AYYA THUNAI
HISTORY OF
LORD NARAYANA’S INCARNATE
LORD VAIKUNDAR
Lord Vaikunda Swamy (C.1833 – C.1851):
“Lord Narayana himself incarnated as vaikundar” – Holy Akilathirattu
Beloved devotees! As per Holy Akilathirattu, whenever Adharma (Evil) raised its ugly head, Lord manifest in some form as saviour of Dharma. In Kali Yuga too, when the evil forces threatened to destroy the fabric of Dharma, Lord Maha Vishnu incarnated as Lord Vaikundar to uphold rule of Dharma. While the Veda agama Akilathirattu, reverently mention mention him (Lord Vaikundar) as AYYA, Vaikunda Swamy, Vaikundar, Vaikunda Raja, Shri Pandaram, Aandavar, God, Karthan, Lord, Mayon, Lord Narayana, Lord Vishnu, Thirumal, Perumal, Ayya Narayana, Siva Narayana and Surya Narayana, the devotees reverently worship him in the names of ‘AYYA’, ’Lord Vaikundar’, ‘Lord Vaikunda Swami’ and ‘Lord Narayana Swami’. The temples of Lord Vaikunda Swami are known in various names such as ‘Pathi’, ‘Thiru Nizhal Thangal’, ‘Sreeman Narayanaswami Kovil’ and ‘Inai Thangal’.
“pantavar tamakkayt tonntti pakaitannai mutittu mayon
vinnrriya kaliyann vanta vicannattal kayilai yeki
cantaavar tamakka yintat taraniyil vanta nayam
aantavar aruli ceyya ammannai ezutalutten” – Akilathirattu
As prophesied in the Veda agama, Lord Maha Vishnu descended on earth entered into the sea of Tiruchendur inside where his consort Goddess Lakshmi was waiting for him. He pushed the mind of Goddess Lakshmi into state of perturbation, merged with her feelings and came out of her body as a formless child on the 20th day of Tamil Month Maasi in the year of Kollam, 1008 corresponding to Friday, the 1st March 1833 CE. When the formless Lord reached the seashore, he disguised in the form of a mendicant (Lord Vaikundar) in human form which was the tenth incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu and the said spot is named ‘Avathara Pathi’ (Avathara meaning the place of incarnation), one of the most sacred sites.
On reaching seashore, Lord Vaikundar appeared in the form of a mendicant dressed up in ochre robe, braided hair, sacred white mark on forehead, Rudraksha mala (garland) around the neck, Rishi’s Wand and a Kamandal (a water-vessel of a religious mendicant) in hands. The Celestials and Devaganas who awaited his arrival, prostrated at his feet and offered their salutations with lullabies and danced along the entire route in joy. After addressing the folks, Lord Vaikundar proceeded to a place called ‘Manavaipathi’ in Swamithoppu. On way he installed a Shiva Ling in a place called ‘Ambalapathi’, offered prayers to it, and took an oath that he would come back again to offer worship. The act of Lord Maha Vishnu who incarnated as Lord Vaikundar is described in Akilathirattu as:
“nallana rayanarum namamani vaikuntarayc
cellat tiruvulamayc cimaik kurrutiyumay
manitavata rametuttu vaikunta vacavanum
panitavazum pattiniyal palaruta vagkicattil” – Akilathirattu
The folks in the Universe firmly believed that Lord Maha Vishnu had indeed incarnated in the form of a mendicant in the southern end of the land. Lord Vaikundar undertook severe penance for six years praying to Lord Shiva. The northern side of ‘Manavaipathi’ in Swamithoppu, the entry point (door) where Lord Vaikundar undertook the unique penance on Lord Shiva became one more sacred site in the life of Lord Vaikundar, hence called as ‘Thava Vasal’ (Thavam means penance and Vasal means the door).
During the entire period of penance, Lord Vaikundar partook only Porridge made out of raw rice (thick liquid formed from rice) and rarely spoke, but maintained absolute silence. Disguised as mendicant, he cured the dreaded diseases of not one, but several of the eighteen class folks who reached out to him by sprinkling water and sacred soil as prasad. The childless couples begot children, lost visions of folks restored, penniless folks enriched and sorrow and sufferings of folks who surrendered to him vanished. He advocated eradication of superstitious beliefs and ensured that the folks of entire eighteen caste folks showered love on each other and mingle with each other free of caste and creed.
The advocacy of Lord Vaikundar when spread across the land attracted several folks belonging to all the eighteen castes who flocked to him in belief that he had incarnated to uphold Dharma as prophesied in the Veda Agamas and a casteless society would emerge to be witnessed by pious folks. He appealed to the folks to surrender and serve him irrespective of their caste as he was the creator and protector of the Cosmic. His advocacy was directed not only to the folks, but also to the birds, animals and all other living beings in the world including plants, trees, reptiles, rough rocks and stones which too had life in them, invisible to humans as bestowed by the creator. The folks who reached out to the Lord complained that they were unable to bear the atrocities of evil Kalian. On their appeal, Lord Vaikundar analyzed the acts of evil forces and realized that as per Vedic Agama, the time to destroy their powers had indeed come and hence instantly destroyed those evil forces without waiting for the next second.
