Dattatreya is considered to be an avatar of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Many saints in Hinduism like Swami Samarth, Shridi Sai Baba are considered to be avatars of Lord Dattatreya. Manik Prabhu is also an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya.
Profile
Manik Prabhu was born on 22nd December 1817 to Manohar Naik and Baya Devi a Brahmin couple in a village called Ladwanti in Karnataka. He had two brothers and a sister. His father died when he was very young. From then their maternal uncleShri Balwantrao Apparao Kulkarni took care of the family. Manil Prabhu did not attend any school and loved to wander into the forests and he was called a ‘mad child’, ‘veda bhau’. However his friends used to talk of his miracles in the forest. He believed to have restored his friend back to life and given the darshan of Lord Shiva to another friend. Slowly he was known as ‘Avatari Purusha’. However his uncle kept trying to educate him and make him the breadwinner but in vain. Once when Manik Prabhu was resting on his uncle’s bed he was scolded by his uncle and with that he decided to leave the family.He stayed in Amrutkund leading a life of austerity and penance. It is believed that Lord Dattatreya appeared in disguise and gave him the ‘deeksha’ along with ‘danda’ and ‘jholi’ – danda means stick and jholi a bag. This deeksha or sanyasa given indicated that he must become a wondering monk. So that it was and he wandered all over the country, mostly to the north. Wherever he went people realised his divinity and gathered to seek his blessings and guidance. In 1845 he came upon a scenic place on the banks of rivulets Guruganga and Viraja and settled there. This place is now known as Maniknagar. Many spiritual contemporaries visited him and he spent a lot of time with them discussing religion and philosophy. His mother and brothers with their families also settled in Maniknagar. After the death of his mother and brothers, Manik Prabhu decided it was time for him to leave. He appointed his seven year old nephew as his successor. Known only to a few of his disciples a walled pit was built. On the November 28th 1865, Datta Jayanthi, he distributed alms to the poor and then sat inside the walled pit, the Samadhi and asked his close devotees to close the pit. He is believed to have left his body at 5pm on November 29th 1865. But the news was conveyed to the people only four days later. This kind of death is known as Sanjeevan Samadhi.
Philosophy Propounded
Advaita Vedanta as given by Adi Shankaracharya was the philosophy propounded by Manik Prabhu. However bhakthi was equally important for him. He treated all religions as one. So the Muslims consider him to the reincarnation of a Sufi saint Mehboob Subhani and the Sikhs saw him in the form of Guru Nanak.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Manik Prabhu has written songs on the presiding deities of the places he visited as a wandering monk. Once he settled he began to give spiritual discourses which saw many thousands attending. He served the poor and needy. Today there are various projects being run in his name. There are schools for sports, for the visually challenged children, a public school, a hostel for the underprivileged and orphaned children, a vedic pathahsala and more. The work initiated by the saint Manik Prabhu continues to grow with his grace.
