that while the other puranic references imply that he obtained his boons from Dattatreya by austerities,10 thus supporting the Mahdbhdrata tradition that associates Kartavirya with austerities," in the Mdrkandeya story he serves Dattatreya like an ordinary disciple, massaging his feet and serving him delicious food.12

Another aspirant to whom Dattatreya gives yogic instruction is the king Anarka or Alarka, son of Madalasa. The episode is briefly mentioned elsewhere 13

but in the Mdrkandeya is expanded to a considerable length.14 It seems that at this stage Dattatreya is a master of yoga, associated with

Sakti and potentially divine, but still not unambiguously the recipient of human worship. His yogic connexions are also established by the appearance of his name in the late yogic upanisads such as the Sdndilya,15 while the Dattdtreyo- panisad and the Avadhatopanisad are entirely sectarian works which presumably post-date his establishment as the centre of a cult.16 Similarly, his appearance in Tantric works like Tripurarahasya 17 being undatable, or at least not sufficiently well dated to form the basis of an argument, can only be noted as exemplifying the same general gakta connexions-which leaves Dattatreya's role in the early Mahanubhava texts as the first roughly datable testimony to the next stage in his cult.

5 Bhdgavata II. vii. 4; I. iii. 11; Visnu IV. xi. 3. 6 Siva II. xix. 1-28; Mdrkandeya xvi. 89. 7 For the full puranic references see H. S. Joshi, op. cit., 55-63. 8 Mdrkaindeya xvii. 21-3, xviii. 23-30, xix. 4-5. 9 anagheyarn dvija8restha jaganmdtd na dfusyate/yathd4rsumdld s8ryasya dvijacd.nS4ilasangini

(Mdrkandeya xviii. 32). 10 e.g. varsayutam taptvd (Brahmapurdna XIII. 161). 11 II. xiv. 11; III. iii. 10. 12 Mdrkandeya xix. 1-3. 13 See Joshi, op. cit., 63. 14 Mdrkandeya xx-xliv. 15 Joshi, op. cit., 51-4. 16 The appellation avadhuta has come to be particularly associated with Dattatreya in the

modern cult. Whether it always was is another matter. Zimmer, for instance, in his Philo8sophies of India (1964 ed., 448-9) cites the Avadhu?ta Gitd simply as one of many ' Veddnta GitMs '. Cf. Joshi, 72-5.

17 See Joshi, op. cit., 71-2; Dhere, 21-5.

490

DATTATREYA

3. Lkldcaritra and Sutrapdtha It is instructive first to isolate what is said about Dattatreya in the Lild-

caritra and the Sutrapdtha, respectively the Life and the Teachings of Cakra- dhara, which were first constructed by his disciples between 1274 and 1287, subsequently lost in the troubles that accompanied the fall of the Yadava kingdom of Devgiri, and later reconstructed in the early fourteenth century.l8

1. At Matapura (Mahur) on the hill of Devagiri Sri Dattatreya Prabhu passed on his sakti (or alternatively his avatdra) to 'the Gosavi' [who at this time was gri Cangadeva Raula] in the guise of a tiger which laid its paw on Cangadeva's head (Ekdnka 1).19

2. Cakradhara recommends some of his followers to visit Atmatirtha at Pancalesvara 20 because it is associated with Dattatreya and 'not like other places' (Purvdrdha 43).

3. When Cakradhara is expounding the greatness (mahirn) of Dattatreya, two of his disciples express the desire to obtain his darsana. He advises then how to achieve this and they set out for Devagiri at MIatapira but later turn back because they know that they have not carried out his instructions with sufficient care. He says to them, 'How shall one obtain darsana of gri Datta- treya Prabhi, that supreme (amogha) darsana! ' (Purvddha 62). This last phrase appears again in almost the same words in Sutrapdtha, Vicdra 284.

4. Cakradhara visits Pancalesvara and points out, without further comment, the site of Dattatreya's hut (gumphd) (Purvdrdha 312).

5. While convincing Mhaimbhata of his own divinity Cakradhara mentions the other avatars of Isvara through which the human soul (jiva) may be released from samsdra. Among these are ' Sri Dattatreya-prabhu in Matapura '. Mhaimbhata protests that he is unseen and gives no darsana. Cakradhara does not contradict him but indicates himself as the only efficacious means of release in the present age (Uttardrdha 113). These sayings underly the whole of the Pancakrsna section of Sitrapdtha.2

6. When some rival yogi, significantly named Vamadeva, is challenged to conjure up demons and fails, he makes the somewhat lame excuse that some have gone to Kolhapur and some to Matapur (Uttardrdha 284).

