- Ayyavazhi religious studies
The religious studies of
Ayyavazhi are based primarily on theAyyavazhi scriptures . Though there is enough knowledge there for a common worshiper to understandAyyavazhi theology , it needs theHindu and at some times thescriptures of other religions (includingabrahamic ) to be referred to undergo a detailed religious study onAkilam . BecauseAkilam maintains a unique type of relation with the other scriptures.On one hand it rejects
Hindu scriptures by saying that they have lost their divinity by the activities of Kali, but on the other many of thetheological ,mythical as well asphilosophical terms and concepts fromHindu scriptures are adopted directly and indirectly. However it's unavoidable to referHindu scriptures to find more details about the ideology ofAkilam .Mythology
It was considered that one should have a basic knowledge about the
Hindu scriptures and its concepts to get into the philosophical study ofAyyavazhi . Almost all the God-heads either lesser or higher in power found inAkilam with only a least and undetailed introduction on their how and whereabouts. They just plays their part to the longmythical story-line of theAyyavazhi mythology . But to understand the core philosophy of that event and the reason behind the involvement of that God-head to that event one should have already known the details about that particular God-head, which was not found inAkilam . Also only there a least possibility to know the relationship between several mythical figures other than the higher God-heads. And for all these details including their story-background, origin etc.Regarding mythology The
Mahabharata ,Ramayana , Kantha Purana,Vishnu Purana , etc all found place with limited details inAkilam . Akilam provides all these collectively with a mutual relation with each other in an over-all story line which makes it unique. But to understand the whole knowledge for exampleTreta Yuga , the scripture which includes those events in detail should needed to be referred. Though the event related to the sameTretha Yuga is found inAkilam , it includes only the main events which are directly related to the maintained story-line. Same in the matter ofMahabharata and kantha Purana. Apart from these many mythical events are found in briefAkilam which is found in detail in Siva purana, "Santror purana" etc. Overall, all the Pre-kaliyuga events are mentioned briefly in Akilam and more details about them which is essential to undergo a religious study onAkilam may be collected from theHindu texts .However
Akilam includes more details about the events inKaliyuga than that of the previous and further more from the incarnation ofVaikundar . But on the other hand, it again needs a good knowledge about the Hindu concepts such as Nirguna andSaguna Brahman , rather thanmythology for one who wants to know about the supremacy ofVaikundar .Theology
The Akilam based theology is not a constant one since it it deals with the whole events right from the creation to the end. It undergoes different theologies from
polytheism tomonotheism andmonism , though monism is the final and overall focus point for the presentyuga . It is viewed closely to themythical events that takes place at various ages and so it changes often.Monism in the beginning (creation ),polytheism till the end ofDwapara yuga , then some sort ofhenotheism till the advent ofVaikundar ; and then onMonism again. All this changes are closely tied to the appropriate mythical events and so all stories related to these changes should be know in detail to understand the evolution of the philosophy ofAkilam through the ages.Also since from the
incarnation ofVaikundar all previous individual God-heads are surrendered and assembled withinVaikundar , then onwards he is the responsible one for the activities of all god-heads. All the works to be done by them will be performed byVaikundar . So it's unavoidable to know about the nature, quality and powers of all those God-heads to understand the quality and power extension of Vaikundar. So again the details of those surrendered god-heads to be collected from theHindu texts . But ifAkilam has any different ideas about any particular event or any origin of God-heads, mentioned elaborately inHindu texts , then it will be found in detail inAkilam . And so for that, Akilam forms the foremost source and need not be referred from previousHindu texts .Concepts
Many, almost all
philosophical concepts fromHinduism are found inAkilam . Some of them are completely accepted, some are regenerated while some others are rejected by omitting. Most of the Hindu concepts are just found mention inAkilam with merely their name and the rest with their details left to be collected from theHindu texts . Some of them are regenerated by giving different ideas. It includes the concepts,Yuga ,evil ,Moksha , Maya (Kali) etc. Several other concepts such asTatvas ,Kosas ,Chakras ,Karma ,reincarnation ,Sariyai ,Kiriyai ,Yoga etc are accepted.However,
Akilam maintains the rejection of all previous scriptures throughout but knowledge about several basic concepts from them are important to understandAkilam . So generally it was considered that, once a particular event or concept which is needed is not found well-described inAyyavazhi scriptures such as Akilattirattu Ammanai orArul Nool , (as detail as inHindu scriptures ) and instead simply have quoted it with their names, then that particular conception is accepted as inHindu scriptures for religious studies. But when the idea of a particular notion of Akilam differs very much from Hindu scriptures, that particular thing is deeply described. However in a particular thing if both Akilam and Hindu scriptures have different ideas, then that of Akilam only is accepted. There is also a view that Akilam is a guideline to follow theHindu scriptures .References
* Tha. Krushnanathan, (2003), "Ayya Vaikundar Vazhvum Sinthanaiyum", Thinai Publications.
* R. Shunmugam, (2000), "Nadar Kulathi Narayanar Avataram", Nadar Kuladeepam Publications.
* Ari Sundara Mani, (2003), "Akilathirattu Ammanai Parayana Urai", Ayya Vaikundar Thirukudumbam Publications.
* C. Thamizh, Raj, "Ayya Thunai" (Ayyavazhi Tamil Monthly), March 2003 Edition.
* G. Patrick, (2003), "Religion and Subaltern Agency", University of Madras.
* Dr. R.Ponnu, (2000), "Sri Vaikunda Swamigal and the Struggle for Social Equality in South India", Ram Publishers.See also
*
Ayyavazhi and Hinduism
*Akilattirattu Ammanai
*Ayyavazhi beliefs
*Ayyavazhi mythology
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