Anagha Devi: Who is Lord Dattatreya’s Incarnation Goddess Anagha Devi
Last Updated on February 1, 2023
Summary: This article discusses the story behind Anagha Devi, as most people don’t know that she is the divine form of Lord Dattatreya.
Anagha Devi is the name given to the female incarnation of the deity known as Anagha Deva, also known as Lord Dattatreya. We must realize God is neither masculine nor female. This means that there’s no he or she when we talk about God as there are various stories of Vishnu taking incarnation as a feminine form. In the same way, Lord Dattatreya incarnated is Anagha Devi to spread love in this world and to protect us from obstacles and evil.
She is a manifestation of Lord Dattatreya’s energies and is introduced as someone who is stunningly beautiful with a radiant face; who holds the heavenly nectar in her hands, and who showers us with maternal love.
Anagha Devi The Divine Manifestation
After the Cosmic was created, only female divines, who were at the heart of the epic, demonstrated active and aggressive divine powers, like in conflicts against demons, asuras, or evil forces. This is something that the Vedas and Puranas repeat a lot.
As a result, the female divines were the focus of most Vrath and Pooja rituals in order to appease Shiva Sakthi, the supreme power of Parabrahman (the fusion of male and female energies), also known as Parasakthi.
Lord Dattatreya, appearing as a male avatar, revealed his female energy in the shape of Goddess Anagha Devi from his own yogic energies to the world in order to bared the truth that the external appearances of the divines regardless of their genders are all illusions. Brahman or God incarnate to protect the Dharma and so did Lord Dattatreya.
But why was Swami Dattatreya incarnated as a female?
So here’s the story that is usually told to explain Devi Anagha’s manifestation:
Dattatreya Purana claims that when ancient sages who've been in solitude for hundreds of years met Lord Dattatreya in the avatar of a youthful Avadhoot, they immediately recognized his brilliance and began coming to him with requests to guide them into the higher path of Gnana, also known as wisdom. When they all went looking for him at one point, they discovered him beside a very large pond. Suddenly entering the pond and disappearing from everyone's sight, Lord Dattatreya put them through a test to see if they were worthy of becoming his disciples.
However, Lord Dattatreya remained in a state of total Samadhi at age five, inside the pond for over one hundred years while other sages remained patiently on the shores of the pond expecting his reappearance at any moment. After coming back from the Samadhi, the lord decided to take the final test of the remaining disciples. By using his yogic Maya, he presented beautiful women out of the Pond, the sages thought it to be an Apsara while others thought it to be a goddess. However, in reality, it was the female avatar (incarnation) of Lord Dattatreya himself.
After that, Female Datta exhibited herself dancing while drinking wine. Those who didn't know her story called her Madhumati because they saw her imbibing wine, while those who saw her danced like a river called her Nadi. But only the wise sages named her Anagha which means one who is sinless.
Anagha Devi is the same as Anagha Deva or Anagha Swami. It is said that if you worship Anagha Devi as if she were Lord Dattatreya, you will receive divine blessings.
The purpose of this Leela was to educate people about the fact that there is no such thing as ‘He’ or ‘She’ in the divine, and that everyone and everything is simply a manifestation of ‘He’ (Brahman)alone. There are many manifestations of God, and God can also take no shape at all (formless). Nirguna Brahman refers to this supreme quality in the Vedas, and liberation from suffering is granted to those who attain knowledge of this truth.
According to the Taittiriya Upanishad:
“Whoever realizes the Supreme Brahma attains to supreme felicity. That Supreme Brahma is Eternal Truth (satyam), Omniscient (jnanam), Infinite (anantam). One who knows Brahman reaches the highest. Satya (reality, truth) is Brahman, Jnana (knowledge) is Brahman, Ananta (infinite) is Brahman”
Taittiriya Upanishad
An excerpt from the Bhagavatam, says the same thing:
“iti mūrty-abhidhānena mantra-mūrtim amūrtikam
Bhagavatam
yajate yajña-puruṣaṁ sa samyag-darśanaḥ pumān [SB – 1.5.38]
Thus he is the actual seer who worships, in the form of transcendental sound representation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣhṇu, who has no material form.”
Reason Behind The Name Anagha
While Agha symbolized misery, Anagha meant its removal. The state of Agha is characterized by poverty, disease, fear of one’s adversaries, greed, and ignorance; all of these factors contribute in some manner to suffering. Anagha refers to the individual who alleviated all forms of suffering by imparting prosperity, health, affection, contentment, and wisdom, among other things. Therefore, Anagha Devi stands for the destroyer of miseries, as she brings about affluence.
According to the ancient Puranas, the only way for a person to achieve sinlessness is to get rid of their ego, form virtuous habits, rid their minds of negative ideas, and not focus too much on worldly pleasures (which, as they say, will only bring them sorrow and strife). It is claimed that people who are truly pure and holy will have Mata Anagha permanently reside in their hearts, bringing them profound divine delight.
We would receive tremendous spiritual energy, have our sins washed away, and be made holy if we worshipped Mata Anagha Devi and Lord Dattatreya.
The Beautiful Appearance Of Devi Anagha
Anagha Devi was depicted as an extremely attractive woman with a radiant face, sitting on a lotus, and accessorizing with a bell-studded anklet since she was said to have been born from the yogic energy of Lord Dattatreya. With one hand, she holds a lotus, while the other forms a shield. By closing her eyes in a yogic posture, she expresses her devotion to Lord Dattatreya.
Occasionally, the moon and the Ganges would appear above Anagha Devi’s head, and she would have a third eye and braided hair like Lord Shiva.
As a result of the widespread belief that Lord Dattatreya was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, many people thought Goddess Anagha Devi was an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi.
Anagha Devi Mantra – Om Anaghayai namaha
It is stated that reciting Anagha’s name removes obstructions. Also, chanting “Anagha” with devotion can provide unlimited wealth. Therefore, here is the effective mantra that one should say each morning:
“Shree Anaghalaxmi Sahit Shree Anaghadattaya Namaha”
Anagha devi mantra
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