Will you like a deity/ God who is a result of lust, extra-marital, anti-societal norm in other words an Illicit Child or Najayaz Aulad (in Hindi)? 

Will you?

Mythology behind Swamy Ayyappa

When Deity Lord Vishnu took the avatar (form) of Mohini, Lord Shiva was sexually attracted so much that he couldn’t resist the lust for Mohini and even Mohini watching Shiva with was so mesmerized that even she couldn’t control her urge. So they copulate. In Hindu Mythology the only person Shiva copulates is with Mohini (Lord Vishnu’s form) and not even his wife Parvathi/ Gauri, because of the meditative heat/ tapasvi oorja could only be borne by Lord Vishnu (in Mohini avatar) alone. Even Karthikeya and Ganesh are not Biological offspring of Shiva & Parvathi.

Now Mohini is pregnant with Shiva’s Child, later on gives birth and hence the infamous Hari-Hara Sutha (Offspring of Shiva & