Shri Gurucharitra was first written in Marathi by Shri Gangadhar Saraswati. Eminent scholar L.R. Pangarkar says that the first two incarnations of Dattatreya, Shri Shripad Shrivallabh and Shri Narasimha Saraswati, were two heroes of immortal work, developed in the 14th and 15th centuries. The original text describes the lives and teachings of both the incarnations in 53 chapters, in about 7000 verses. In the late nineteenth century, Shri Vasudevananda Saraswati, a famous saint in the Dattatreya tradition, translated the text into Sanskrit in an equal number of verses.
Later, the god Dattatreya told him in a vision that the details related to Hindu religious rituals violated the proper subject matter of the work and he was instructed to abbreviate it to 2000 verses.
Against the backdrop of the wonderful description of the incarnations of Dattatreya, Shriguru Charitra presents a comprehensive summary of the entire ancient Indian philosophy of life. Shriguru Charitra confirms the caste system of the Vedas.
Shri Guru Charitra is a sacred text of the Datta Sampradaya written by Shri Saraswati Gangadhar Sakhare in the 15th century. This text mentions the sacred lives, philosophies and teachings of Shri Dattatreya, Shripad Shri Vallabh (c. 1320 - 1350) and Shri Narasimha Saraswati (c. 1378 - 1458). This text also mentions some other important historical facts. The language used here is 14th-15th century Marathi. Shri Saraswati Gangadhar was a descendant of Shri Sayyamdev, who was a close disciple of Shri Narasimha Saraswati. In this text, Saraswati Gangadhar refers to himself as Naamdhar.
This book is written in the form of a conversation between Siddha Muni (who himself was a disciple of Shri Narasimha Saraswati) and the Naamdhar who listened to Shri Siddha. The Naamdhar spent most of his life in the village of Kadganchi near Gangapur. He meets Shri Siddha Muni near Gangapur and when he comes to know that Shri Siddha Muni was a disciple of Shri Guru, he requests him to narrate the entire holy life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati. Shri Siddha Muni takes the Naamdhar to the Bhima-Amarja Sangam and then begins to narrate and explain in detail the "Shri Guru Charitra".
