Mandalam Musings Day 34- Four Ashramas and Four types of Dharma Sastha temples-

 

Mandalam Musings Day 34-

Four Ashramas and Four types of Dharma Sastha temples-

In Indian philosophy, all rituals of physical nature are established to convey and symbolize higher principles of divinity. In the evolutionary journey of a seeker, to support him achieve higher realms of reality, deities are conceived and consecrated in temples all over Bharat. They have been well established for thousands of years and each temple and its deity have its own concepts and modes of worship. In fact, deities are man-made yantras (machines) to impart certain benefits to the devotee. While the ultimate reality is one, there are many Devatas and deities. They help a seeker achieve their goals based on their own level of evolutionary development. If one is looking for getting wealthy, he propitiates Goddess Lakshmi and works to achieve that. If one is intending to be well educated, he propitiates the Goddess of education, Saraswathi. So do the others keen on developing their own areas of interests and proclivity. Note that these Devatas are all symbolic philosophically and physical in the Tantric sense.

At Sabarimala, the Lord is conceived as the one leading a devotee in the path of Moksha or ultimate deliverance. As we know, Sree Dharma Sastha is present in Sabarimala as Swami Ayyappa. He is in the form of an ascetic, who is a zealous Brahmachari – a celibate monk. All the rituals associated with the deity would be suitable to propitiate the Devata in that bhava. Prince Ayyappa himself had instructed his father, the king of Panthalam the rituals devotees need to follow when they come to see him.  Later Parasurama established the rituals including many strict requirements for Ayyappa devotees such as observing complete celibacy, eating only sattvic vegetarian food for survival, and living a simple, austere life. Although the pilgrimage is for men and women alike, women of age between 10 and 50 are not allowed to take part in it as the deity is a Naishtika Brahmachari. Moreover, young women would not be able to observe the required 41 days of austerity during their reproductive age. 

But there are many other Dharma Sastha temples with no such restrictions imposed on devotees. In each of those temples, the deities are consecrated with different concepts, bhavas, and purposes.  One may ask how one deity can present himself in different forms and concepts in different places. To understand this, consider the relationships a person has with different people around him. He is a son to his mother, a father to his son, a husband to his wife and a master to his servant, and a servant to his master. Each of those relationships has a different mode and code of conduct. Such is the concept of a deity at a particular temple.

At the Kulathoopuzha temple, Dharmasastha is worshipped as Balasastha (Brahmacharya Ashrama)– in the childhood form. At the Aryankavu temple, He is propitiated in the house-holder form (Gruhastha Ashram). At the Achankovil temple, Sree Ayyappan is worshipped as a King who is leading the life of a protector of the society (Vanaprastha Ashram).  At Sabarimala, the deity is worshipped in the form of a monk who is in perpetual meditation (Sanyasa Ashram), the final virtue of human life. It is this form an Ayyappa devotee is aiming to emulate by taking up the 41 days of austere life before aspiring to get a darshan of Swamy Ayyappa at Sabarimala. While there are many Dharma Sastha Temples all over the world, there is only one Swamy Ayyappa temple with the Lord's deity is in Sanyasa Bhava. There, the expectation is that the devotee could realize his Jevaatma (micro-self) as the universal Paramatmaa (macro-self) itself. There the  Lord and the devotee are both Ayyappas. This is the revelation of Tat Tvam Asi