Tasyālambe svāvatāra trimūrteḥ
Gaṅgāmūlaṃ śaṅkha cakrābjarekham |
Brahmarṣīṇāṃ nāyakasyātipuṇyam
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ pādapadmam ||1||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, which are most sacred, the source of sacred Ganga river and marked by lines of conch shell, wheel and lotus flower. God Dattatreya is the source of His three divine incarnations called Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and He is also the leader of the divine sages.]
Tasyālambe nirguṇa Brahmasiddheḥ
Chandovācā snātavastrekṣitasya |
Trailokyastha prāṇināṃ trāṇadakṣam
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ pādapadmam ||2||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, which are capable of protecting all the souls present in the three worlds. God Dattatreya is the unimaginable God due to the authority of several Vedic statements. The unimaginable God became the first energetic incarnation called God Datta by merging with the first energetic being created by Him and there is no any difference between the unimaginable God and God Datta just like there is no difference between the invisible naked person taking bath in the bathroom and the same person coming out dressed after bath being visible to everybody.]
Tasyālambe jīvasevārthameva
Tejorūpasyordhva lokāmarebhyaḥ |
Bhūtopādhe rmartyaloke narebhyaḥ
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ pādapadmam ||3||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya. Only for the sake of the worship to be done by the energetic beings, God Dattatreya became mediated with energetic forms (energetic incarnations) in the upper worlds and He became mediated with materialized human forms (human incarnations) for the sake of worship to be done by the human beings existing on the earth.]
Tasyālambe vyoma pūrvoha dūrāt
Nohyasyāsyā pyaṅga dṛṣṭe rvibhūtyā |
Saṃsārābdhe ryānapātraṃ munīnām
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ pādapadmam ||4||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, which are looking like the boat in the worldly ocean for the journey of sages. The unimaginable God is the generator of the space in the beginning of creation. The product cannot exist in its cause before its generation and hence, space cannot exist in unimaginable God. The unimaginable God has no spatial dimensions and hence, becomes unimaginable for any intelligence. This unmediated unimaginable God became God Datta by mediating with energetic body of Datta. The unimaginable God is compared to the invisible naked person in the bathroom and the same unimaginable God becomes visible to everybody coming out of the bathroom after being dressed (God Datta). Even the dressed person is not completely covered with dress because face and some limbs are still visible. Such visible parts of the body are the unimaginable events called miracles exhibited by God Datta showing partly the unimaginable nature of unimaginable God.]
Tasyālambe pakvabimbādharasya
Cakṣu rvidyunmīna kānti priyasya |
Nāsā taila śrī sumasyāsya candre
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ Pādapadmam ||5||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, Who in His full moon like face has lips with red color like that of ripened bimba fruit (Momordica monadelpha), Who becomes very dear by the brilliant eyes shining like electrical fish and Whose nose is beautifully shining like sesame flower.]
Tasyaalambe śaṅkha cakra triśūla-
Dhakkā kuṇḍī bīja dāmabja pāṇeḥ |
Rolambaśrī jāṭajūṭa trayasya
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ Pādapadmam ||6||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, Whose six lotus-hands are adorned with conch shell, disk, trident, hand drum, small water jar and garland of beads and Whose three crowns of matted hair are shining like heaps of black-bees.]
Tasyālambe prātarāditya bhāsaḥ
Kāṣāyāṃśu jvālikāṅgāṃśukasya |
Iccho ryātuṃ Brahmalokaṃ vimānam
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ Pādapadmam ||7||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, Which are like the divine airplane for the devotee aspiring to fly up to the ultimate abode of God (Brahmaloka). God Dattatreya is shining like the morning rising Sun with saffron cloth on His body radiating like fire with flames.]
Tasyālambe sārameyāgamasya
Pṛṣṭhe tiṣṭhat dharma dhenvāśrayasya |
Acāryāṇāṃ Brahma vidyaika bhāṣyam
Dattātreya Svāminaḥ Pādapadmam ||8||
[I surrender to the lotus feet of God Dattatreya, Which are like the united commentary of the three divine preachers called Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva. God Dattatreya is surrounded by the four Vedas transformed into dogs and is the protecting asylum for the deity of justice transformed into a holy cow standing behind Him.]
Dattātreya Svāmipāda-padma Śrī Śaraṇāṣṭakam |
Kṛṣṇena racitam gītam, Datta sāyujya kārakam ||9||
[This Dattatreya Swami Pādapadma Śrī Śaraṇāṣṭakam composed by the poet Krishna will give Sāyujyam (very close association) with God Datta to the devotee singing this prayer.]