The Divine Trinity by Swami Chidananda

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The Divine Trinity

by

Swami Chidananda

 

Worshipful homage unto Dattatreya, the trimurti avatara, the divine

son of the austere and illumined Sri Atri Maharshi and sati sadhvi,

mahapativrata, rishi patni Sri Anasuya. May the benedictions of this

divine couple be upon all married couples, in all countries,

throughout the world.

 

The divine trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara were born as the

unique divine child Dattatreya. Actually Dattatreya was born as

triplets, three children, and yet they were not born, they were

immaculate conceptions. Later on they gave a boon that they would be

born as children of Sage Atri and Anasuya in a natural and normal way,

and then they disappeared. Anasuya became the mother of these three

children, but later on two of them withdrew into their abodes.

Somatreya, the manifestation of Brahma, the creator, and Durasatreya,

the manifestation of Rudra, the dissolver, both merged into

Dattatreya, the manifestation of Lord Vishnu, and then they returned

to their abodes leaving behind their unique symbols. Brahma left the

kamandalu and mala, Lord Siva left the trisula and damaru and the

sankha and chakra were retained by Lord Vishnu. So Dattatreya is the

manifestation of all the trinity, brahma vishnu sivatmaka svarupa.

 

And this unique manifestation was the direct result of the

irresistible devotion of a chaste dharmapatni, Sati Anasuya, the wife

of the great sage Atri Maharshi. Her chastity was well known

throughout the three worlds, the celestial worlds, the heavenly worlds

and this earth plane. She was known to be the symbol of the highest

purity as a housewife. And it was the power of her chastity that

rendered the three murtis into little infants. Later on it was the

same power of chastity and her chaste love for these infants that made

them grant the boon that she desired.

 

May the blessings of sati sadhvi Anasuya be upon all women throughout

this world today. May they be filled with the lofty, supreme power of

life-sanctifying chastity and may the power of the tapasya of Atri

Maharshi bless all sad-grihasthas and make them shine with sadachara,

shine with the power of purity, self-control and fidelity to their

life-partner. This is the one thing needful in the world of today.

 

For it is the character, the nature of the parents, their purity of

conduct and character, that decides the nature, svabhava, and the

moral fibre of the child that is born to them. For the child is not

biologically or physically different and apart from the father and

mother. They are one. It is the parents themselves manifesting in the

form of a new generation. Therefore, what the parents are, what their

inner state or condition is, their psyche is, becomes the nature of

the child. It is that which decides its behaviour.

 

Therefore, if the world of tomorrow is to be peopled by citizens of

sterling moral character, of self-control, moderation, purity, high

idealism, chastity, good conduct and lofty character, then it is

indispensably necessary that the source from which they spring should

be of the same lofty nature. If one generation is fired with lofty

idealism and is of sterling moral worth, then the succeeding

generation will also tend to be likewise, to be of great moral worth.

 

Therefore, there is a close connection between a married couple and

their offspring. From the offspring you can judge what the parents

might have been. From the parents you can judge what the offspring is

going to be, quite apart from the fact that each jivatma, individual

soul, comes with its own previous karma-janita (born of karma)

samskaras and vasanas. The austere, self-controlled sage of sterling

character and conduct, Atri Maharshi and the shining exemplar of

absolute chastity and fidelity, Sati Anasuya, thus became worthy of

being parents to no less than God Himself, the divine trinity of

Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara themselves. By the power of her chastity

and his penance, they proved eminently deserving and worthy of being

parents of Divinity.

 

May the divine grace of Dattatreya be upon you all. He was a supreme

yogi. Like Dakshinamurti, He was the adi guru, the primal world

teacher. Contemplate His life. Meditate upon Him. Feel His divine

presence. Evoke in your mind the sacred memory of Sati Anasuya and

Atri Maharshi, the power of chastity, and divine grace in the form of

Divinity taking birth at the earnest supplication and prayer of a

heart filled with devotion. The earnest prayer of a heart filled with

devotion never goes unanswered or unfulfilled. This is what the

advent, the avatara of Dattatreya represents or proves.

 

Try ever to be steeped in the lofty teachings of Guru Dattatreya. His

one admonition and His one teaching was God-consciousness. Until you

realise God, attain God- consciousness and become established in

God-consciousness, ever strive to keep yourself by continued, unbroken

effort in a state of awareness of your divinity, at least upon the

intellectual level. May there not even be one moment when there is any

doubt about your divinity in your mind or intellect. May your

intellect be firmly based, with absolute conviction, upon this truth:

" I am divine. I am immortal soul, birthless and deathless, beyond time

and space, without name and form. I am Atman, formless. I have no

limitations. The body does not limit me. The mind does not confine me.

I am the limitless, all-pervading Divine-consciousness. This is my

true identity. This is my real nature. "

 

By constant affirmation of your divinity, develop within yourself,

within your interior, a state of feeling and thinking, a state of

intellectual conviction of your supreme divine nature. This is the one

teaching of Jagat Guru, Adi Guru Dattatreya. Never fall into the

error, the slumber of Self-forgetfulness or ignorance. Ever strive to

keep yourself in a state of ever-wakeful awareness of your divinity.

And as His benediction and prasad, this is the one thing we should

strive to receive from Him today. Because, He is an immortal who is

ever present. He is a nitya avatara, a pratyaksha devata, a living,

immortal manifestation of Divinity upon the earth plane. And His

direct admonition is: " Be aware, be aware. Be rooted in the

consciousness of your essential nature, of your divinity. "

 

And beloved and worshipful Guru Maharaj Swami Sivanandaji ever

hammered this fact into the minds of all his disciples and all sadhaks

and seekers who came to him for spiritual instruction. " You are not

this body. You are not this mind. You are immortal soul. Know thyself

and be free. " That was Gurudev. That was Gurudev’s central message,

his central call to modern mankind. " Awake! You are not this

perishable clay, this cage of flesh and bones. You are not this

restless mind filled with ego, non-discrimination, ignorance and

selfishness. You are not this little, finite intellect prone to a

hundred errors, subject to confusion and also capable of misleading

you through avichara and aviveka. Body, mind, intellect and their

functions are all characterised by limitations and imperfections.

 

" Blessed Immortal Atman, be aware that thou art beyond these three

finite instruments, upadhis, that you have acquired through human

birth on this planet Earth. They cannot touch or alter the truth of

your real identity. Enquire, ‘Who am I?’ Know thyself and be free.

Thou art not this body, not this mind. Thou art immortal soul. " Thus

beloved and worshipful Holy Master Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji echoed

the great teachings of Dattatreya to twentieth century mankind. He is

to us what Dattatreya was during His times, in days of yore.

 

May the blessings of Gurudev, the blessings of Dattatreya and the

benedictions of Sati Anasuya and Sage Atri Maharshi enrich your

spiritual life and elevate you to lofty heights of divine

consciousness and awareness!

 

Discourse by Swami Chidananda on the occasion of Dattatreya Jayanti

reproduced from " Awake! Realise Your Divinirty!