She becomes the mother of Dattatreya, the sage-avatar of Vishnu, Chandra, a form of Brahma, and Durvasa, the irascible sage avatar of Shiva.

He still longed for the affection of the prostitute, so one day, he asked his wife to take him to her.The sage Mandavya had been impaled in lieu of a crime and was lying on a spike in the forest, still alive due to his yogic powers.

This leads to chaos in the universe, the deities not receiving their oblations, rainfall not occurring, grain not being cultivated, and people not performing their customary Vedic rituals.

The rishi's wife explains to Shandili that the entire universe was in peril because of her appeal to Surya, and discuss the necessity of a woman's devotion to her husband.

Anasuya desires that the Trimurti (The supreme trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) be born to her, and that her husband and she be freed of the cycle of samsara.

This boon is granted when Anasuya is mentally impregnated by Atri, and Chandra (Brahma), Dattatreya (Vishnu), and Durvasa (Shiva) are born to her as her sons.

With powers granted by many years of austerity, Atri wrested the sun out of Rahu's hands, restoring light to the world, and pleasing the deities.

In a legend that is not featured in the primary Puranas, once, an argument ensued among the Tridevi (The trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati, the consorts of the Trimurti) regarding whom among them was the most virtuous of women.

[8] Unable to dissuade their wives from this course of action, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva assumed the guise of young sages, and visited Anasuya while Atri was bathing in a river.

Invoking their rights of guests, the Trimurti claimed that due to a special fast they were undertaking, Anasuya would have to serve them food in the nude.

Knowing that being seen naked by men other than her husband would cause her to lose her virtue, Anasuya sprinkled some water over her guests, turning them into infants.

[9] Informed by Narada of their consorts' plight, the chastened Tridevi descended upon Atri's hermitage, and requested Anasuya to restore their husbands to their true forms.

[10] Variations of this legend present the rishi's wife also requesting the birth of a daughter named Shubhatreyi, and another where the Trimurti merge and turn into Anasuya's three-headed son, Dattatreya.

Atri tells Rama about the tapas shakti (power acquired from austerities) of his wife: Once, the world was bereft of rains, and the river Ganga had dried up, leading to the planet being plunged into a famine.

[12] A similar legend exists in the Shiva Purana, where the goddess Ganga appears before Anasuya due to her devotion.

[18] The Sati Anasuya Ashrama, at present, is a very peaceful place where several streams from the hills converge and form the Mandakini River.