In the Sutrapdtha, as I have pointed out elsewhere,22 apart from the mention of Dattatreya in the lists of the Pancakrsna and Pancandma sections, only four sutras are devoted to him at the very end of Vicdra:

7. ' gri Dattatreyaprabhu's avatar [takes place] in all four yuga' (282).23 8. ' The three afflictions (tinhi tdpa) of Alarka were removed at the first sight

[of Dattatreya] when he said " Sambali gambali! " That speech is a very shower of nectar.' (283)

9. 'That supreme darsana!' (284)

18 See Raeside, 1976, 589. V. B. Kolate, Sri Cakradhara caritra, Malkapur, 1952, 284-318, discusses the dates of Cakradhara and of the Lildcaritra at length. The most recent treatment is A. Feldhaus, The Mahdnubhdva Sutrapdtha, Univ. of Pennsylvania Ph.D. thesis, 1976, 13-29.

19 I refer to the Lildcaritra in the edition of S. G. Tulpule, 5 vols., Poona, 1964-7, and, as is conventional, by the number of the l.ld within the three sections Ekdnka, Purvdrdha and Uttardrdha.

20 On the south bank of the Godavari east of Paithan. The Datta temple there was recently (in 1963) rebuilt and reconsecrated by an active group of MahanubhKvas.

21 See Feldhaus, op. cit., 19-21, for a discussion of the relationship of the Pancakrsna to the rest of the Sutrapdtha.

22 Raeside, 1976, 594. 23 I cite the Sutrapd.tha from my own pantha edition of the text; Nagpur, 1959. Dr. Feldhaus's

excellent edition, when published, will of course supersede this.

491

I. M. P. RAESIDE

10. ' ri Dattatreya prabhu is the first cause (ddikdrana) of this path (madrga).' (285)

In addition there is in the Siutrapdtha one reference to Mahur: 11. ' One should not go to Matapur and Kolhapur. These prideful (sdbhima-

niyem) places cause obstacles (vighna) for those who strive to attain (sddhaka).' (Acdra 25)

4. Gadyardja and Sahyddri-varnana In all this the only connexion with the Puranic Dattatreya is the allusion to

Alarka, but there are other, almost contemporary-that is early fourteenth- century-Mahanubhava works which clearly refer to three main stories. First is the Gadyaraja-stotra of Hayagrivacarya written about 1320 which contains five slokas on Dattatreya (232-6).24 The first and fifth are rather general, indicating only that Dattatreya was born into a line of rishis and that he was elusive, appearing in many forms and disguises. Apart from this:

(a) He gave world dominion to Sahasrarjuna who had made an incense- burner of his hands (v. 233).

(b) He ended the afflictions of the son of Madalasa (Alarka) with the arrows of triple utterance (vdktraya). [Disguised as] an outcaste he carries a load of meat upon a carrying pole (kdvadi) (v. 234).

(c) Renuka tells Parasurama to seek out Dattatreya to perform the office of priest at her cremation. He will be recognized by the dead becoming quick (jada cetana lak.sa).25 At first Dattatreya refuses, but finally agrees when besought by a woman (v. 235).

Next in date, c. 1330, is the Sahyddri-vartnana of Ravalobasa which, in spite of its name, has little more than a third of its 517 verses devoted to Dattatreya and which, rather than telling a story, makes passing allusions to his birth in the line of Atri, to the Alarka story, the Sahasrarjuna story and the Parasurama story.26 Only this last has details that are worth noting:

Parasurama, feigning sorrow for his parents, wanders everywhere carrying their bones on his shoulder with a pole (kdvadi) (151). He comes to Matapur and there meets Dattatreya (173) who accepts the role of priest (dcaritva) (177)-Dattatreya at the touch of whose feet Sarvatirtha was created (178); who gave enjoyment (bhoga) to Ekavira, who established the linga of Vijnanesvara (179) and also Atmatirtha (180).

5. Sathydra-lild Finally, an explanation of all three stories can be found in a series of lil.

called Sahyddra-lZTl that Kolate has published as an appendix to Sahyddri- varnana (pp. 307-9). They are apparently to be found in several manuscripts of L.ldcaritra gathered together as lila specifically relating to Dattatreya. Although ostensibly written in the form of the original l.lds of Cakradhara, they do not inspire confidence and I would regard them as having been written explicitly to fill out the bare references of the Sahyddri-varnana itself. They occur in the same order and often seem to be commenting the actual words.

24 J. S. Desapande and Kr.nadasa Mahanubhava, Hayagrivdcdryakrta Gadyardja, Bombay, 1966. The dating of this work could be challenged, but the Mahinubhava histories are so detailed and, in the main, so consistent that it is unlikely to be far out.

25 The line is obscure and has admittedly been translated in the light of the later commentaries and of the version translated below.

26V. B. Kolate, Ravalobasakrta sahyadri-varn.ana, Poona 1964, vv. 21-6, 127-31, 132-6, 151-83.

492

DATTATREYA

Whatever their date 27 they are interesting as representing the most developed stage in the Mahanubhava Dattatreya legends and are worth translating here in full.

Meeting with Alarka. The Gosavi was staying 28 in the Ganapati temple. Mahadaisa 29 asked the Gosavi, (Another opinion: Mhaimbhata asked.) 'In what guise did c ri Dattatre Prabhu encounter Alarka? ' The Gosavi said, 'In the guise of a Mang.' ' How so lord? ' The Gosavi said, 'He set out from the wicket gate.30 Alarka was afflicted with the three fevers. He set out. He came to the Sahyadra. He was going thus when from the other side proceeded 31 gri Dattatraye Prabhu in the guise of a Manga. He was wearing a tall turban and a dhoti.32 A knife for cutting up meat was thrust into his waist-cloth; about his divine neck a necklace of bora beads, thick-soled (?) sandals on his feet. On his shoulder was a kdvadi of flesh and through its great weight his body was bent, thus he made it seem. Then before him he saw Alarka and said, " Semboli semboli! ".33 Alarka who was burning with the three fevers was eased. Then he asked, " How? Through what have I become eased? " Then he looked and saw him thus, and made obeisance.' The Gosavi said, 'All three fevers of Alarka were removed at the very sight of him when he said,

" Semboli! Semboli!" That speech is a shower of nectar.' ' Ji Ji! From that speech nectar was showered upon him. Then would nectar be showered upon us also from that speech?' The Gosavi said, ' Alarka was a follower of Sri Dattatraye Prabhu.'34

Granting of boons to Sahasdrjuna. Sahasarjuna [sic] was maimed 35

(aupalinga). He did not take control of his state. He handed over his state to the minister. 'You care for the state. We by imploring with joined hands will get for ourselves an empire.' Thus saying he came, examining all the ashrams of the high rishis, to Sahyadra. Then he saw in the ashram of Sri Dattatraye Prabhu spirits that were not hostile (?nWvaireyn bhute)). There he remained. He performed no service at all. One day he obtained the sight of Sri Dattatreya Prabhu. He was massaged with oil and bathed.36

27 The versions of the three main stories given here have close parallels in the prose com- mentary on the verses of Gadyardja already referred to. This commentary is traditionally ascribed to Bhismacarya Lasirakara in the late fourteenth century, so probably the nearest one can get to dating the Sahyddra-lild is some time between 1330 and 1400.

28 avasthdna' in the meta-language of Lildcaritra means a stay of more than one day in any place. 29 Mahadaisa was one of Cakradhara's first female disciples. Her questions originate many lil.

30 ' khidakidvdrehuni '. This possibly refers to a sambandhi sthdna-an existing door of the Devadevesvara temple that would be sacred to the faithful through being ' connected' with Paramesvara. On the other hand there is no mention of such a sthdna in the relevant section of the Sthdnapothi (ed. V. B. Kolate, Malkapur, c. 1950).

31 bijesm karitdti '. In Mahanubhava works avatars of Paramesvara never ' go ' or ' walk ' they ' advance in triumph ' (bijem < vijaya ?).

32 ' ubhe dhtdiyd' and ' suld '. Some particular way of tight-binding the head-cloth seems to be meant, plus a waist-cloth-both presumably typical of the Manga, one of the lowest of the old untouchable castes of Maharashtra.

33 cf. Aambali in the Sutrapa.tha (above p. 492). The words are perhaps derived from Skt. Aambala-' provisions for a journey ', referring to the load of meat-a suggestion I owe to J. C. Wright.

34 Meaning: ' You, who are my followers, should not expect similar effects '. There are many similar anecdotes in Lildcaritra where Cakradhara discourages his flock from expecting miracles from him.

35 The tradition that Kartavirya was born armless or, as here, having only fingerless stumps in place of hands can be found in the Ga.nesa-purdaa I. 72-3 and in the Renukd-maidhtmya xxvii (see below, note 62).

36 mardand mddanenm jdlern. The ceremonial oiling and bathing of Cakradhara is frequently referred to in Lildcaritra. Cf. Uttardrdha 8, 234 and especially Purvdrdha 262 for a detailed account. The ambiguity over the ' he' runs throughout this passage but it is not hard to work out who is doing what.

493

I. M. P. RAESIDE

He was seeking for the incense-burner (dhupatana) in order to perfume his hair, but he could not see it. The flowing hair (kesa-ka.lpa) was becoming dry. Soon the dhupa would not ' take ' on it. There on his stumps 37 he put an ember and upon that incense, and he began to cense the hair. Then there was a smell of burning flesh, and thereupon Sri Dattatraye Prabhu saw him thus. 'What's this? Drop it! Drop it! Ask! I am content.' He came before him. With joined hands he stood in front of him and said, 'Ji Ji! The Gosavi knows it [already] '. ri Dattatraye Prabhu said, 'There will a thousand arms. Thou shalt be of unmatched strength. There will be imperial rule (cakravartipada). (Another opinion: 'There shall be rule over the whole circle of the earth' (valdnkrta prthviceem rajya).) But if thou shalt anger a woman, a brahman and a cow, these three, thou art destroyed.' And he did that very thing and therefore such befell him.38

