Sree Vaibhav Datta Charitam

The Shri GuruCharitra is a holy book for Datta Sampradaya devotees. The book includes the life story of Shri Narasimha Saraswati, his philosophy and related stories. Some people regard the book to be historically important as it depicts stories or events which took place around the 14th Century.The book advocates that the guru is divine, gracious, caring and will always protect his disciples. These stories give the message that one achieves godliness and eventual Guru-position by hard work under the care of guru. The curses given by the guru in the stories teach the disciples some important lessons of life and makes their life eventually great.The book does not insist on praying a particular deity. Dattatreya does not worship or preach any god. The book endorses devotional methods which are socially acceptable and within civilized limits of that time. The vratas or devotional rituals described in the book have Shaivaite (Shiva) as well as Vaishnavite (Vishnu) sects, but put no stress on any particular sect.

Guru Charitra is one of the most revered scriptural texts of Hinduism. Containing the biographies of Lord Dattatreya, (Lord Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh) and his subsequent incarnations Sripada Sri Vallabha and Sri Narasimha Saraswati, it clarifies several doubts on religious dogmas, rituals and doctrines through a conversation between the master and his disciple. This book, steeped in lofty Hindu philosophical ideas also portrays a picture of the social and economic condition of the medieval times in India, and the message conveyed by the numerous teachings of the Guru needs to be understood in the context of those days. Reading of this interactive account, written in simple and lucid language will give strength and encouragement to spiritual aspirants to continue with their sadhana (spiritual pursuit), enable them to overcome the various problems of modern day living and fulfil their inherent wishes.

About 16 centuries ago, an unknown Indian author or authors gathered together the diverse threads of already ancient traditions and wove them into a verbal tapestry that today is still the central text for worshippers of the Hindu Devi, the Divine Mother. This spiritual classic, the Devimahatmya, addresses the perennial questions of the nature of the universe, humankind, and divinity. How are they related, how do we live in a world torn between good and evil, and how do we find lasting satisfaction and inner peace? These questions and their answers form the substance of the Devimahatmya. Its narrative of a dispossessed king, a merchant betrayed by the family he loves, and a seer whose teaching leads beyond existential suffering sets the stage for a trilogy of myths concerning the all-powerful Divine Mother, Durga, and the fierce battles she wages against throngs of demonic foes. In these allegories, her adversaries represent our all-too-human impulses toward power, possessions, and pleasure. The battlefields symbolize the field of human consciousness on which our lives' dramas play out in joy and sorrow, in wisdom and folly. The Devimahatmya speaks to us across the ages of the experiences and beliefs of our ancient ancestors. We sense their enchantment at nature's bounty and their terror before its destructive fury, their recognition of the good and evil in the human heart, and their understanding that everything in our experience is the expression of a greater reality, personified as the Divine Mother.