User talk:Ayyaarul

Vaikundar - Ekam - Other lesser Gods - Relation

Read More

Ayyavazhi believes in one God, but recognizes that the one God can appear to humans in a multiplicity of names and forms. The first half of Akilam asserts the existence and power-status of different god-heads and in the second half after the incarnation of Vaikundar though they were puppet reign, they do exists. Especially, though all powers were surrendered to Vaikundar, Narayana acts a double role through out the incarnation of Vaikundar, as the Father of Vaikundar. So Akilam accepts that all god-heads exists. But as Vaikundar only the powerful and the supreme, which channel Ayyavazhi theology towards Henotheism.

But God is, in the highest sense, one: formless, infinite, and eternal. God is changeless and is the very source of consciousness and on the other hand the consciousness itself. God is beyond time, space, and causation and yet exist within everything and every being. Being formless, God is genderless. The name Ekam is mentioned quite often in Ayyavazhi scriptures. But beyond the mere mention of the 'term' several times, no long description is provided for the word. But still placing Ekam beyond every powers. But the term Ekam in Tamil gives simply the meaning, "one and the incomparable supreme". This is some sort of monistic definition about god from Ayyavazhi theology.

There are a series of lesser god-heads mentioned in Akilam were lesser in power and within Ekam while Vaikundar is viewed on one hand as the incarnation of Ekam and on the other hand as in equal power to Ekam. But during the encounter of Vaikundar with the King of Travancore, a verse of Akilam states that Ekam itself was created by Vaikundar. So Vaikundar is supreme to all.

Regarding Vaikundar, This Ekam remains one among the three in the Trinity in Vaikundar during the incarnation. So the all qualities of Ekam (changeless attributes etc...) fits also to Vaikundar. Strengthening this view a series of quotes from Arul Nool portraits Vaikundar as eternal and reveals his Universal form.

Mythical Narration

It speaks of Sivam (matter) and Sakthi (energy) as the next evolved powers from the supreme Ekam. Then the Three lesser God-heads (i.e., Trimurthi) which is Sivan, Vethan and Thirumal as evolved from this Sakthi. It also speaks of several further evolved lesser Gods. But in Kali Yukam, due to the cruel nature of the boons offered to Kaliyan, Thirumal (the then supreme power) cannot destroy the sixth fragment of Kroni directly so all God-heads were unified into the Ekam, and Ekam Incarnated in the world as a Turine god (Ekam, Narayana and Human) in the form of Vaikundar to overcome the boons and to destroy Kali. Since all were unified in Vaikundar, in Kali Yukam Vaikundar was the Supreme Power and he was the only worshipable God. So in this regard Ayyavazhi is also viewed as a monotheistic religion.[1]

Akilattirattu Ammanai also speaks of Dharma Yukam in which Vaikundar rules like a king. There Vaikundar will be an undisputed power ruling the fourteen worlds. No such powers, (i.e.) a single God to rule the fourteen worlds, still exists. Also no such throne to rule the fourteen worlds do exists. But immediately after the incarnation of Vaikundar, Narayana told Vaikundar in the Muttappathi Vinchai that the incomparable throne is growing for him. The mythical narration of Ayyavazhi too show Vaikundar as a supreme power.

Dualistic dimension

The Kroni, the primordial manifestation of evil, was fragmented into six. Each was destroyed in successive Yugas; finally, Kaliyan (the last) will be sentenced to hell after the final judgement which led to the consideration of Ayyavazhi towards dualism. Kaliyan is called an evil spirit which came to the world. So it was commonly accepted that the destruction of the maya (evil spirit) was symbolised in such a way.[2] But the scripture is most commonly concerned with Ultimate Oneness right from the beginning to the end. So the dualistic views were contrasted by the monistic narration. Also the contents of Arul Nool, based on the teachings of Vaikundar, which were believed to be written by arulalarkal and Citars, is completely monistic.

Pantheism and panentheism

Though Ayyavazhi is mostly connected with the concept of Ekam, some followers advocates Ayyavazhi as Pantheistic, sticking to the concept Ekan (one who appears as oneness or Ekam in Tamil) which was used to refer God in Akilam seven. In this expression, the Akilam lays the groundwork for viewing Ayyavazhi as a pantheistic faith. In a quote in Kappu, the very first part of Akilam one, the author of Akilam says, "By keeping us inside yourself, please help us".Akilam1:12.