The story of his officiationfor Pharasarama. Pharasarama was acquiring wisdom with Mahadeva in Kailasa when Ekavira cried out, 'Run to me ! ' Mahadeva said, ' Some harm (adani) has befallen your mother. She is calling you.' Pharasarama came and Ekavira said, ' gri Dattatraye Prabhu should act as priest (dcdrye kardve). You should perform the rite on ground that is pure (n7salye).' ' By what shall I recognize him? ' ' At the sight of him shoots will spring out upon dry wood.' Saying this Ekavira straightway abandoned life. Pharasarama took both 39 upon his shoulder in a kdvad7. Pharasarama wandered over many lands, then he came to Saihyadra. He was continuing like this when from before him came gri Dattatraye Prabhu in the guise of a hunter (pdradhi). He was wearing a new-starched dhoti tied close in the wrestler's style.40 In one hand he held a pair of dogs and under his arm a pitcher (gadiydid)1; in his right hand meat and a coconut-shell of liquor; on his head a thong; 41 on his feet double-soled sandals. With him was a dev.42 She had a fresh starched garment that she wore tucked in at the waist; 43 a fresh new choli knotted at the ' wings ',44 her braid hanging free, sandals on her feet-thus she appeared. Then the carrying pole sprouted shoots. Straightway he set down the pole and made obeisance and besought. Sri Dattatraye Prabhu began to refuse him. Pharasarama began to beg. gri Dattatraye Prabhu would not accept his plea. Then the devi that was with him also begged him and thereupon gri Dattatraye Prabhu accepted his plea. Then Sri Dattatraye Prabhu said, 'Here should be all the tirthas.' ' Ji Ji! All the tTrthas are in the feet of the Gosavi.' Then Sri Dattatraye Prabhu caused Pharasarama to fire an arrow. There where it

37 thdpdi. For thdpd in the sense of ' fingerless stump' see Drstdnta 53 (the Leper): hdtdpdydce thdpe jale hote-' his arms and legs had turned into stumps' (ed. S. G. Tulapule, Dr.stintapdtha, Poona, 1966, 27).

38 That is, he harmed Renuki, Jamadagni and the kdmadhenu. See M. Biardeau, art. cit. in note 4, for a discussion of this part of the legend.

39 The corpses of both his parents. It is unusual that Reniuka should actually die. Cf. A. Gail, ParaJurdma Brahmane und Krieger, Wiesbaden, 1977, 211.

40 khalica seduld mdlaganthim vedhild hotd. Cf. Lildcaritra, Uttdrdha 114-eku sduld mdla- ganthi vedhild; also Vachdharana (ed. V. B. Kolate, Malkapur, 1953) 224.

41 doriydnd. I have no idea what this might be, but it seems reasonable to connect it with dorn ' cord '. Perhaps a rope head-band ?

42 duserp' mother, mdtd, dev '. Possibly the word implies a female yogi for Ausem is the name of such a person who became one of Cakradhara's disciples (Pirvdrdha 349-50).

43 parivanti.m nesalgim hotipz. The paravanta or parivanta appears to be the end of a dhoti or sari as tucked in tight round the waist and not draped over the shoulder (cf. Vachdharaga 226) and parivanfer nesa.nerm therefore is to wear a garment in this way (Lildcaritra Purvdrdha 254). The phrase paravanta bdndhanem or ddtanem occurs often in Litdcaritra in the context of a woman's girding herself up for a journey (Uttardrdha 62, 142, 231, 421).

44 ? pdkhoveyd gdthi didhaliyd hotiyd. Probably a characteristically pdradhi fashion of tying the two halves of the choli.

494

DATTATREYA

landed he placed the toe of his holy foot and made all the tirthas.4 He accepted the office of acarya and in that very place performed the final rite. He performed the ceremony in the Muladari.46 He took a stone. He set it up in the Mulapitha (another opinion: He set it up in the yard).47 He sprinkled it with liquor. He offered meat. He said, 'Enjoy ! ' (bhogdtem pava). (Another opinion: ' bhoga pava '.) 48 Mahadaisa asked, 'Ji! Who was she that was with him? ' The Gosavi said, 'Woman, she was Anava.' (This is Pharasarama's opinion.) 'Woman, she was Mayadevi.' (This is Ramesvara's opinion.)49

Establishment of Ekavira. The devotees questioned the Gosavi, 'Ji Ji! Ekavira was a rishi's wife, then how should meat and wine be pleasing to her? ' The Gosavi said, 'When gri Dattatraye Prabhu established her he held meat in one hand and wine in the other. He sprinkled the wine, offered the meat, and therefore it was pleasing to her.' Wine (madya) is the opinion of Pharasaramaba, spirit (madira) the opinion of Ramesvaraba.

The story of enjoyment for Ekav;ir. The Gosavi was staying in Pratisthana. After the morning worship 50 had taken place the Gosavi proceeded to walk abroad (viharanasthdna). All the devotees were with him and chiefly Mahadaisa. There was a great crowd (pavhd) 51 come to the Ekavira [festival].52 Mahadaisa asked, 'What people? ' The Gosavi said, ' gri Dattatraye Prabhu established her and said, " Achieve enjoyment" (another opinion: He said, ' bhoga! '), and therefore she has enjoyed.' 53

Water-sport at Merubala. Mahadaisa asked the Gosavi, ' Ji Ji ! Is it true that gri Dattatraye Prabhu sports in the water (jalakr;.dd karitdti) at Merubala? ' 54 The Gosavi said, 'It is true, woman'. (Another opinion: 'He is, woman. Still gri Dattatraye Prabhu is sporting at Merubala '.)

