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The Akilathirattu Ammanai the scripture of Ayyavazhi teaches Dharma on two different perspectives. One in sociology as charity and truth (in behavior) and another under spirituality to attain the stage of Oneness, unified into Lord Vaikundar. This state of ultimate oneness is called as Dharma Yukam or Dharma Pathi. Akilam also says that, Dharma is the only living wheel. The sociological way is asked to be followed by every one to attain the spiritual state of Dharma.
The sociological definition to Dharma is generated as a concrete activity of charity or almsgiving. The principle of Dharma was considered as the mission of "protecting or salvaging the lowly, the oppressed". The disparity among the people is to be reduced and eradicated by this act of charity. A quote in Vinchai reads, "To uplift the lowely is dharmam". In this way, people were specially exhorted to undertake charity on material goods, and do it without discriminating among the beneficiaries. The Indian saint, Swami Vivekananda applied this principle of 'Social-Dharma' concept in practice and this may lead support to the people who claim that he was influenced by the religion.
Transposed to the spiritual plane, the concept of Dharma is propounded as 'principle of righteousness' . Ayyavazhi asserts that the prime motive of the Avatar of Vaikundar was to establish Dharma in this world by destroying the evil force of Kaliyan. The definition of Kali in Ayyavazhi is focused as the materialized life. So spiritual understanding of Dharma in Ayyavazhi is the life in ultimate harmony with nature or unbounded by space and time. The narration of the concept 'Ekam', 'the ultimate oneness' in Akilam right from the beginning points out it clearly.
And after ending the Kali Yukam, Dharma Yukam, the 'world of righteousness', is said to be ruled over by Vaikundar as an ever lasting King. There will be only on religion and only one race. All the people there will be with supreme bliss and knowledge. But on the way, it detached the caste identities by stating that it was not suited for the present Kali Yukam.
As per Ayyavazhi ideology, Lord Vaikundar incarnated in the world for destroying the evil force of Kali, which is the sixth foremost and the most serious manifestation of the evil Kroni. Because of the serious nature of Kaliyan and the boons claimed by him. So the power of the 'Supreme Ekam' was given birth as son of Lord Narayana in the Name of Vaikundar. Hence Vaikundar is not only a unique avatar but also the only able power to destroy the evil Kali. Hence it's necessary for oneself to follow Vaikundar, who is not influenced by Kali to overcome the aspect of Kali. Vaikundar was the only eligible figure to forgive the sin of Kali since he was the only figure gets unaffected to Kali. So Vaikundar and his teachings are important to be spread. And this spreading the gospel of Vaikundar is told as the Yuga dharma for this Kali Yuga .
So the spread of teachings of Vaikundar is taught to be nessaccery for the fast destruction of Kali. It was also considered that Vaikundar too ordered his followeres to propagate his teachings. The five Citars of Vaikundar and the Thuvayal Pandarams are seemingly the first among the propagators of the teachings of Vaikundar. It also seems that Vaikundar's teachings are spread even before Akilathirattu Ammanai is written down.
After teaching the Dharma for Human beings Vaikundar also taught Dharma also for Animals, birds, reptiles, plants etc. He ordered the animals to live in harmony to each other and do not quarrel with others. He also ordered them to take only vegetarian foods (to eat only plants). They all were also ordered to drink water from same place. They were also asked only to obey Vaikundar and to remain with forbearance. Then he ordered the birds to live with harmony with one another and not to quarrel in the name of being large and small. Treat great, only the strong and bold faith over Lord Vaikundar. The plants are also ordered to maintain patience and forbearance and to remain humble. As a whole from human beings to plants, all are ordered to maintain forbearance and to live in harmony with one another.
Ayya Vaikundar also known as Siva Narayana or Vaikunda Swami was the founder of the Ayyavazhi faith. The Ayyavazhis believe him to be the first and foremost Purna avatar of Eka-Paran and the god Vishnu (Narayana). As per Ayyavazhi mythology detailed in their scriptures, Ayya Vaikundar incarnated in 1833, when he rose from the sea of Tiruchendur in the mortal shell of Vaikundar.
Ayyavazhi is a Hindu denomination that originated in South India during the 19th century.
Akilathirattu Ammanai, also called Thiru Edu, is the main religious text of the Tamil belief system Ayyavazhi. The title is often abbreviated to Akilam or Akilathirattu.
Kroni is a figure in Ayyavazhi mythology. He is the primordial manifestation of evil, and manifests in various forms of evil, such as Ravana and Duryodhana, in different ages or yugas. To counteract and destroy the evil of Kroni's manifestations, Mayon incarnates as Avatars such as Rama and Krishna. He seems to be more evil than the demon Kali of the Mahabharata and Kalki Purana sharing similarities with Lucifer.