Regarding Panentheism, there are many quotes in Akilam to suggest it, but more which reveal Ayyavazhi as monistic. For example, during the Vinchai, inside the sea, Narayana, seeing Vaikundar, says that "You are Sivan, you are Thirumal, you are Nathan, you are the Tapas, and you are the one who is omnipresent in all which exists". And when Vaikundar is jailed in Thiruvananthapuram he alleviates the Santror by saying "I am the one who created the Ekam and the one who is omnipresent." -- (Akilam 13:395).

Narayana in Ayyavazhi

Lord Narayana has the most important role in Ayyavazhi theology than any other God-heads from Hindu tradition. The internal evidence states that the primary scripture of Ayyavazhi, Akilattirattu Ammanai was told by Narayan to his consort Lakshmi, which was heard by Hari Gopalan Citar and was written down.

Narayana and Siva - Relation

The importance of Narayana in the theology of Ayyavazhi varries through the ages. Before the creation, though the three god-heads, Siva, Brahma and Vishnu are all treated with equal status Siva is the supreme or over-all power. All the powers came from Siva and the final words for all sort of functioning - creation, maintaining and Destroying all will be from Siva and that will be done by others. This view on Siva is similar to Saivism.

After six yugas, during the creation of Kaliyan in the seventh Kali Yuga, Siva hearing the words of Devas without discussing with Vishnu, created Kaliyan though they have a deed that, all asuras should be created after discussing with each of the Trimurti. Due to this action of Siva, Vishnu refused to incarnate in the world for destroying the final fragment of Kroni. So Siva, Brahma and all other devas surrendered all their powers to Narayana. So from here onwards all others were puppet-reign and Narayana is the supreme universal power. This view is similar to that of Vaisnavism on Vishnu.

Vaikundar and Narayana - Relation

Several episodes, as narrated in the Akilam (the holy text of Ayyavazhi), describe Ayya Vaikundar as an avatar of Vishnu (a Tamil name for Vishnu).

All these episodes — starting with his 'birth' at sea as the 'son' of Narayana, the performance of the grand Tavam, the symbolic shamanic actions of incinerating the demons, the seizing of esoteric powers, and the unifying of the deities unto himself — highlight the important message that Ayya Vaikundar came as the avatar of Narayana. The followers of Ayyavazhi believe and worship him as a deity, the incarnation of Narayana. (see: Ayyavazhi Trinity)

Vaikundar as Narayana

After the birth in the sea, Vaikundar was addressed by Akilam quite commonly as Narayana. In most of the teachings of Vaikundar to the people, he portraits himself as incarnation of Narayana. The theological definition from Akilam about Vaikundar too focuses the same point mostly. The incarnation of Vaikundar in the world it to destroy kali and it was the duty of Narayana to do this, as per the early deeds with Siva. So in that sense the view is stengthened that Vaikundar is Narayana himself.

Then the aim of the austrity of seven virgins towards vishnu to marry them is fulfilled in the Vaikunda Avatharam by Vaikundar. So this event too stengthens this belief.

Vaikundar as son of Narayana

Right from the beginning of the incarnation of Vaikundar in the sea, Vaikundar use to call Narayana as Father, through the vinchais. The episode comes in a way that the whole details, powers, instructions, and laws were given to Vaikundar by Narayana. Then after Vaikundar coming out of the sea, he was called as Narayana by devas.

On summing up, the Father - son relationship between Narayana and Vaikundar is highlighted during the three vinchai.

Ayya Vaikundar as the supreme deity

In Ayyavazhi, Ayya Vaikundar is considered the supreme deity and an incarnation of Mayon. Due to this belief, the followers of Ayyavazhi seem to have taken him to be the centre of all divinities. He was the incarnation, not only of Thirumal, but also of Sivan and Brahma as well. In order to demonstrate that he was the supreme deity of the present age, Ayya Vaikundar not only performed symbolic marriages in which all surrounding popular deities were surrendered and unified unto himself, he also did away with refractory evil spirits. (see:Ayyavazhi Trinity)

Right from the beginning of the Vinchai of Tiruchendur Vaikundar has been focused as the ultimate power or incarnation of the supreme Ekam. All sort of administrations - Creating maintaining and destroying were all handled to Vaikundar through the Vinchai by Narayana, who was responsible for all these actions from the beginning of Kali Yuga. Narayan also says about all different divine powers and deities of the world and assure that, "During the avatar, all such divine powers, deities and attributes will be surrendered and will be unifyied into you".

