Datta Jayanti

Ravi varma-dattatraya

Datta Jayanti

Datta Jayanti is a celebration of the birth of Shri Datta. Shri Datta was born in the evening of the full moon day (paurnima) of the Hindu lunar month of Margshirsh. Hence this day is celebrated as Shri Datta's birthday.

In the era gone by, demonic energies grew enormously in the gross and the subtle. The Deities efforts to vanquish them were unsuccessful. Then, under orders from Deity Brahma, Shri Datta had to incarnate at various places, in various forms and destroy the demons. The day of His incarnation is celebrated as Shri Datta Jayanti.

On the day of Shri Datta Jayanti, the Shri Datta principle(tatva) is 1000 times more active on Earth as compared to other times. On this day if one worships Shri Datta with devotion then one gets the maximum benefit from the Shri Datta principle(Tatva).

Shri Datta is one who has been given the unmanifest (nirgun) spiritual experience that 'the Self is Brahman,' or that 'the Self is the soul' or that 'one is free.' A seeker has to do spiritual practice for many births in order to get this spiritual experience. The importance of Shri Datta can be understood from this point.

 Shri Datta is the principle(Tatva), which bestows the manifest (sagun) and unmanifest (nirgun) waves of Deities to the embodied soul (jiva).

The benefits of chanting the Shri Datta chant

a. As the embodied soul (jiva) gets spiritually pure (sattvik) energy from Shri Datta, it can fight with negative energies.

b. An embodied soul (jiva) gets the energy from God (Shiv) by chanting the Shri Datta chant.

c. Negative energy trouble reduces, if one chants the Shri Datta chant while sitting in one place, every day for 15-20 minutes.

d. The atmosphere in the house remains blissful as the ancestors get momentum to go to the next subtle plane of existence.

Ancestors getting momentum: As many people do not do regular spiritual practice, they are entangled in the materialistic world (maya). Therefore after death their souls (lingadeha) remain unsatisfied. Such souls get stuck in the region of the dead (martyalok), which is between the Earth plane and the Nether region. By chanting Shri Datta's name, our ancestors trapped in martyalok get momentum. Hence, later they proceed towards the next region according to their deeds and gradually the trouble caused by them to the person reduces

 Formation of a protective shield: A protective shield is formed around the person through the energy created by chanting the Shri Datta chant.

 If one is not facing any kind of ancestral problems, then in order to avoid problems in the future or if there are mild problems, one should regularly chant a minimum of 15 minutes (or 3 rounds of a 108 bead rosary) of  the 'Sree Gurudev Datta' chant. Along with this, an ordinary person or seeker in the initial stage of sadhana should chant his family deities name as much as possible, so that he does not face ancestral problems and progresses spiritually.

 If ancestral problems are of medium severity then one should chant six rounds of japmala (rosary) of 'Sree Gurudev Datta' along with chanting the family deity's name. Also one should visit Deity Shri Datta's temple every Thursday, circumambulate the idol seven times and chant 1-2 rounds of japmala while sitting there. One should do this for a year. After that one should continue with 3 rounds of japmala everyday.

If the ancestral problems are severe then one should chant nine rounds of japmala (rosary) of the 'Sree Gurudev Datta' chant. One should visit any Jyotirlinga (shrines of Deity Shiva) and perform the rites of narayanbali, nagbali, tripindi shraddh, kalsarpashanti(ancient rituals). Along with that one should live and do spiritual practice in areas that are famous for Shri Datta's worship or serve a Saint and receive His blessings.