Ayyavazhi mythology is the mythology of the South Indian religious faith known as Ayyavazhi, which is officially considered a Hindu sect. The main source of Ayyavazhi mythology is the Ayyavazhi scripture, Akilathirattu Ammanai, and its supplement, Arul Nool. The Akilathirattu Ammanai is a recitation by Mayon to his consort Lakshmi. It is divided into three sections: Early Avatars, incarnational events and post-incarnational events.
Dharma Yukam is the state of absolute bliss as per Ayyavazhi mythology. Dharma Yukam is described in the Akilam seventeen in Akilathirattu Ammanai. It is related to Dharmic moksha and to Abrahamic heaven.
The following outline is provided as an overview and topic guide to Ayyavazhi:
Ekam is the Sanskrit for "one, single, solitary", as a noun meaning "unity". In Ayyavazhi and Hinduism, it refers to a concept of monism akin to that of Brahman in Advaita philosophy and Smarta theology.
Ayyavazhi theology is the theology of a South Indian religious Faith and officially a sect of Hinduism known as Ayyavazhi. Several fundamental theological beliefs distinguish the Ayyavazhi tradition from Hinduism.
The Ayyavazhi includes a corpus of teachings of its initiator Lord Vaikundar in the form of instructions and slogans found in the religious book Akilathirattu.
According to the Ayyavazhi religion sect of Hinduism, the Ayyavazhi Trinity is the incarnation of God in the current stage of world development. Lord Vaikundar, the Incarnation, is the combination of the Ultimate God, Trimurti and Narayana. In Akilam immediately after the Incarnation of Vaikundar, he was viewed simultaneously as the Ultimate God, Narayana, and as son of Narayana. As per the earlier deed Narayana had to destroy Kaliyan, but due to the boons that kaliyan claimed Narayana has destroy him in form of Pantaram. And as per the promise made by Kaliyan, he would only be destroyed, if he give torture to any Pantaram. To overcome all these, such a unique way of Incarnation was planned.
The Akilam one is the first among the seventeen parts of Akilathirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi. This section includes the Kappu, the very first part; it tells of the Detchanam, and describes the political and sociological situation in the early world.
The Ayyavazhi symbolism deals with the symbols which are used in or used to represent Ayyavazhi. Though Akilam the scripture of Ayyavazhi does not point out any symbol directly, there are a few symbols which are used for representing Ayyavazhi which came into practice gradually.
Akilam six is the sixth section of Akilam, the primary holy scripture of Ayyavazhi. This section describes the transformation of the ruling authority of the universe from Sivan to Thirumal.
The purpose of this chronology is to give a detailed account of Ayyavazhi from the beginning of the incarnational events of Vaikundar to the present time. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates. A star (*) indicates the mentioning of that particular date in Akilam or Arul Nool. All dates but a few are found in the Tamil calendar and so doesn't coincide exactly with the months of the Gregorian calendar. The dates may span over any halves of the two consecutive months (Gregorian).
Muthiri Kinaru is the sacred well located in the north-western corner of Swamithoppe village. This is the famous theertha of the temple. It is located half a kilometre west from the main Pathi.
Inclusiveness and exclusivity in Ayyavazhi is the inclusive and exclusive ideology of Ayyavazhi scriptures over other religions. The formula of inclusivism and exclusivism was applied in the religio-cultural universe of Ayyavazhi is one that is not found anywhere else in the world. Though there are separate verses towards inclusivism and exclusivism as central themes in Akilam, the mixture of both is unique. The inclusivistic theory of accepting the views of different religions for a certain period of time and from then onwards exclusivistically rejecting all of them by narrating that all the previous had lost their substances is a mythical as well as religious break-through.
The ethics of Ayyavazhi are found scattered throughout the primary scripture, Akilathirattu Ammanai. They are also integrated with the meta-narrative mythography. However, regarding ethics, Arul Nool is considered as an accumulation and prophecy of the core concepts found in Akilathirattu. In Akilathirattu, the ethical abstracts are pointed out as "told by God" at several places at different situations to lesser god-heads, devas, saints etc. when asked by them.
Ayyavazhi phenomenology is the phenomenological variations found in Ayyavazhi society, worship centers etc. from their holy text Akilattirattu Ammanai.
The religious studies of Ayyavazhi are based primarily on the Ayyavazhi scriptures. Though there is enough knowledge there for a common worshiper to understand Ayyavazhi theology, it needs the Hindu and at some times the scriptures of other religions to be referred to undergo a detailed religious study on Akilam. Because Akilam maintains a unique type of relation with the other scriptures.