Ekam - Narayana - Vaikundar

The relations between the Ekam, Narayana and Vaikundar were understand by different implications found in several verses of Ayyavazhi scriptures. Thiru Nadana Ula, the section which describe the situational changes that is going to be happen in the world from the advent of Vaikundar, says the relation between these three power-heads as, the 'Ekam is taken inside Narayana and with that power Vaikundar is being given birth' which means, Ekam is regenerated as Vaikundar in Kali Yuga by Narayana by which Narayana is the Father of the Supreme Vaikundar.

Vaikundar revealing his Supremacy

Vaikundar, by his various incarnational activities reveals him as the supreme power apart from the relationship of Narayana.

After the incarnation Vaikundar at the sea-shore of Tiruchendur provided Rules and regulations to God-heads. During this the supremacy of Vaikundar is revealed by the event of Vaikundar ordering all devas of the cosmos the do's and don'ts which are to be followed. Even here Vaikundar was said as the incarnation of Ekam.

Another area in which Vaikundar has been focused as the supreme universal power is the Marriage with the deities. During this, Vaikundar exactly in the place of Ekam unifyied into him all the deities. He unifyied into him Parvati in the form of Siva, unifyied Lakshmi in the form of Vishnu, Sarasvati in the form of Brahma, Valli and Deyvanai as Muruga etc., showing that Vaikundar is the incarnation of the supreme power, from which all these lower divine powers generated.

Akilattirattu Ammanai
Akilattirattu Ammanai

Akilathirattu Ammanai, also called Thiru Edu (venerable book), is the main religious text of the Tamil belief system Ayyavazhi. The title is often abbreviated to Akilam or Akilathirattu.

Akilam including more than 15000 verses, is the largest Ammanai literature in Tamil[1] and one among the largest works in Tamil which are contributed by a single author.

History

According to the book, Akilam, Hari Gopalan Citar wrote this book on the twenty-seventh day of the Tamil month of Karthikai (November/December) in the year 1841 CE.[2] The author claims that God woke him up during his sleep and commissioned him to take dictation of what he said. Akilathirattu was recorded on palm leaves until 1939, when it was given printed form.[3]

According to the author, the book is the story of God coming in this age, the Kali Yukam or Iron Age, to rule the world by transforming it into the Dharma Yukam. This story of faith has woven together the historical facts about Ayya Vaikundar and his activities with reinterpretations of episodes from the Hindu Puranas (mythologies) and Itihasas (epics).[4] It is presented as if Vishnu is narrating the whole story to his consort Lakshmi.

Though the Citar Hari Gopalan wrote the book Akilam, he claimed that he did not know any thing about the contents of the book. He woke up in the morning as usual and he didn't know what he had written the day before. Another legend says that he began it that night and continued through the following days. Others say that it was written beginning on Friday, 26th Karthikai (Tamil Calendar) 1016 M.E, and completed on seventeenth day on the second Sunday of Margazhi (Tamil Calendar) 1016 M.E.

When Ayya Vaikundar passed away, the tied-up palm leaf manuscript, which was until then not opened, was unfolded. It contained the regulations of the Ayyavazhi sect. As per the instructions found there in Akilam, Ayyavazhi was preached by the Citars far and wide.

Style

Akilam is in two parts; the first is an account of the ages preceding that of the present age, the Kali Yukam, and the second is an account of the activities of Ayya Vaikundar leading up to his attaining Vaikundam.

Akilathirattu is written as a poem in the Tamil language. The narration alternates between two sub-genres called viruttam and natai. Both sub-genres employ many poetic devices like alliteration and hyperbatons.[5] It contains more than 15000 verse making up seventeen section. In a typical Ammanai style, Akilam maintains more than one context for its verses throughout the text. While the floating ideas of the lines could be comparatively easily communicated, the underlying theme couldn't be understood unless oneself is understood and well aware about the basics of Hindu pantheon of gods, Hindu scriptures, Dharmic concepts and philosophy etc.