Giving of boon to Sankaradcrya. The Gosavi was staying at Belopura.55 Mahadaisa asked the Gosavi, ' Ji ! A sannydss has no tuft of hair or sacred thread, does not bathe and keep his purity (sandhyd sndna ndahm), does not perform the six duties (sadukarma), and yet how is he accepted as he is in the world? ' The Gosavi said, 'Sankaracarya besought gri Dattatraye Prabhu: " Ji Ji, let the appearance that I have shown be accepted in the world." gri Dattatraye Prabhu said, " It shall be ", and so it was.'

45 That is Sarvatirtha, mentioned in all the accounts of Mahur. 46 According to the Sthdnapothi, 77, this seems to be a shrine of some kind. The Dattitreya

jndnakosd, 374, talks of mulajhari in a list of minor holy places at Mahur. 47 This presumably reflects a dispute as to which tdndald (a more or less featureless stone

which has become a cult object) is the original one: that in the Mulapitha (Ekavira-Renuki) or some other outside. Cf. Sthdnapothi, 77-8.

48 The difference between the two versions is purely grammatical, concerning the presence or absence of the -teri ending.

49 Anava here is a deified form of vedha or inspirational teaching. See Feldhaus, op. cit., 82-4. Parakaramabasa and Rameivarabisa were the two principal ' editors' of the Lildcaritra when it was reconstructed in the early fourteenth century.

50 udaydncd pujdvasaru-not worship by but worship of Cakradhara-his regular levee. For a description see Kolate, Sricakradhara caritra, Malkapur, 1952, 158-9.

51 pavhd means a throng of pilgrims at or going to a festival. Cf. Purvdrdha, 68, 192; Uttardrdha 188.

62 There is no mention in Lildcaritra of any Ekavira sthdna in Paithan itself. This lild is very similar to Uttardrdha 188 which relates to the Mhdlasd festival in Nevasa.

53 The suggestion seems to be that the occasion was fairly riotous. There are many references to the prevalence of drunkenness at Devi festivals when theoretical offerings of liquor were distributed as prasdda.

54 Merub$a| is the name of a sacred pool near the Devadevegvara temple at Mahur. See Sthdnapothi, 78; R. C. ]Dhere, Datta sampraddydcd itihdsa, 213; Devikoga iI, 457. (P. K. Prabhudesai, Devikosa, 4 vols., Poona, 1967-72).

I5 Belopur on the Pravara north of Rahuri in Ahmadnagar District. It was the last place in which Cakradhara lived before being summoned to the capital and his death-Uttardrdha 458.

495

I. M. P. RAESIDE

6. Dattatreya and Renuka How is one to interpret these tales? We may suppose that the Tantric

connexions of the rishi Dattatreya, as witnessed especially in the Mdrkandeya- purdna, are evidence of a close association with Shakta Devi worship, and therefore that by the thirteenth century-and probably for long before-he had a sthana or associated shrine at Matapur.56 Even today Mahur with its temple of Renuka-Ekavira 57 and Kolhapur with MahalaksmI are the two main saktip.thas of Maharashtra.58 Dattatreya's connexions with Alarka and Kartavirya are Puranic, as we have seen, and Kartavirya is an integral part of the Parasurama story as told in the Mahdbhdrata,59 for it was in revenge for Kartavirya's murder of Jamadagni that Parasurama extirpated the ksatriyas 21 times. At this stage Renuka is of slight importance in her own right. Her place in the story is simply that of the victim of Jamadagni's wrath and the means by which Parasurama displays his obedience, or, if one accepts Biardeau's thesis, the sacrifice through which dilution of brahman and ksatriyaness is avoided.60 Often she plays no part in the Kartavirya-Jamadagni story at all.61

The next stage of Renuka as the great sati is perhaps represented in the Renukc-mdhdtmya of the Skanda-purdna.62 Here after Jamadagni's murder Parasurama puts the rishi's body into one basket of a kdvadi; and his live mother Renuka into the other, then sets out to find a site pure enough for the funeral rites. On his reaching Dattatreya's dsrama at Alaki in the Sahyadri a heavenly voice informs him that this is the fitting place, whereupon he burns Jamadagni's body and Renuka becomes sati with Dattatreya's approval.63 Whether Sahyadri here is meant to refer to Matapur or not is really irrelevant. All we need to know is the coming together of the name Renuka at one or other of her sthdnas, Parasurama with his kavad1 and Dattatreya. It is easy to imagine how Dattatreya, who was in at the beginning of the Kartavirya story in the Mahdbhdrata, might have been brought in to the end of it in a Renukd-mdhatmya which in its turn was attached to the ancient, probably prehistoric mother goddess that dwells in the stone on the peak of Matapur. There seems to be agreement that however many shrines of Ren. uka there may be in the Deccan today, Matapur was the principal sthdna of this goddess or, to put it another way, the first place of the goddess to which the Puranic story of Re.nuka and Paragurama was attached, but we can never hope to demonstrate this beyond all doubt, nor even to decide whether Dattatreya brought Renuka or Renuka brought Dattatreya to the hill of Mahur.

