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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Vaishnava Hindu text}}<br />
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{{Infobox Upanishad<br />
| image = Raja Ravi Varma - Dattatreya.jpg<br />
| caption = Dattatreya Upanishad is dedicated to the deity [[Dattatreya]]<br />
| Devanagari = दत्तात्रेय <br />
| Sanskrit_transliteration = Dattātreya <br />
| meaning = The god [[Dattatreya]]<br />
| authors = Vishnu<br />
| type = [[Vaishnava]] <br />
| Veda = [[Atharvaveda]]<br />
| chapters = 3<br />
}}<br />
{{Vaishnavism}}<br />
The '''''Dattatreya Upanishad''''' ({{langx|sa|दत्तात्रेय उपनिषद्}}), also called the '''''Dattatreyopanishad''''', is a Sanskrit text and one of the minor [[Upanishad]]s of [[Hinduism]]. It is attached to the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'', and classified as a text of the [[Vaishnava]] sect, which worships the god [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{Citation|title=An outline of the religious literature of India|first=John Nicol|last=Farquhar|publisher=H. Milford, Oxford university press|year=1920|isbn=81-208-2086-X|page=364}}</ref><br />
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The ''Dattatreya Upanishad'' appears in the [[Telugu language]] [[anthology]] of 108 Upanishads called the [[Muktika]] canon, narrated by [[Rama]] to [[Hanuman]], where it is listed at number 101.{{Sfn|Deussen|Bedekar|Palsule|1997|p=557}} However, the Upanishad is neither part of the anthology of 52 popular Upanishads in north India by Colebrooke, nor is it found in the ''Bibliotheca Indica'' anthology of popular Upanishads in south India by Narayana.{{Sfn|Deussen|Bedekar|Palsule|1997|pp=561-564}}<br />
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The text is a Tantra and Vaishnava work, likely one of the relatively recent, 14th- or 15th-century CE era composition compared to other Upanishads.{{Sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|pp= 69–70, 77}} The text presents a Vaishnava mantra that is the most popular mantra in Dattatreya tradition,{{Sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|p=74}}{{Refn|group=note|name=mantra1|The mantra in verse 1.7 of the ''Dattatreya Upanishad'' is,<br>''dattatreya hare krsna unmattananda-dayaka<br>digambara mune bala pisaca jnana-sagara''<br>'''Translation:'''<br>Oh Dattatreya, Hari, Krishna and the crazy bliss-bestower!<br>Oh, you clad in space [naked], the silent one,<br>the child, the demon, the ocean of knowledge!<br>– Translated by Antonio Rigopoulos.<ref>{{cite book|author=Antonio Rigopoulos|title=The Mahanubhavs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHNQf5G5tRgC|year=2005|publisher=Firenze University Press|isbn=978-88-8453-264-0|page=7}}</ref>}} as well as a series of tantric [[mantra]]s for the worship of sage Dattatreya, a form of Vishnu.<ref name="Dalal2011">{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|date=October 2011|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-341421-6|page=113}}</ref> The text asserts that the worship of Vishnu, Narayana and Dattatreya leads one to the nature of Truth-Bliss-Knowledge.{{Sfn|Mahadevan|1975|pp=216-217}}<br />
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==Date==<br />
The author and composition date of the text are unknown. Rigopoulos states it is a tantric sectarian work, with a mix of Vaishnavism and [[Shaktism]] ideas.{{Sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|p=70}} Given this sectarian nature, and the description of tantric mantras in the text, it is likely a relatively late Upanishad. Sectarian Upanishads with tantra mantras were likely composed after the 10th century, states Douglas Brooks.<ref name="Brooks1990p13">{{cite book|author=Douglas Renfrew Brooks|title=Secret of the Three Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXD8crHUdPQC|year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-07570-9|pages=13–14}}</ref><br />