Versions

The most controversial versions of Akilam; Clockwise from top-left, 1.Kalai Ilakkiya Peravai version, Anbukkodi Makkal-Iyakkam Version, Vaikundar Thirukkudumbam Version(1989) and DDPV

The texts written by Hari Gopalan Citar are seen as damaged and it is hard to read the contents. It is still preserved as a relic by his descendents. There are three direct versions which were copied from this first version. They are,
 * Panchalagkuricchi Version
 * Swamithoppe Version
 * Kottangadu Version

Of these, the Panchalankuricchi Version is believed to be written down by Hari Gopalan Citar by copying from the main version and the other two versions were copied later. Apart from these the Nariyan vilai Version, Varampetran-pantaram Version, Saravanantheri Version are the other early palm-leaf versions of Akilam.

Other release versions include the Palaramachandran version, the VTV published twice, the Kalai Ilakkiya-peravai Version and the Vivekanandan Version. But of these, The Ayya Vaikundar Thirukkudumbam version is often criticised for the removal and adding of additional Verse (poetry)s from various versions. It was argued that such additions and removals are made in over 300 pages. Though Thirukkudumbam claim that these additional lines were added from the early palm-leaf versions (Panchalankuricchi Version and Kottangadu Version) which are believed to be missing, to Akilam, this version is not accepted widely.

All the release versions except Palaramachandran version schedules the whole contents to seventeen sections as per the Thiru Eadu-vasippu partition. The Sentrathisai Ventraperumal version which was released in 1965 includes more than 2000 verse which were not found in other versions. The Palaramachandran version is the widely accepted and the largest circulated version.

Contents

The book focuses on the devotion to Vaikundar, considered to be an aspect of the God Vishnu. It is a poetic narrative in Tamil intended to be an excellent compilation of the various aspects of Indian mythology and beliefs about God.

The first 8 chapters of the book narrates the events starting from the creation of the Universe to the time exactly before the incarnation of Vaikundar. The ninth chapter describes in detail the events taking place in the divine plan during the incarnation of Vaikundar. The last 8 chapters focus of the legendary, empirical, historical and mythical aspects pertaining to the life of Vaikundar.

Evolution and Yugas

The book starts with the explanation given by Vishnu to His consort Lakshmi about the evolution of Universe and of human beings. It is said that there is a total of 8 aeons or yugas and we are currently in the seventh yuga called as Kali Yuga, the age of deterioration. It is believed that for each yuga there is a demon that will be destroyed by Vishnu. In the first yuga, Kroni was born. This Kroni is cognate with the concept of Satan in Abrahamic religions. Vishnu fragmented him into six pieces and each fragments will incarnate as demon in each Yuga. The first four yugas are said to be the Neetiya Yuga, Chatura Yuga, Nedu Yuga and Kretha Yuga. These four yugas do not have parallels in the mainstream Hindu mythology.

The fifth yuga is said to be the Treta Yuga in which the Lord Rama incarnated as human. The sixth yuga is the Dvapara Yuga, and there is a short but striking description of the life of Krishna and the Bharatha war. Additionally there is said to be another event called the birth of Santror or noble people at the closure of Dvapara Yuga.

Kali Yuga

Kali Yuga, the seventh Yuga begins when the evil spirit called Kali (not to be confused with Kaali, the mother goddess) was born. Kali is believed to be cognate with the modern human beings. Then was born the Neesan, the demon for the Kali Yuga. It is said that this demon became the king of earth in various places and tortured the lives of the Santror. Because of this Lord Vishnu got angry and advised Neesan to stop torturing the Santror. But he won't agree to Vishnu and would prefer to die rather than giving up. In order to stop the rule of Neesan and to bring an end to Kali yuga, Vishnu made a plan to make Vaikundar incarnate as human.

The Incarnation

Vaikundar is believed to be the Son of Vishnu and Lakshmi. He was beget inside the sea, and sent as human into the land. From the point of incarnation of Vaikundar, it is said that He was made the supreme of all godhead, and will destroy Neesan and also the evil Kali Yuga. It is also said that he will take all righteous people with him into the Vaikundam in the eighth yuga called as Dharma Yukam. Also, nothing is said about the period which follows Dharma yuga, which means that timeline is linear, and not circular as believed inside mainstream Hinduism.

Read More