Gurucharitra

The Shri Guru Charitra is a book based on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati, written by the 15th-16th century poet Shri Saraswati Gangadhar.

The book is based on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati, his philosophy and related stories. The language used is the 14-15th century Marathi. The book is written as a conversation between Siddha (who is a disciple of Shri Narasimha Saraswati) and ''Namadharaka'' who is listening to ''Siddha''. It is divided into 3 parts: ''Dhyankand'' (Knowledge), ''Karmakand'' (Work) and ''Bhaktikand'' (Devotion). It has 52 Chapters in which, the 53rd chapter is also called as ''′Gurucharitra Avatarnika′'' which is the summary of the book.

The book is assumed to be written in a village in Karnataka known as Kadaganchi. The writer was Saraswati Gangadhar who was a poet and an extreme vanshaj of Sayandev Sakhre, one of the disciples from four favorite disciples of Shriguru Narasimha Saraswati.

The chronology introduced in the Shri Guru Charitra of Shriguru Narasimha Saraswati is as follows:

Chronology

The main events of Sri Narasimha Saraswati's life are given below. Possible years and dates are given according to descriptions of the lunar and stellar events calendar mentioned in the ''Shri GuruCharitra''.
* Sha. 1300 (1378 CE): Birth
* Sha. 1307 (1385 CE): Upanayan
* Sha. 1308 (1386 CE): Left home
* Sha. 1310 (1388 CE): Took Sanyas
* Sha. 1338 (1416 CE): Arrived back home at Lad-Karanja
* Sha. 1340 (1418 CE): Travelled along the banks of the river Gautami
* Sha. 1342 (1420 CE): Stayed at Parali-Vaijanath
* Sha. 1343 (1421 CE): Stayed at Audumbar (near Bhilawadi)
* Sha. 1344-1356 (1422-1434 CE): Stayed at Narsobawadi (Narasimhapur)
* Sha. 1357-1380 (1435-1458 CE): Stayed at Ganagapur (Gandharvapur).
* Sha. 1380 (14 January 1459 CE): Nijanandagaman at Shrishaila Mountain.
The extreme 24 characteristics of Shri Gurumurti Nrusimha saraswati swami maharaj.

The references found under various books and proper information and technical centre of ''′Adhyatma′'' are nowadays introduced are in many hearts :
* ''Nath Sampradaya'': The Nath as their theological founder. This group grew and became particularly prominent during the Islamic invasions and Hindu-Muslim wars in South Asia, from about the 14th to 18th century, although the Dattatreya roots of the peaceful Nath yogis go back to about the 10th century. The group was most active in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. The tradition believes that the legendary Nath sampradaya yogi and Hatha Yoga innovator Gorakshanath was inspired and shaped by Dattatreya. Regional efforts and texts of the Nath tradition such as ''Yogi sampradaya vishkriti'' discussed Dattatreya.
* ''Avadhuta Sampradaya'': The nine ''Narayanas'' of the Avadhuta sampradaya are attributed to Dattatreya, an idea also found in the Natha sampradaya. A panth started by Pantmaharaj Balekundrikar of Balekundri near Belgavi is related to this.
* Dasanami sampradaya and Shakti pithas: Dattatreya is revered in Dasanami and goddess-oriented Shaktism traditions.
* ''Bhakti'' traditions: Dattatetreya's theology emphasizing simple life, kindness to all, questioning the status quo, self pursuit of knowledge and seeking spiritual meaning of life appealed to Bhakti sant-poets of Hinduism such as Tukaram and Eknath, during an era of political and social upheavel caused by Islamic invasion in the Deccan region of India. They reverentially mentioned Dattatreya in their poems. The use of his symbolism was one of the many syncretic themes of this period where the ideas of Vaishnavism and Shaivism holistically fused in popular imagination.
* ''Mahanubhava Sampradaya'': Along with Krishna, the Mahanubhavas consider Dattatreya as their divine inspiration. The Mahanubhava sampradaya, propagated by Sri Chakradhar Swami, has five Krishnas as the incarnations of god, of which Dattatreya is one. The followers of Mahanubhava philosophy revered him as their Adi Guru (the original Guru), as well as the early teachers in their tradition (Chakradhara, Gundama and Changadeva). They worship Dattatreya as single headed with two arms. He has a temple dedicated in Mahur by this tradition.
* Shri Guru Charitra tradition: This tradition follows from Shripad Shrivallabha and Shri Narasimha Saraswati. Two major Datta traditions were started by Shri Swami Samarth of Akkalkot and Shri Vasudevananda Saraswati alias Tembe Swami.
* ''Lal Padris'': another Hindu yogi group from western India with roots in the 10th-century and with ideas similar to Nath and Kanphata sampradaya, traces Dattatreya as the basis of their spiritual ideas.
* Around 1550 CE, Dattatreya Yogi taught the Dattatreya philosophy to his disciple Das Gosavi in Marathi. Das Gosavi then taught this philosophy to his two Telugu disciples Gopalbhatt and Sarvaved who studied and translated Das Gosavi's book of ''Vedantavyavaharsangraha'' into Telugu language. According to Prof. R. C. Dhere, Dattatreya Yogi and Das Gosavi are the original gurus in the Telugu Dattatreya tradition. Prof. Rao states that ''Dattatreya Shatakamu'' was written by Paramanandateertha who is equally important in his contributions to the Telugu tradition of Dattatreya. He was a proponent of Advaita philosophy and dedicated his two epics, ''Anubhavadarpanamu'' and ''Shivadnyanamanjari'' to Shri Dattatreya. His famous ''Vivekachintamani'' book was translated into Kannada by Nijashivagunayogi and Lingayat saint Shanatalingaswami translated this into Marathi.

References

Shri Guru Charitra Audio (Marathi & English)Shri Guru Charitra textsTransLiteral Foundation made available online transliterated Marathi versionShri Guru Charitra Android App

External links

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Hindu texts
Indian biographies
15th-century Indian books
16th-century Indian books
Marathi-language literature