SASTHA THIRU KALYANAM

MARRIAGE OF THE DIVINE:

            Lord supreme has created this Universe. To generate the activities of the living beings, the Lord has manifested himself as PURUSHA and PRAKRITHI i.e., Ammai and Appan, SHIV-SAKTHI or LAKSHMI-NARAYANA Swaroopa to protect the living beings. He has taken many AVATARS. In some avatars, He was a Brahmachari and in others, He was adorned with His consort, in single form or dual form. Enlightened souls and elite advocated the concept of worshipping the Lord with His Shakti aspect only.

Brahmam is one. He is the Paramatma from whom generated all Jeevatmas. Jeevatmas exits in all living beings, from insects to mankind. Human beings are considered the rarest and highest manifestation gifted with the Sixth Sense. With his sixth sense, the human beings should strive to reach the Lotus feet of the lord that is to merge back in the Paramatma.  

            In this kaliyuga, Bhakti Marga is the easiest way to reach the supreme. In Bhakti Marga, Nama Sankeerthana, singing the glories of the Lord and his Kalyana Gunas, is considered the most pious way, which envelopes performing of the kalyana utsavams of the lord with his consorts, whereby the performer—devotee is bestowed with all prosperities in this mundane world, besides proceeding on a stepping stone to reach the ultimate.

            The supreme has taken many forms for being worshipped by devotees, towards realizing the formless. The devotees make a choice of their own and concentrate on the form he selects and one such form is Tharaka Brahmam, Lord Sri Hariharaputra, with his consorts Poorna and Pushkala the divine marriage of whom forms the subject matter hereunder.

THE LEGENDARY TALES

            LORD SRI DHARMA SASTHA is a divine incarnate, born of Lord Shiva and Vishnu, to slain demoness Mahishi. He is said to have his abode at Kantha Mala, with his two consorts—POORNA and PUSHKALA. We have been conducting wedding ceremony to the Lord, as a form of AYYAPPA worship. It is often questioned by Ayyappa devotees as to how a wedding ceremony can be celebrated to Sabari Mala Ayyappa, who is a Brahmachari. This question arises out of misconception.  To erase this doubt, this article is written, with all available details, to throw light on the different aspects of SASTHA and AYYAPPA. For this, we have to carefully go through the Puranas relating o the lord.

            In various Puranas like SKAANDAM, BRAHMANDA PURANAM, LALITHOPAKYANAM etc, it is said that lord Hariharaputra was born to Shiva and Mohini(Vishnu) after PALAZHI MADANAM, which dates back to KRUTHA YUGA. Skaandam says that Lord Sastha with his two consorts appeared before Indra and Indrani to protect them. (This happened even before the avatar of Lord Muruga). References of Sastha appear in various Puranas and Upa-puranas spreading over the other three Yugas also, including Ramayana and Mahabaratha. In Kaliyuga, Sastha descended on earth as Manikanta. Why?

            The trinity force i.e., Siva-Vishnu-Brahma combined and Dattathreya was born. The trinity-consort force i.e., Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswathi combined and was born a daughter named Leelavathi. Dattatreya and Leelavathi joined in wedlock and they lived happily for a good length of time. 

            As time went on, Dattatreya yearned to go back and merge in trinity. Leelavathi would not let him go. There was an altercation between them, at the end of which Dattatreya cursed Leelavathi  to become a Mahishi(she-buffalo). Leelavathi, in turn, cursed Dattatreya to become a Mahisha (he-buffalo). The two curses took effect. The two, Mahishi and Mahisha, were reveling together for sometime. Dattatreya, again yearning for his merge with divinity, left Mahishi and has a merge. Mahishi started perpetrating atrocities in this world and in the nether worlds. She got a boon from Brahma that she could be killed by a child born of two positives, Hari and Hara that too after the child’s undergoing servitude to a human being for a period of 12 years.

            As the story goes, lord Hariharaputra got wedded to Pushkala Devi first and then won the hands of Poorna subsequently. Father of Pushkala, a Nepalese king, cursed the lord “even after marrying my good-natured daughter, you conducted yourself as a human being. I curse you to become a human being and lead a life of Brahmachari in the mundane world”. The lord replied “Demoness Mahishi has got a boon that she could be killed by a child born of Hari and Hara, after undergoing servitude to a man for a period of 12 years. I am born of Hari and Hara and was wondering how I could serve a man. Now your curse has come in handy for me. Let you be born as a kind of Pandala state and I shall take the birth of a son to you and serve you for 12 years, so as to comply with both your curse and Mahishi’s boon, so that, at the end, I can destroy that evil force.”

