One of the Great Saptharishis is Atri Maharishi and his wife is Mata Anusuya Devi who is famous for her great devotion to his husband. Due to the sage Naradha's plan the wives of Trinity gods (Lord shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswathi had jealousy about Mata Anusuya's Chastity.

They decided to test her chastity and requested their husbands to take form as ascetics to visit Atri Maharishi's hermitage while who is not there.

They went to Atri maharishi's hermitage and begged for alms at Mata Abusuya devi. When she came back with food to feed them they requested her to feed them with nakedness. Mata Anusuya Devi was in great embarrassment either not to give up her chastity or not to send the ascetics back without providing their alms they requested. She was in great trouble to go on. But due to her devotion to his husband and the power of her chastity, she turned the trinity ascetics into three infants so that she could feed them alms as mother. She fed them and cared them lot as a great mother.

When the wives of trinity gods heard about this by the sage naradha, they went to Atri Maharishi's hermitage and requested Mata Anusuya Devi to forgive them for their act of testing her Chastity and give back their husbands in their original form. In reply Atri Maharishi and Mata Anusuya Devi asked them they want All the trinity Gods as a child to them. The trinity gods blessed them with their request and Sri Lord dattatreyar was born to them as an incarnation of the Trinity Gods Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

Lord dattatreya became a great sage and learned every vedhas, mantras and sacred scripts and followed a bachelor life as a great maharishi. He always accompanied the following thins with him.

The Cow:
• The Cow, which is always with Him, represents the Mother Earth and Dharma. She is the wish fulfilling cow 'Kamadhenu'.

The four dogs:
• The four dogs symbolise the four Vedas (rig, yajur, samam, atharvanam) – the external repositories of Spiritual Wisdom.

The trident:
• The trident indicates that He has transcended the three gunas, which constitute the illusory world: Sattva-illumination, Rajas-activity and Tamas-inertia.

Sudharshana chakra:
• The 'Sudharshana chakra' , disc indicates that He is beyond the cycles of time i.e. the past, present and future and His holding of 'chakra' means He is the controller over the time.

The conch:
• The conch represents the eternal sound 'AUM' – which is the manifestation of the Spirit. It is also the life principle in us and the cosmos.

Bhasma:
• The 'bhasma' ashes indicated His 'Vairaagya' dispassion as well as His purity. Ashes indicate the evanescent nature of all created nature of all created objects and the ultimate state of all matter.

Begging bowl:
• He always carries a begging bowl so as to teach us the lesson that we will have to share our wealth and food with others.

The Japa-mala:
• The japa-mala, rosary He wears reminds us that our primary duty is chanting the sacred name of the Lord and meditating on the feet of the Lord, and our redemption depends on this discipline alone.

Sri Lord Dattatreya became lineage Guru of Great Kaarthaveeryajunan who has thousand hands and of Prakalatha Azhwar. The one who meditates and worships Sri Lord Dattatreyar will have peaceful wealthy life and get accomplished their wishes in their spiritual and material life. He blesses them a healthiest happy life ever.