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[[Patrick Olivelle]] states that sectarian Upanishads attached to Atharvaveda were likely composed in the 2nd-millennium, until about the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=Upanisads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJGL2tUm6P4C|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-954025-9|page=xxxiii}}</ref> Rigopoulos states that the text likely was written in perhaps the 14th or 15th century CE, after Dattatreya sampradaya (monastic group) within Vaishnavism was well established.{{Sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|pp=70, 77}}<br />
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==Title==<br />
The text is named after sage Dattatreya. He appears in several Upanishads, states Rigopoulos, because he symbolizes the mastery of [[Yoga]] and the perfectly liberated individual (''Avadhuta'') in ancient and medieval Hindu texts.{{Sfn| Rigopoulos|1998|pp=64-71, 74}}<br />
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==Content==<br />
The ''Dattatreya Upanishad'' is divided into three ''khanda''s or sections. The first section opens with the creator god [[Brahma]] asking the god [[Vishnu]] (Narayana) how to overcome ''[[samsara]]'', the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. Vishnu replies that he is Dattatreya (Datta), the Supreme God and one should meditate on Vishnu in the form of Dattatreya to free oneself from ''samsara''. After following Vishnu's advice of meditating upon him as Dattatreya, asserts the text, Brahma realizes that the infinite and peerless ''[[Brahman]]'' is realized, as the residuum after one meditates ''neti, neti'' ("not this, not this") negation process on the phenomenal universe.<ref name="Rigopoulos70ff">{{Harv|Rigopoulos|1998|pp= 70–74}}</ref><ref name="translation">{{cite web |url=http://www.celextel.org/upanishads/atharva_veda/dattatreya.html |title=Dattatreya Upanishad |access-date=12 January 2015 |archive-date=23 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523041428/http://www.celextel.org/upanishads/atharva_veda/dattatreya.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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The text presents various [[mantra]]s of Dattatreya. The single-syllable mantra is considered the important mantra in Tantra for a deity. Dattatreya's ''dam'' is described as the ''[[hamsa]]'' (swan), interpreted as the ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]]'' (soul) that dwells in all ''[[jiva]]''s (living beings). Its lengthened form ''dām'' is described to symbolize ''[[Parabrahman]]'', the Supreme Brahman. The phoneme of ''dam'', ''dram'' is popular in Dattatreya worship. The six-syllabled mantra "[[Om]] [[sri]]m hrim klim glaum dram" is given. This mantra shows Tantric and Shakta influences, and contains a reference to Dattatreya's [[shakti]] (female counterpart), denoted by ''hrim''. ''Srim'' denotes [[Lakshmi]], Vishnu's consort/shakti, thus Dattatreya's shakti is in the mantra. The eight-syllabled "Dram Dattatreyaya namah" follows. It means 'dram obeisance to Dattatreya'.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Rigopoulos70ff"/><br />
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The text says that "Dattatreyaya" stands for ''[[Satcitananda]]'' (literally "being, consciousness, bliss"), while ''namah'' denotes Bliss. This is followed by the twelve-syallabled and sixteen-syllabled mantras of Dattatreya, "Om Aam Hrim Krom Ehi Dattatreya [[svaha]]" and "Om Aim Krom Klim Klaum Hram Hrim Hraum Sauh Dattatreyaya svaha" respectively. Both mantras show Shakta impact and have terms like ''krom'', ''hrim'' etc. which represent Dattatreya's shaktis. The mantra denotes to the "Tantric blissful union" of Dattatreya and Lakshmi, similar to the god [[Shiva]] and goddess [[Adi Parashakti|Shakti]]. The [[Vedic meter|poetic meter]] of the mantras is [[Gayatri]], the associated rishi (sage), who is believed to have composed the mantras, is Sadashiva and presiding god is Dattatreya.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Rigopoulos70ff"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Tattvāloka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbzWAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Educational Trust}}</ref><br />
