Story of Lord Dattatreya or Datta – the Hindu god who is regarded as a combined incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. According to puranas, Lord Dattatreya was born as the son of Sage Atri and Anasuya.
Once Sage Narada was describing the pativratyam (devotion to her husband) of Anasuya to Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Laskshmi and Parvati devi. Hearing a lot about Anasuya, the three Goddesses wanted to test her Pativrata Dharma. For this, the Trimurtis appeared as sanyasis (sages) in front of Anusuya and asked her to give food without wearing any clothes. Anasuya falls in dilemma – she cannot come in front of other men in nude, and she cannot refuse to give food to sanyasis. She prayed to her husband and sprinkled some water on the three sanyasis in order to clean their feed.
All of a sudden, the three sanyasis were transformed into small babies. Anasuya felt a motherly attachment to them and fed the three babies with breast milk. As soon as Sage Atri came back home he realized that the three babies are none other than the Trimurti Gods. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva woke up in their original form and gave a boon to Anasuya that they will take rebirth as her child in a single form in the name Dattatreya.
Nice thoughts on the Pativratas, thanks for sharing. One cannot stop thinking about Draupadi while talking about Pativratas. She is considered to be 'Kula Devata' and/ or 'Grama Devatha' by many people.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, there are many shrines for Goddess Draupadi, spread in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. One of the shrines, where She is a Grama-Devatha and Kula-Devatha to many, is located in one of the small villages of Tamil Nadu.
The village is named KONDAL, Mayiladuthurai Taluk, Nagapattinam District, Nidur P.O, Tamil Nadu.
Draupadi Amman Thunai - May you all be BLESSED by HER grace!!