            In one of his subsequent births, the Nepalese king was born as a Brahmin by name “Vijayan”. He had no issues. He propitiated lord Sastha as per the advices and directions of huntress Sabhari (of Ramayana fame). When the lord appeared before him, he prayed “you should be my son”. Lord said: “be it so”. In due course Vijayan was born as king Rajashekara of Pandalam.

            The rest of the story the entire world knows. Lord Sastha materialized himself in the shape of a tiny child called “MANIKANTA” on the banks of the holy river Pambha, brought up by the Pandala king, gone to dense forest, slained demo ness Mahishi, brought leopard milk for his step-mother and took to Brahmacharya yoga at the Shabari hills.

            On redemption, Mahishi (now Leelavathy) requested the lord to marry her. Lord replied: “In this avatar as Manikanta, I am a Brahmachari. I shall opt to marry you when no Kanni Ayyappa(one who is trekking Sabari hills for the first time) turns out to the hills. Till such time, you may join in doing penance near my temple as “Maligaipurathu Manja Matha”.

            From the above, we can conclude that only in the avatar of Manikanta to slain Mahishi, Lord Ayyappa was a Brahmachari. But the origin of Ayyappa, Lord Dharma Sastha dwells at Kantha Mala with his two consorts Poorna and Pushkala, even before his Ayyappa avatar. We may refer here the avatars of Lord Maha Vishnu—as Parasurama, he was a Brahmachari; as Rama he was Eka-Pathni Vrathaa. As Krishna, he did Raasa Leela with gopikas. Similarly, one of the facets of Sastha took to Brahmacharyam as Ayyappa. A distinct line should be drawn between Sastha and Manikanta.

            It may be recalled that Ayyappa devotees chant “Poorna-Pushkala Kanthane, Saranam Ayyappa”. We do archanas to him ending with “Poorna-Pushkalamba Sametha Sri Hariharaputhra Swaminae Namaha”. As per Hindu traditions, we worship the lord as “Shiv-Sakthi Swaroopa”. Accordingly, the wedding ceremony is celebrated only to Sri Hariharaputra Swamy and not to Sabari hills Ayyappa Swamy.

            Apart from the story aspect, Sastha Thirukalyanam stands to reasoning from other angle (philosophy) also. Goddess Lakshmi and Durga—the Sakthi aspects of Hari-Hara function as such for Hariharaputra in the names of Poorna and Pushkala respectively. In yoga Marga, the cords “IDA” and “PINGALA” represent Poorna-Pushkala, on two sides of the centre cord of “SUSHUMNA” wherein Sastha dwells.

            The basic concept behind “RADHA KALYANAM” which is widely conducted in India is the merge of JEEVATHMA (Radha) in the PARAMATMA (Krishna). This concept holds good for the “AJYA ABHISHEKAM” performed at Sabari hills, where ghee symbolizes Jeevathma and lord who is receiving it as Paramathma. This is otherwise called the Sabari merge. In Kaliyuga, there are two ways to each the supreme viz., Bhakti Marga and Gnana Marga. While Sabari Yatra means Gnana Marga to attain the lotus feet of Sri Dharma Sastha as “NIRGUNA BRAHMAM”, Nama Sankeerthana and performing Kalyana Utsavam for the lord comes under Bhakti Marga to reach him as “SAGUNA BRAHMAM” in his cosmic form. The two Margas are denoted by Poorna and Pushkala to reach the infinite.

            Worshipping Lord Sastha with his consorts has been in vogue in Tamil Nadu and Kerala from time immemorial. In country-side temples spread over Tamilnadu, Sastha is being called as “AYYANAR” with his two consorts. In Kerala too, Sastha is worshipped with his consorts for eg., Noorani, Thirunilayi, Achankoil etc. In one of the five abodes of Sastha ie., at ARYANKAVU (near Shencottah) Sastha Thiru Kalyanam is being performed by TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD, with all religious rites on the 10^th night of Dhanur masya (prior to Mandalabhishegam day) every year, for ages past.

            By and beyond reasoning school of thought, it is considered fit and proper to sing the glory of Hariharaputra with this two consorts, by performing “SASTHA THIRU KALYANAM” in all houses, Bhajan Mandalis, community Centres, Samoohams and temples to reach the sublimity of bliss.