56 Cf. the similar situation of mountain-peak Datta temples on Guru Shikhar at Abu and at Girnar. On the latter see J. Burgess, Report on the antiquities of Kathiawad and Kacch (Archaeo- logical Survey of Western India iI), London, 1876, 175-6. Burgess was told, doubtless by a local Jain, that king Dattatri had been the first convert of Neminitha.

57 On the identity of Renuki and Ekavira see Devikosa ii, 443, 461 ff.; R. C. Dhere, lSdktipifthncd 4odha, Kolhapur, 1973, 33.

58 Traditionally Maharashtra has 3 sadktipithas: Mahur, Kolhapur, Jogesvari at Ambe Jogai and Saptasrngi near Nasik (Deviko4a ii, 472), and although there is controversy over which is the half, I have never seen it suggested that Mahur was anything but a full one.

59 Mahdbhdrata III (Vanaparva) cxv-cxvii; XII (dantiparva) xlix-1. 60 M. Biardeau, ' La decapitation de Renuki dans le mythe de Parasurama ', Pratiddnam

(Kuiper Festschrift), The Hague, 1968, 563-72. 61 For instance in gdntiparva xlix-1; Harivams'a I. xli. 104-15; Agnipurd&a IV. 12-20. 62 And perhaps not. One automatically suspects any work that calls itself part of the Skanda-

purdnsa as being very recent, and it is entirely possible that the RenukA-mdhdtmya as we now have it is considerably later than the Mahanubhava texts considered so far. The Renukd-mdhdtmya is the longest of a number of local mdhdtmyas published at the end of J. Gerson da Cunha, The Sahyadri Khanda of the Skandapurdaa, Bombay, 1877. On the status of the Sahyddri-khanda itself see S. H. Levitt, ' The Sahyadrikhanda: some problems . . .', Purdna, xix. 1, 1977, 8-40.

63 Renukd-mdhdtmya xxxvi-vii. Gail, op. cit., 206-9, gives a fairly detailed summary of the whole mdhdtmya.

496

DATTATREYA

Nowadays the primary name of the Devi at Mahur is Ekavira, as in the Sahyddra-11d translated above, although she is commonly assimilated to other names such as Renuka, Jogai, Yallamma and so on. Her form is a tdndald (see n. 47) which is not open to inspection and of which varying descriptions exist. Modern devotees say that it is a head only and there are justificatory stories in which Renuka while being reconstituted in the fire after being beheaded by Parasurama, is interrupted and emerges only as a head, or perhaps a head and torso.64 Dhere has argued strongly that the tdndald at Mahur is one of a series of fertility goddesses which represent, or adumbrate, the lower half of a female body with spread legs and exaggerated vulva.65 The image was almost certainly a large rock with a natural cleft. From the description given to the author of DevTkosa it is a stone five feet high and of great girth, with a 'mouth' about two feet long and nine inches wide into which at times of major offerings a pdna composed of 1,000 leaves is placed. No doubt in the past more bloody offerings were made.

With Dattatreya's adsrama established at Mahur 66 it is only a small step to transfer the Alarka and Sahasrarjuna episodes there as well. Presumably these would acquire accretions: the 'incense-burner' story for Sahasrarjuna, Dattatreya's appearance as an outcaste Manga carrying a load of meat in the Alarka story and the mantra with which he heals Alarka. One can speculate that it was Dattatreya's sdkta attributes which gave him these outlandish, even bibhatsa forms, connecting him also no doubt with the outcaste Devi Matangi who has a sthdna at the main temple of Mahur and, for that matter, at most other Devi temples in Maharashtra.67 Probably the origin of Gail's ' Pariale- gende ', for which he can adduce only very recent evidence, lies here.68

From the Mahanubhava stories of Dattatreya one may also deduce that along with a certain bizarreness of form his manifestations had already become characterized by unexpectedness in timing, by a tendency to appear suddenly when one had almost given up hope. This has become part of the Marathi language in the phrase datta mha.nuna ubhd rahanem-' to appear all of a sudden like Datta '.

