Vasudevanand Saraswati( 1854–1914), also known as Tembe Swami, is a saint who is regarded as an incarnation of Dattatreya.

He established Datta Mandir in Mangaon in 1883. The construction of the sanctum was carried out with his own hands. The Datta idol in the temple was given to him by a sculptor at Kagal, who said that Dattatreya had appeared in his dreams and ordered him to make the idol for Maharaj as per his specifications.

He was an expert Sanskrit scholar right from his childhood. He travelled across the country for 23 years, strictly following the harsh discipline of the Sanyas Ashram. All people had equal access to him. There was no discrimination in spite of his personal strict code of purity. People of all castes were the recipients of his grace and he was very sensitive and listened sympathetically to their sorrows and grievances and provided counsel which, if followed, would remove or relieve their sufferings.

He has authored around 19 books like Dwisahastri Gurucharitra (1889), Datta Puran (1892), Datta Mahatmya (1901), Saptashati Gurucharitra Saar (1904) and many more.

The holy book Shri GuruCharitra was not supposed to be read by women according to Maharaj. Hence, for women to gain knowledge of the book, he wrote The Saptashati Gurucharitra Saar, a short version of the Gurucharitra.