The Boothanaathopaakhyaanam is the main Puraana related to Dharma Saastha or Ayyappa. Dharma Sastha is also known as Boothanaatha, because from Him-the supreme Reality – evolved the Pancha bootha -s, the five elements, or the five phases of evolution from the subtlest to the grossest, as Aakaasa (the physical space), Vaayu (the gaseious stage), Aghni (the fiery stage, or the stage of chemical combination), Apa (the stage of liquidity) and Prithvi (the stage of solidity).
Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva are described in the Puraanas as the three major divine
aspects of supreme Reality
associated with creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe. These
Divinities, granting the
prayer of a Rishi-couple Athri and Anasooya, took a partial manifestation as
their son Datta. The
consorts of the Divinities also thereupon took a partial manifestation as
Leela, the daughter of
another great Rishi. Datta eventually married Leela and after living a few
years of conjugal
love, he wanted to renounce the worldly life and engage in spiritual
disciplines to transcend his
conditioned being and to be one with his greater existence.But Leela
would not agree to this. She wanted to continue the life of mundane pleasure in
the company of
Datta, who tried to convince her that one can never find lasting contentment in
a lustful life. But
Leela was adamant. An enraged Datta cursed her to be born as a Mahishi, a
senseless shebuffalo to satisfy
her desires.
In course of time, Leela took birth as a bizarre creature with the
head of a
she-buffalo and the body of a woman. She was very powerful because of her
divine origin, but very dull-witted
because of her buffalo nature. She did intense penance and propitiated Lord
Brahma, who granted the
boons she desired for, such as that powerful creatures very much like herself
would emerge out
of all her hair follicles whenever she wanted and that she could not be killed
except by one who was
born out of a union of Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva, which was thought to be an impossibility.
Having
obtained this boon, she struck terror in the heavens, the abode of Deva-s
(godly beings) and
drove them and their king Indra away. She placed herself on the throne of Indra
as the ruler of the
heavens. The oppressed Devas prayed to Brahama, Vishnu and Shiva for
their intervention.
Thereupon, Datta, who had emerged out of the combined power of the Trinities as
their partial
manifestation, now assumed, as the result of an earlier curse of Leela, the
form of a handsome buffalo, the
Sundara-Mahisha. Consequently Mahishi fell in love with Mahisha. They lived
together for some
time in the heavens and then Sundara Mahisha lured her away down to the earth
to live in the forests.
This gave some relief to the oppressed Devas.
It was
during this period, Sage Durvaasa, who was well known for his impulsive and
vitriolic temper,
cursed Indra and the Devas, who had enjoyed perennial youthfulness, to
be subjected to old age, as
Indra had offered the sage by not showing due respect to a garland presented to
him by the sage. Their
heads turned grey and wrinkles appeared all over their bodies. The panacea
suggested for regaining
youth was the drinking of a special nectar Amritha to be obtained by the
churning of the Ocean of
Milk (Ksheera-saagara). The Devas prevailed upon their arch enemies the
Asuras (demoniac
forces) for help to perform the herculian task of churning the milky ocean
using a huge mountain as
the churning rod. Several novel and astonishing things emerged from the ocean
when the churning
progressed and in the end when a pot with the precious nectar, Amritha surfaced,
it was quickly
snatched away by the Asuras.
Seeing the
plight of the Devas, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a beautiful
enchantress called
Mohini and approached the Asuras. Every one of them got infatuated
with her. She asked them to
close their eyes, agreeing to marry the one who would open the eyes last. While
the Asuras remained
closing their eyes, Mohini left the scene carrying away the pot of Amritha,
which she handed over
to the Devas. On seeing the enchanting form of Mohini, Lord Siva
himself fell in love with her and
from their union a son was born to Mohini. This was Dharma Saastha, who was destined to
kill Mahishi, according to the boon given to her by Lord Brahma that only the
one born from the
union of Siva and Vishnu could kill her.
In several
Puraanas the story of the churning of the Ocean of Milk finds a place. But
only in the Bhaagavatha
and the Skanda Puraana-s there is a reference to a son, who was born
out of a union
between Shiva and Vishnu. Skanda Puraana gives the name of the son as
Saastha. The story of Saastha
is elaborated further in the Boothanathopaakhyaanam.