In the act of next, he renamed five evil warriors called Pancha Devas or Guardian deities -Sudalaimadan, Kattayeri, Palavesam, Masanam, and Kathavarayan- as Karudarasan, Similarasan, Thertagan, Tuttiveeran and as Therkudayon and replaced their original powers with modified powers as they had accepted animal sacrifices against the dictums of the Lord. Thereafter he kept them by his right side in the name of ‘Yeval Seevaai’ meaning the one who obeyed his command. Those developments were viewed by Akilathirattu as ‘transformation of the status of the demi gods’. Next, Lord Vaikundar snatched away the powers of evil magicians engaged in the act of black magic, sorcery with which they mentally and physically tortured the folks besides causing death to some. He also destroyed the powers of all those who were engaged in the acts of fraudulence and deceit. Further the mystical powers enjoined by the sinner sages were also clipped by the Lord.
Lord Vaikundar insisted on practicing principles of dharma and uplift the downtrodden folks. Lord Vaikundar advised that male should wear turban or a head gear and similarly the female covered their full body with cloth (Sari). In order to establish feeling of oneness, he enforced that irrespective of their caste, everyone should fetch water only from one well available in the place of his stay for use of daily chores. The well was called as ‘Muthiri Kinaru’ (Muthiri means Sign or seal of secularism and Kinaru meaning Well). He promoted the practice of inclusive prayer to win over evil Kali and clarion call to the Sandroars to live fearlessly with dignity of honor and self-respect to destroy the evil effect of Kali.
The ruler when realized Lord Vaikundar was drawing thousands of folks and a separate socialistic state of society was slowly and steadily emerging in Swamithoppu, ignoring the saner advice of Poovandar, the King got the Lord arrested and tortured him variously. However Lord Vaikundar displayed divinity of several nature during captivity to remain unharmed says Akilathirattu in the following manner. The saner advice of Poovandar who cautioned that there be no doubt whether Lord Maha Vishnu would incarnate in Sanar clan, and if need be he would incarnate in any clan is described in Akilathirattu as:
canennak kulattil mayan sarvaroenn renna ventam
pananayt tonri nirpar paraiyanayt tonri nirpar
tunenat tonri nirpar tolanayt tonri nirpar
anenat tonri nirpar avaruru ketti lIro – Akilathirattu
The tiger too recognized the Lord, looked at him, without showing even slightest semblance to attack him, it went and sat near his feet as if it offered its salutation to him. This shocked the King and the armed forces to believe that he may have been the divine Lord incarnated to end Kali, and therefore released him from the prison.
Once released from Prison, Lord Vaikundar was carried to the southern end of the land called Tamaraiyur Pathi (Swamithoppu) in a cradle like Palanquin by Sandroars. In order to strengthen the mental power and appearance of Sandroars, Lord Vaikundar commenced a unique penance called Thuvayal Thavasu in both ‘Vagai Pathi’ and ‘Muttapathi’, two places near Swamithoppu. After successful completion of the mission, Lord Maha Vishnu sent all of them back to their respective homes. It is described in Akilathirattu as:
“nara yanakkuruvai nalu maravamal
peraka veyiruntal perungkaluk kekitaikkum
anna malakkum atit tirunetumal
munanavan tanperal muttirika littatinal
centra itamellam cirappatika mugkalukku” – Akilathirattu
“tutiyitaik kanni marait tirumanan tirumal ceytu
kutipukazc cantoor makkal kuravaikal muzakkat totu
titirenat terukkal currit teviyu manna rakap
patimicaip patiyi nulle patintuvan tirunta rantae” – Akilathirattu
Lord Maha Vishnu in his avatar as Lord Vaikundar proclaimed that ‘the boons enjoyed by Kalineesan would get destroyed, wrong doers sent to hell and the doors of hell would be locked to prevent their escape, pious folks would be awakened, bestowed with powerful boons to rule the land, new Dharma Yuga would usher, and everyone with their families would live under one umbrella of rule, while I shall be ruling the Dwarayam Pathi’. Thus after enacting several plays, at 12 noon on Monday, the 21st Vaikasi in the year Kollam 1026, (corresponding to 2nd June C.1851), Lord Maha Vishnu who had manifested as Lord Vaikundar for protecting and uplifting the life of oppressed Sandroars, ended his incarnation and returned back to Vaikunda.
Pathi’.
The Celestial from Deva Loga showered flower petals over Lord Vaikundar, while other divine forces sang hymns called Tirupattu (Thiru meaning venerable and Pattu meaning song) praising him. Deva Loga dancers called Rambais (dancers) danced to the tunes of deafening drum beats played by the Sages and Rishis welcoming the Lord Vaikundar. They contended that Lord Vaikundar had indeed incarnated in deference to the proclamations of Agama texts written several thousand years back. They placed a crown over his head, garlanded him and made him seated on a Lion faced Simhasan (Throne). Seated on the throne of dharma, the Lord Vaikundar in the universe would be examining the state of affairs amongst the folks, by keeping away the falsehoods, and grace those who walk the path of dharmic practices as laid out in Veda agamas.
Lord Maha Vishnu who incarnated in every one of the Yugas will come again to rule in Dharma Yuga. Therefore, we too should tread the path of Dharma and walk in the way the Lord Ayya alias Vaikundar showed us to attain success in our life in the Dharma Yug.