There once lived a noble sage by the name of Atri. Sage Atri was married to mother Anasuya who was most virtuous among women. The pious couple was always engaged in activities to benefit the world.

Once sage Atri and mother Anasuya decided to perform intense penance for the welfare of the world.  Their desire for benefiting the world manifested in a child who was born to the pious couple. Sage Atri named the child Datta.

Datta shined with the brilliance of knowledge and truthfulness. He was ever happy, pure, noble and took keen interest in serving others. He observed strict self-discipline. 

Datta became known as Dattatreya as he had control over the three (3) energies to create, sustain and destroy. 

As the three energies to create, sustain and destroy resided with Datta, artists and artisans sometimes portray Datta through beautiful depictions as possessing three heads representing the three (3) Divine Energies.  However, when Datta lived on the earth he possessed a normal human form.       

During his life on Earth Datta showed men the path of leading a righteous life through lessons learned from Nature, kriya yoga and other wonderful teachings that are recorded in works such as Datta Darshanam, Shakti Sadhana and Avadhoota Gita to name a few.

Datta's life and teachings are dedicated to helping man achieve his full potential and ultimately lead a life of peace, bliss and truth.