With time, many learned saints and seers have formed different traditions based on Datta Bhakti. These Traditions or Sampradayas are commonly known as
Datta Sampradayas. Nath Sampradaya The
Nath yogis, that metamorphosed into a warrior ascetic group, consider
Dattatreya 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 upheaval 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. == Places mentioned in Guru Charitra ==