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Upanishads · Dattātreya 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
दत्तात्रेय हरे कृष्ण उन्मत्तानन्ददायक । दिगम्बर मुने बालपिशाच ज्ञानसागर
Transliteration (IAST)
dattātreya hare kṛṣṇa unmattānandadāyaka | digambara mune bālapiśāca jñānasāgara
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दत्तात्रेय हरे कृष्णdattātreya hare kṛṣṇaO Dattātreya, O Hari, O Kṛṣṇa
उन्मत्त-आनन्द-दायकunmatta-ānanda-dāyakaO giver of mad bliss
दिगम्बर मुनेdigambara muneO clothed in the directions, O silent one
बाल-पिशाचbāla-piśācaO child-ghoul
ज्ञान-सागरjñāna-sāgaraO ocean of knowledge
Translation
«O Dattātreya! O Hari! O Kṛṣṇa! O giver of mad bliss! O clothed in the directions, O silent one, O child-ghoul, O ocean of knowledge!»
Version
7e542f0cf212 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse for whose sake this book is worth reading, and its eight addresses all deserve examination, for they are remarkable. The first three are names: Dattātreya, Hare, Kṛṣṇa. Note that the name Kṛṣṇa stands here directly, and moreover in the vocative, beside Hare; that is, in an upaniṣad about Dattātreya sounds the very combination that makes up the chief mantra of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, discussed reading the Kali-santaraṇa.
This occurrence, to my mind, is no accident, and shows that the compiler considered Dattātreya the very same. The fourth is unmatta-ānanda-dāyaka, “giver of mad bliss.” Unmatta means “crazed, beside oneself”; and bliss here is called not peaceful, but maddening.
The fifth is digambara, “clothed in the directions,” that is, naked: the usual description of an avadhūta. The sixth is muni, “silent one.” The seventh is bāla-piśāca, “child-ghoul,” and it is the strangest.
Piśāca is a kind of unclean spirit; and Dattātreya is so called because he appeared in the guise of a madman, unclean and repulsive, driving off the curious. This story is central in his hagiography: he behaved this way on purpose, so that no one would follow him; and only those whom it did not repel remained with him. The eighth is jñāna-sāgara, “ocean of knowledge.”
Let us gather the eight, and see what they combine: name, madness, nakedness, silence, uncleanness, and knowledge. That is, before us is a description of the type called in India the avadhūta, and the Vaiṣṇava side speaks of it with respect and with a qualification. The respect: such people existed and exist, and the Bhāgavatam describes them.
The qualification: appearance is not the office; and anyone who behaves strangely so as to be taken for an avadhūta thereby reveals that he seeks exactly what the avadhūta was fleeing.