Verse 1.7.171

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.7.171:

এত বলি’ হাসে বর্জ্য-হাঙ্ডীর আসনে দত্তাত্রেয-ভাব প্রভু হৈলা তখনে ॥ ১৭১ ॥

एत बलि’ हासे वर्ज्य-हाङ्डीर आसने दत्तात्रेय-भाव प्रभु हैला तखने ॥ १७१ ॥

eta bali’ hāse varjya-hāṅḍīra āsane dattātreya-bhāva prabhu hailā takhane || 171 ||

eta bali’ hase varjya-handira asane dattatreya-bhava prabhu haila takhane (171)

English translation:

(171) After saying this, the Lord smiled from His seat on the rejected pots and accepted the mood of Dattātreya, the topmost knower of the Absolute Truth.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

For a description of Dattātreya, one may consult the Laghu- bhāgavatāmṛta (Pūrva 45-48), wherein the following verses are quoted. From Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.7.4):

atrer apatyam abhikāṅkṣata āha tuṣṭo datto mayāham iti yad bhagavān sa dattaḥ yat-pāda-paṅkaja-parāga-pavitra-dehā

yogarddhim āpur ubhayīṃ yadu-haihayādyāḥ

“The great sage Atri prayed for offspring, and the Lord, being satisfied with him, promised to incarnate as Atri’s son, Dattātreya [Datta, the son of Atri]. And by the grace of the lotus feet of the Lord, many Yadus, Haihayas, etc., became so purified that they obtained both material and spiritual blessings.” From Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.3.11):

ṣaṣṭham atrer apatyatvaṃ vṛtaḥ prāpto ‘nasūyayā ānvīkṣikīm alarkāya prahlādādibhya ūcivān

“The sixth incarnation of the puruṣa was the son of the sage Atri. He was born from the womb of Anasūyā, who prayed for an incarnation. He spoke on the subject of transcendence to Alarka, Prahlāda and others [Yadu, Haihaya, etc.].”

śrī brahmāṇḍe tu kathitam atri-patnyānasūyayā prārthito bhagavān atrer apatyatvam upeyivān

“It is mentioned in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa that when Anasūyā, the wife of the sage Atri, prayed to Lord Viṣṇu, the Lord agreed to become the son of Atri.”

varaṃ dattvānasūyāyai viṣṇuḥ sarva-jagan-mayaḥ atreḥ putro ‘bhavat tasyāṃ svecchā-mānuṣa-vigrahaḥ dattātreya iti khyāto yati-veśa-vibhuṣitaḥ

“He who accepts a human form by His own sweet will and who is the cause of all universes, that Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, gave Anasūyā a benediction and thus appeared in her womb as the son of Atri. He became

famous as Dattātreya, and He was dressed as a sannyāsī.”

Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written in his commentary on these verses from Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta: “Atri’s prayer to have a son as good as the Lord is one of the topics of the Fourth Canto, and Anasūyā’s prayer to have the Lord as her son is found in the First Canto. The statement of the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa supports the later verse.”