Āśrama of Dattātreya

Dattātreya Āśrama · dattātreya-āśrama, “the āśrama of Dattātreya”

The āśrama of Dattātreya stands on the Vindhya mountain. In the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira, with the Anaghāshṭamī vrata, what happened there.

The devas take refuge

Datta, also called Anagha, the son of Atri and Anasūyā, was a great yogī born of an aṃśa of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Datta was in the form of Vishṇu and his wife Nadī the form of Lakshmī. While the two were absorbed in yoga, the devas, tormented and defeated by the daitya Jambha, came to his āśrama on the Vindhya and took refuge in him. By his yoga-power Dattātreya kept them all, with Indra, in his āśrama and told them to stay without fear.

The daityas, searching for the devas, reached the same āśrama, seized the muni’s wife, set her on their heads and went off. As soon as they lifted Lakshmī onto their heads, they lost their śrī. Under the glance of Datta they began to flee and perish, the devas struck them, and by the power of Datta Muni a pralaya broke out among them. Indra and the devas defeated all the asuras and went back to their lokas in joy, holding the glory of Bhagavān Dattātreya to be the cause.

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 58