According to
this Puraana the child thus born to Siva and Vishnu was destined to kill Mahishi and he was
placed by the Devas on earth on the banks of the river Pampa, where
Mahishi was living along with
Sundara Mahisha. During this time, Raajasekhara, the king of a small kingdom
Pandalam (in south
Kerala), was engaging himself in a hunting expedition. When he was moving along
the banks of the
river Pampa, he saw a crying child in a secluded spot. He took the child to his
palace and brought
him up as his foster son. The child was named “Ayyappan”/ “Ayyappa”. The child,
who was named Ayyappan, grew up in the palace under the affectionate care of king
Raajasekhara, who had no son of his own. The boy proved himself to be a genius
and mastered the Vedas
and the martial science quickly. His spiritual power was expressed when he
miraculously cured his
Guru’s son who was born blind, deaf and dumb. The childless king was happy that
he could find a
worthy heir to his throne. Then, an unexpected turn occurred. The queen became pregnant and
delivered a son.
The prime
minister of Pandalam disliked the idea of the king installing Ayyappa as the
heir to the kingdom.
For, he considered the boy to be an orphan and also a potent threat to his
authority. He tried
several ways to do away with Ayyappa, but failed. At last he instigated the
queen to feign a severe
illness and the royal physician to prescribe that the only remedy was a certain
medicine to be taken along
with the milk of a tiger. The brave youth Ayyappa volunteered to go to the
forests to fetch the
tiger’s milk. The minister was certain that the helpless boy would never
return and would be
killed by the beasts.
During this
period, Mahishi was living in the forests forgetting everything else, engaging herself in a
lustful life along with Sundara Mahisha. Meanwhile, being deceived by Vishnu in
the form of
Mohini, the Asuras were aghast and depressed. They rushed to Mahishi
and implored her for help.
They told her how she herself was enticed from the heavens by Sundara Mahisha,
who was a creation
of the three Divinities for that purpose.
Meanwhile, Sundara Mahisha
disappeared and rejoined the
three Divinities. Realizing her folly, Mahishi became terribly furious and
rushed to the heavens with
thousands of creatures like herself who emerged from her hair follicles. They devastated
the kingdom of Indra. It was then
the boy Ayyappa reached the forests, to fetch leopard’s milk for the queen. The Devas came down and took refuge at the feet of Ayyappa,
because being the son of Siva and Vishnu; he
alone could destroy the terrible Mahishi. Ayyappa accompanied them to the
heavens. He caught hold
of Mahisi by her horns, lifted her and hurled her downwards. She fell near the
river, Azutha.
Lying there incapacitated, and having had the divine touch of Ayyappa, she
immediately recollected
her original divine nature and sang in praise of him. As the compassionate
glance of Ayyappa fell
on her, there emerged out of her bizarre body an extremely beautiful Goddess,
now worshipped
as Goddess Malikappurath-amma in Sabarimala.
Thereafter,
Ayyappa returned to the kingdom of Pandalam, riding a huge tiger and accompanied
by a host of ferocious beasts. The people were flabbergasted at this incredible
sight. The king,
the queen and all others realized the divinity of Ayyappa and all of them
prostrated before him. Ayyappa
imparted to them spiritual wisdom about the meaning and destiny of human life.
The king prayed
to the Lord to bless them with his everlasting spiritual presence in a temple
to be dedicated to
him, for showering his Grace to millions for generations to come. That would be especially
necessary in the present Iron Age (Kali Yuga ) when people would
increasingly tend to be self-centred
and materialistic, bringing much disharmony to life. The king implored Ayyappa
to bless all by
assuming himself the aspect of Kali-yuga -varada , the spiritual power
that would protect the people
from the evil propensities of the Iron Age and guide them in their striving for
spiritual liberation.
Thereupon, the lord suggested a holy spot and advised the king to construct a
temple there. The
Lord assured him that the temple would ever be vibrant with his Divine Presence
and then He
disappeared.
Eventually
the king constructed a temple in the deep forest of Sabarimala as suggested by
the Lord. During
the consecration of the idol there was the presence of great sages like
Agasthya, Parasurama
and others. It was sage Parasurama who installed the idol of Lord Ayyappa
seated in the Yogic pose Veeraasanam
and showing the mystic sign of Chinmudra by the right hand. This is
the Puraanic
version.