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After the syllable mantras, the text presents the mantra – "Dattatreya Hare Krishna ..." – in [[Anustubh]] metre.{{Sfn|Rigopoulos|1998|p=74}}{{Refn|group=note|name=mantra1}} It praises Dattatreya as [[Hari]] and [[Krishna]], names of Vishnu. It identifies the god as an "antinomian ascetic", calling him a "crazy" (''unmatta'') bliss-dweller, a naked ascetic (''digambara'') and ''muni'', a sage who has observed a vow of silence. It calls him a child and a ''[[Pishacha]]'' (demon), hinting towards his role as violator of moral laws. Finally, Dattatreya is called an ocean of knowledge, conveying his role as a great Teacher; this mantra is one of the most popular mantras of sage Dattatreya as a deity.<ref name="Rigopoulos70ff"/><br />
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The second ''khanda'' begins with the ''mala-mantra'' ("garland-mantra") of Dattatreya, "Om Namo Bhagavate Dattatreyaya ...", which is prescribed to be used in ''[[japa]]''. The hymn says that Dattatreya is propitiated easily by simply remembrance. He is the "dispeller of great fears", giver of great knowledge and who dwells in [[Consciousness]] and Bliss. He is called "crazy" (''unmatta''), child and demon, as earlier.<ref name="Rigopoulos74ff"/> Dattatreya is exalted as a great [[yogi]], an ''[[Avadhuta]]'' and the son of Sage [[Atri]] and his wife [[Anusuya]]. He is described as the manifestation of all mantras (incantations), [[Tantra|Tantras]] (esoteric scriptures or knowledge) and powers. He is said to fulfill the wishes in a devotee's heart, destroy worldly bondage, destroy the effects of malignant ''[[graha]]''s (celestial bodies), take away sorrows and poverty, cure diseases and bring great joy to the mind.<ref name="Rigopoulos74ff">Rigopoulos pp. 74–6</ref><br />
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The last ''khanda'', in tradition of Upanishadic literature, tells the advantages of reading the text. He who learns the ''[[Vidya (Knowledge)|vidya]]'' (knowledge) and the mantras in the scripture is sanctified and earns the merit of reciting the ''[[Gayatri Mantra]]'', the ''maha-rudra'' hymns and Om mantra numerous times, and is cleansed of all sin.<ref name="Rigopoulos77">{{Harv|Rigopoulos|1998|p=77}}</ref> Meditating on the mantra taught, asserts the text, leads the yogi to transmute, fuse with the supreme and realize god within himself.<ref name="Rigopoulos77"/><br />
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==Reception==<br />
The description of Dattatreya worship in the ''Dattatreya Upanishad'', states Rigopoulos, is comparable to the reverence for goddesses described in various Shaktism-related Upanishads.<ref name="Rigopoulos77"/><br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|group=note}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
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===Bibliography===<br />
*{{cite book|last1= Deussen |first1=Paul |last2= Bedekar|first2=V.M. |last3= Palsule |first3=G.B. |title=Sixty Upanishads of the Veda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYepeIGUY0gC&pg=PA976|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1467-7}}<br />
*{{Cite web|url=http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/dattatreya.pdf |title= श्रीदत्तात्रेयोपनिषत् (''Sri Dattatreya Upanishad'')|access-date=7 March 2016| language = sa|last= Hattangadi| first= Sunder| year= 2000 }}<br />
*{{cite book|last= Mahadevan |first=T. M. P. |title=Upaniṣads: Selections from 108 Upaniṣads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yluXuM5NuUIC | year=1975| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ| isbn=978-81-208-1611-4}}<br />
* {{cite book|first=Antonio |last= Rigopoulos|title=Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara: A Study of the Transformative and Inclusive Character of a Multi-faceted Hindu Deity|date=1998|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-3696-7}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* [http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/dattatreya.pdf Dattatreya Upanishad] in Sanskrit<br />
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{{Mukhya Upanishads}}<br />
{{Hindudharma}}<br />
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[[Category:Upanishads]]<br />
[[Category:Vaishnava texts]]</div>Kamdhenupaints