7. The Mahanubhava Dattatreya These then were the stories known in the early fourteenth century to

Ravalobasa and Hayagrivacarya and to whoever composed or 'remembered' the Sahyddra-lild. There is no reason to doubt that they were known also to Cakradhara himself, and even if one discards the evidence of the Sahyddra-1l1i for the reasons that I have given, there are enough random, indeed inconse- quential, references to Dattatreya in L.ldcaritra and Sutrapdtha to convince one that he was important for the sect at a very early stage-possibly from the time of its founder.69 We may suppose that Cakradhara admitted Dattatreya to his

64 Devikosd, II, 466-6. 65 Dhere, 1973, 40-42. 66 Or at any rate in the Sahyadri. Gail, op. cit., 64, 211, discusses the site of Dattatreya's

7sgrama without, apparently, having any idea that Mahur might be involved. 67 For instance at Tuljapur. For the one at Mahur see Devikosa, II, 467. According to the

Narada-purdna, Mitangi is black with hairy legs and often drunk (K. D. Nambiar, ' Ndrada Purd.na: a critical study ', 144, in Purd.na, xvII, 1, 1975). The human Matangis described by Elmore (' Dravidian gods in modern Hinduism ', University Studies, xv, 1, 1915, 28-30) are probably only a regional development.

68 Gail, op. cit., 113-5. 69 Cf. Raeside, 1976, 593-5. I have rather modified the views expressed here, believing now

that at least Dattatreya at Pancalesvara must have meant something to Cakradhara.

497

I. 3. P. RAESIDE

list of genuine avatars of Paranmevara because he was an object of worship for his guru's guru, Cangadeva Raula, or more simply perhaps because Cakradhara himself, before he became convinced of his own divinity, was attached to or at least drawn towards the Natha sect. Dhere has already pointed out the connexions between the Nathas and the Mahanubhavas and has plausibly suggested that both Cangadeva Raula and Govindaprabhu may have been Natha yogis.70 Both Lzldcaritra and the stories of Govindaprabhu are full of miracles performed by yogic powers and there is also the curious episode of Ekdnka 10 where Cakradhara' receives' the power of arresting the aging process (vayastambhdcg vidya) from a rajaguru called Udhalinatha. The complication is explained away but remains somewhat embarrassing for an avatar of Paramesvara.

Nevertheless, whatever his connexions with the Natha sampraddya and whatever the motives that made him exempt Dattatreya from his sweeping dismissal of all the gods of the Hindu pantheon except Krsna, it is at least clear that Cakradhara himself never visited Mahur and on the evidence of Acdra 25 actively discouraged his followers from going there. It was a place of bhutas and secret powers that were opposed to the ascetic life that he recommended. In short it was a sdktip.tha and it was only after Cakradhara's death that the disciples were permitted, even exhorted, to go there by the dying Govindaprabhu. Perhaps in the end Dattatreya had to be absorbed into the sect as a way of tapping the immense power of the Devi of Mahur without becoming too closely involved in the tantric excesses of her worshippers. The present Mahanubhava Devadevesvara matha is at the foot of the hill of Renuka.

8. Dattatreya in sixteenth-century Marathi literature After the early Mahanubhava texts the next appearance of Dattatreya in

Marathi literature marks the beginning of the modern era. Dhere has shown very convincingly that one can find no certain reference to the modern Dattatreya-three-headed and representing an oecumenical fusion into one person of the trinity Brahma-Visn. u-giva-before the Gurucaritra (c. 1550) and the hymns attributed to Ekanatha (1523-99).71 One can see how suitable Dattatreya is for this role with the Puranic support of the Atri-Anusuya legend-itself a device to bring the trinity within a single womb-and possibly also by his associations with a Shakta Tripura-sundari cult. This three-headed Dattatreya is the productive form of modern Hinduism. Proselytized seemingly by the shadowy figures of gripadavallabha and Nrsimhasarasvati and popu- larized undoubtedly in the Gurucaritra of Sarasvati Gangadhara,72 he is the object of virtually all Dattatreya worship in modern India except for the vestigial Mahanubhava tradition. Even the religious centres, Ganagapur and Narsobavadi, are new.73

70 phere, 1964, 62. Earlier, pp. 43-5, he sees in the Natha sect a movement of reform against tantric excesses, using the name of Dattatreya as its sadguru, rejecting any connexion with wine and women and crediting Dattatreya with the authorship of the Avadhuta-gita including its virulently anti-feminine eighth chapter. For the Avadhuta-gita see H. S. Joshi, op. cit., 72-5.

71 Dhere, 1964, 28-33. 72 The Gurucaritra has never been properly edited but has been published many times in pothi

form. The ' edition' that I have used is Bombay, Jagamitra Chapakhana, Saka 1808 (1886). 78 Gainagapur, in Gulbarga District near the confluence of the Bhima and the Amarja, and

Narsobavadl (or Wadi Narsinh) in Kolhapur District at the meeting of the Krishna and the Pancaganga, were both places where Nrsimhasarasvati lived reputedly in the mid fifteenth century. See .Dhere, 1964, 98-116. Of course everything that is known about him comes from the Gurucaritra, written at least a century later.

