Hinduism: Details about 'Salient Teachings'
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The tradition of Ayyavazhi came up with a corpus of teachings found in Akilattirattu in the form of instructions and slogans. It would be in place to take a look at the salient ones, in order to understand the import of the teachings.
DharmamThe teachings on dharmam has two levels of understanding: One, as a principle of 'righteousness', and the other, as a concrete activity of 'charity' or 'almsgiving'. As a principle, the followers of Ayyavazhi believed that the prime motive of the mission of Ayya Vaikundar was to establish Dharmam in this world by destroying the evil force of kali. It is said in Akilattirattu that people, even as listening to the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar, 'realised' that the evil of kali was gradually being withdrawn from the world and that Dharmam was being established in its stead." Transposed to the social plane, this principle of Dharmam was considered as the mission of "protecting or salvaging the lowly, the oppressed." As a practical activity, Dharmam meant charity and almsgiving. This was taught to be the way to seek God. People were specially exhorted to undertake charity on material goods, and do it without discriminating among the beneficiaries. Courage and FortitudeApart from the symbolic actions of incinerating the evil spirits and impounding the powers of those practising black magic that were purported to instil courage among the ordinary people , there were also direct teachings on courage and fortitude. People were instructed not to fear any supernatural or temporal powers of malignant or inimical character. They were exhorted "not to fear anyone except Vaikundar" and that the latter's abiding presence with them would be the source of their strength. They were told that 'it was fortitude that would make them rule the earth,' therefore, not to be intimidated by any exploiter. Living with Dignity"If you live with dignity and self-respect, the Kali would destroy itself" is another oft-repeated verse from Akilattirattu . The importance of this instruction comes to light when we consider the fact that 'destruction of kali is projected in Akilattirattu to be one of the chief motives of the mission of Ayya Vaikundar. The book, through various other narratives, underscores the point that the people are to live in dignity. For example, the narrative on the 'origin of the Santror Makkal as the children of Narayana rendered the people with a divine pedigree and it was a powerful story to drive home the message that the people were a dignified humanity. Some of the rituals that emerged in the life of Ayyavazhi aimed at indoctrinating the message of human dignity. The example of 'wearing a headgear' during worship is a case in point. Against Caste DiscriminationAkilattirattu projected to the imagination of the followers of Ayyavazhi an ideal society where the caste discrimination did not exist. In its account of the past, Akilattirattu speaks of an age when people lived as one family without the discrimination of caste. It blames the kalineesan for dividing the people on the basis of caste. It speaks of a future when Ayya Vaikundar will rule all the people with equality. Other verses from Akilattirattu like, 'cast away the eighteen castes and the demons into the mountain, fire and the sea'. 'do not discriminate between the powerful and powerless', 'the caste would disappear by itself, etc., point to the fact of a considerable indoctrination against the inequalities of castes. Against Political OppressorsA very strong critique of the political oppressors seems to have been operative in Ayyavazhi. In the first place, it was expressed in the very characterisation of the Thiruvithankur king as Kalineesan the representative of the evil force, and of the British as Venneesan (the wicked white). Kalineesan was projected to be the main oppressor who perpetrated the rule of Kali by exploiting the labour of the people through the systems of oozhiyam and levies, and by imposing the discriminatory caste system. Akilattirattu indicts him to be the cause of oppression and issues admonitions to him so as to revoke the exploitative measures. A slogan, having political overtones, seems to have been heard repeatedly in the gatherings of Ayyavazhi. It came as a declaration from Ayya Vaikundar that he was going to dethrone the king and rule the country under a Single Umbrella. This had its repercussions in the political arena. Among the many accusations raised against Ayya Vaikundar, that he would overthrow the rule of kings was a serious one. Against Economic ExploitationStrong discontentment against the deeply entrenched exploitation of the labouring masses was expressed in the form of poetic lamentations that got repeated and commented upon in the gatherings of Ayyavazhi. Akilattirattu devotes three full pages enumerating and lamenting upon the innumerable exploitative measures imposed on the toiling masses, primarily on the Chanars. It enlists a number of oppressive taxes (imposed on things like fire-wood to the implements of the people's occupation; It speaks about the varieties of taxes levied on land and cultivation; and it narrates the way the exploitative system of oozhiyam excruciated the people. In a very telling statement, Akilattirattu summarises its concern as, "the treacherous neesan squeezed out the labour and its produce from the Santror. There are also certain verses found in Akilattirattu and Arul Nool which are in the form of instructions. A verse in Akilattirattu says, "whoever makes an earning, let him rule over it and no one need be lightened of another" and another verse goes as: "Tell that there is no Sevies to be paid anymore." There are also verses that call for revolutionary actions from the followers. For example, a section in Arul Nool goes as follows: "My child, bom to rule the world, rise and awakeThe arrogant mean is waging a warCome my son, to raise an army to incinerate this worldDignified as you are, the ignominy is intolerableI brought a paisa by carrying on my head a heavy loadHe snatched away even that one paisaDid you take birth when such a cruel king is ruling?" Against Puja, Blood-sacrifice, and Offerings to TemplesThere was a strong admonition given to the followers of Ayyavazhi against conducting Puja, making offerings to temples and undertaking blood sacrifices to appease evil spirits. This admonition is repeated in several places in Akilattirattuu and Arul Nool. Instructions to give up ‘devil worship’, idol worship, sacrifices of goats, roosters and pigs to deities, offerings of eggs, fried meat and other edibles, etc., were explicitly present in Ayyavazhi. Ayya Vaikundar is shown to be proclaiming these admonitions as a titular message to his mission as soon as he emerged from the sea after the Transformation. The people had their own folk practices like peikkuk kotuttal (offering to demons) or cetikkuk kotuttal(offering to evil spirits), etc., to appease the evil spirits. Ayya Vaikundar instructed the people not to observe these practices. One of the mainline instructions of Ayyavazhi was that there were neither devils nor demons, and that there was no effect for witchcraft, sorcery, etc. Against Brahmin DominationAyya Vaikundar and other prominent persons of Ayyavazhi had spoken out statements lamenting against domination of the Brahmins. One such statement by Vaikundar is found in Pathiram as: "We come to intimidate the veta Brahmins." Another of the same kind is found in Thinkal Patham which says, "those who wear a turf (denoting the Brahmins) will not remain on this earth any longer." Apart from these open statements, certain mythical episodes implicating the Brahmins are too conspicuous to be missed. For example, the mythical narrative that indicts the Brahmins for consuming the whole of the nectar that is meant for all humanity, and on that account, condemning them to grow on earth as palmyra trees, and the episode that exposes the corrupt and immoral practices of the Brahmin priests at Srirangam and Thiruchendur cannot obviously be missed. The followers of Ayyavazhi were called upon to don the mantle of priesthood in the place of the Brahmins. Worship Centres - Pathis and Nizhal ThangalsPathis and Nizhal Thangals were centres of worship and religious learning established in different parts of the country by devout followers of Ayyavazhi. They were established even during the time of Ayya Vikundar, and they served as centres for propagation of the beliefs and practices of the religious phenomenon of Ayyavazhi. DisciplesFrom among the large number of followers, Vaikundar seems to have chosen five persons to be called as his ( Citars)disciples. They are: Messrs. Sivanandi from Mailadi, Pandaram from Kailasapuram, Arjunan from Pillayarkudiyirruppu, Subbiah from Colachel, and Hari Gopalan from Thamaraikulam. Vaikundar seems to have chosen these disciples to be his close associates and to propagate his teaching and ideals to the people. See also
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