hitopadesha

Anusuya was the wife of Maharishi Atri, who is one of the sapta rishis (sapta in sanskrit means seven). She is renowned for her chastity and considered to be the epitome of good character and devotion towards husband. One must note that in ancient India, wives considered their husbands as their Gods and hence the use of the term ‘devotion towards her husband’. Even the wives of the Gods envied her for her qualities and this is the crux of our story today.

The Trimurtis - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are called together known as Trimurtis - were once having a chat and in the course of thier discussion they talked about Anusuya and how she was supreme due to her unflinching devotion towards her husband. The wives of the Trimurtis (Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, Mahalakshmi, the wife of Vishnu and Parvathi, the wife of Shiva) listening to this conversation became jealous that she was regarded even greater than the Goddesses when it involved the quality of chasteness and they requested their husbands that Anusuya’s chastity cannot be taken in face value unless it is proved and that it is the duty of the Trimurtis to prove it for the world to accept it. The ulterior agenda of the Goddess being that if she fails in the test, she would no longer be known as an epitome of chastity. This might sound unlike of the Goddesses but again one has to exercise caution and put things in perspective that stories from the mythology are also meant to be simple lessons to mankind about the ways of life and in the process the Gods sometimes are depicted as ordinary mortals with the same qualities of emotions and preferences. They also insisted that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva should take up the task themselves and prove to everyone that Anusuya is indeed what she is claimed for.

The three Gods then suggested that they would assume the form of rishis and then visit Anusuya as guests while her husband is away and request her to serve them. This way they can test how well she performs the duties towards the guests in the absence of her husband. In olden days (and even today in many places in India) the guest is considered equivalent to the God himself as the host gets an opportunity to serve them and in turn fulfil their Dharma. For a wife to perform her duties to strangers in the absence of her husband is quite complicated since any small oversight would incurr the wrath of the guests and also put her husband in disrepute. The Goddess where not convinced by this proposal since they claimed that this task does not involve any demonstration of her chasteness and that it should involve a twist which puts her in a dilemma caught between her duties and her faithfulness towards her husband. The Trimurtis then asked their wives as to what they propose to test the same. Then the three Goddesses proposed that as guests in her house they should insist that Anusuya should serve her guests food and water and the task should be done by her without she wearing any clothes. Now this is one cunning plan since for a women to appear before someone who is not her husband without any clothes would be simply impossible as that would mean she has compromised her marraige vows. So the Gods agree and the visit the Earth in the form of three old rishis and go straight to Anusuya’s house making sure her husband Atri is not at home.

As soon as they visit her and express their desire to take rest at her home for some refreshments before they carry on their journey, Anusuya readily agrees and says that she is blessed that day as she is able to offer her services to men of God. But the rishis tell her that there is a condition. As they are on their way to participate in a major sacrificial ceremony, the process of the ceremony demands that she as a host should serve them the refreshments without wearing any clothes. Naturally, Anusuya is shocked and preplexed as she has never heard of any ceremony that demands such an act. As the wife of one of the greatest rishi she understands the processes of many a ceremonies but she has never heard of one which involves such a demand. But being a woman and modesty being one of the biggest virtue she cannot question thier demand and only exercise her choice to comply or not. But of course, you cannot turn away a guest who has come in need as this would mean she is not fulfilling her Dharma. Now she is in a real connundrum and she wanted time to think. So she told the rishis that as they have travelled for a very long time and that they should visit the stream nearby and refresh themselves before she can serve them food, thinking that this would give her time to decide what to do. The rishis agree and off they go to the stream to take their bath.

In the meantime, Anusuya sits down in meditation and ponders over her dilemma. Using her yogic power she soon realises that it is none other than the Trimurtis and they are putting her to a test. Having known this she also does not want to be a spoil sport by exposing their true nature and their by get away easily without giving the Gods a chance to test her. In the meantime, the rishis come back and ask Anusuya if she was willing to take on the task. She readily says yes and provides them with a seat to sit on to eat the food. As soon as the rishis sit down, she then uses her yogic power and converts them into babies. She then claims the babies as her children and then goes on to feed them sans her clothes. In a short while, Atri comes home and finds his wife with three babies. Anusuya relates the entire incident and Atri is quite happy that she exercised her prudence and he too accepts the babies as his children.

Meanwhile, the Goddess are worried that thier husbands have not returned and decide to pay a visit. When they reach the house, they are shocked to see their husbands as babies and Anusuya as their mother. They soon realise that she has outwitted them and offer their apologies to Anusuya for doubting her qualities and request her to release thier husbands so that they can go on to perform their respective duties. But having converted them as babies and making them her children she refused to part with them. Of course, this is not a good situation as the Gods cannot continue to be her children as then the world would come to a stand still if Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva cease to perform their duties. So they plead her to give them back. Atri intervenes and explains to Anusuya that she can continue to keep the babies but she should release the Gods from the children. So she picks up the babies, all three of them and lo and behold they merge in to one child with six arms and three heads. The Gods leave their human bodies and bless the couple and the child and tell them that this child would grow up to be one of the most powerful of all rishis and that he would be called Dattatreya. Datta meaning ‘given’ in Sanskrit as the Gods had given themselves to her and Atreya because he is the son of Atri rishi. The Gods then disappear and Dattatreya grows up to be one of the most revered and in some communities as a personification of the Trimurtis. He is still prayed by many Hindu communities to this day.

As with all mythological stories, there is a precursor to this. Many years before this happened, Atri had performed severe penance and when the Gods were pleased and appeared before him and offered him a boon, he requested that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva should be born to him as sons. So by this playful act of the Goddesses, this boon to Atri was fulfilled by the Gods. I have shamelessly copied some pictures from the Internet for you to see how Dattatreya is visualised in present day India.

That’s it for today and see you soon,

peace,
aditya.