498

Also in the sixteenth century but still in the northern tradition-that is, having no apparent connexion with Sarasvati Gangadhara but coming from the old centres of Dattatreya worship on the Godavari such as Pancalesvara- Dasopanta and Ekanatha are credited with being in some way devotees of Dattatreya. Dasopanta finally settled at Ambe Jogai after living at various sites along the Godavari.74 Ekanatha came from Paithan and was a disciple of Janardanasvami, a brahman governor (?) of the fort of Daulatabad under the muslims and worshipper of Dattatreya. The difficulty is that we only know this from later hagiographies and from minor works-padas and stotras addressed to Dattatreya--which might have been written by anyone. The major writings of both are in other, more conventional fields. In the case of Dasopanta it was the GtRdrnava, an enormous commentary on the Gitd that has never been published. Ekanatha is known for his Bhdgavata, a commentary on part of the eleventh skandha, the Bhdvairtha rdamyana, and a body of devotional verse addressed not to Dattatreya but to Vithoba of Pandharpur. Nevertheless, one must give some credit to tradition in a field where there is little but tradition to go on, and in the field of popular religion the testimony of the hagiographies is all that one needs. Dasopanta had a vision of Dattatreya on the hill at Mahur in a dream and as a consequence discovered the padukds of Dattatreya hidden in the sand at Rakshasbhuvan.75 Mahipati gives two versions of the darsana of Dattatreya that was arranged for Ekanatha by his guru Janardana. In the Bhaktavijaya (XLV. 82-5) he appears first as a muslim soldier on horseback, red-eyed and bristling with weapons. When Ekanitha doubts if this can really be his guru's updsyadevatd the vision disappears, but soon after (106-7) Dattatreya comes again this time as a muslim fakir accompanied by a woman who is Maya and a dog which is really the kdmadhenu. Some years later 76 in the Bhaktalidnm.rta (XIII. 166-205) there is only one darsana, again as a muslim, dressed in leather and with bloodshot eyes and this time Ekanatha overcomes his doubts. In the comparatively recent Dattaprabodha these encounters of Ekanatha with Dattatreya have been expanded to three when the god appears successively as a muslim huntsman, as a Pathan and as a ' Malanga ' 77 which patently witnesses to the persistence in oral tradition of the ' Mahanubhava ' stories.78

As against these popular tales it is interesting to note that Ekanatha apparently had no knowledge of any story connecting Dattatreya with Parasurama and Renuka for in his Bhdvdrtha-rdmdyana, which gives a full account of the Kartavirya story, the funeral ceremonies of Jamadagni and

74 Every scrap of information that we have on Dasopanta comes from an anonymous seventeenth- or eighteenth-century work called Ddsopanta-caritra that was supplied in 1902 by his descendants living in Ambe Jogai. This was translated by J. E. Abbott as the fourth in the Poet Saints of Maharashtra series, Poona, 1927. Both Dhere (pp. 143-51) and Joshi (pp. 111-14) are remarkably coy about this, preferring to cite the introduction to various Marathi editions of minor works ascribed to Disopanta.

75 Rakshasbbuvan is on the Godavari, 40 miles south-east of Aurangabad. The Marathas won a famous battle there against the Nizam in August 1763.

76 The Bhaktavijaya was traditionally composed in 1762 and the Bhaktalwldmrta in 1774. Both have been translated by Abbott in various parts of the Poet Saints of Maharashtra.

77 Presumably a misprint for ' Mitanga '. The quote is from Joshi, op. cit., 107, as I have not been able to see a copy of the Dattaprabodha which Dhere says was written in 1860 (Dhere, 1964, 209) but according to the Dattatreya jndnakosa (pp. 303-5) it was published in Baroda in 1900.

78 Using ' Mahanubhava ' here as a shorthand for the Dattatreya dargana tales that are first met with in the fourteenth century Mahanubhava works. There is no question of literary influence, for none of the Mahinubhava works were known outside the sect until after 1900.

VOL. XLV. PART 3. 35

499 DATTATREYA

500 D)ATTXTREYA

Renuka are dismissed in half a verse: 'Then in the Sahyadri Parasurama performed the last rites for the two of them '.79

It is perhaps appropriate to end on this fresh enigma! The moral of this tale is that Dattatreya, like so many of the gods of Hinduism, swims up into our awareness from mysterious depths, makes and breaks connexions of which we know scarcely the hundredth part, acquires and discards legends and philosophical attachments of which only a small fraction have reached us and still today he is gaining and losing attributes, shrines, doctrines, swamis and devotees at a rate which an outsider can only hope to follow by persistent anthropological fieldwork and a devoted attachment to the hagiographical ephemera of the Deccan cult centres. The Mahanubhava testimony from the period round 1300 is a valuable piece of this enormous jigsaw.

79 Bhvadrtha-rdmSyana, Bdlakdnda, xvi. 168. Note that Ekanatha's whole account of the killing of Renuki and Jamadagni bears a strong resemblance to the version given in Ren4ukd- mndhdtmya, including Jamadagni's abandoning of his krodha, the active role taken by the kdmadhenu and Renuka's reception of 21 wounds while defending her husband-thus inspiring Parasurama to swear to revenge her by wiping out the ksatriyas 21 times.