Wisdom of Sri Dattatreya

by K.N. Subramanian

Sri Dattatreya's work 'Tripura Rahasyam' (Jnana Khandam) is one of the greatest Vedanta classics of the pre-Sankara period. Like the 'Yoga Vasishta' and the 'Sura Samhita' it anticipates in quite a remarkable fashion the fundamentals- the crucial essentials of Sankara's Advaita Vendanta.

The 22 chapters of this book, Wisdom of Sri Dattatreya, deal with Dattatreya's stress of Vichara and the greatness of satsanga, the story of Hemachud who was instructed in the need of Shraddha, the nature of Brahman, the nature and content of wisdom of the Self, the nature of the phenomenal universe, the story of Ashtavakra (who defeated his father's victor, in a unique manifestation of prodigious intellectual gifts), the different types of Jivanmukti and the Srividya Gita. These chapters often recall the stories in the 'Yoga Vasishta'.

The book is a marvel of clarity and depth of learning and sets forth its contents in a pleasant and humane manner. It is an invaluable guidance to the spiritual seeker.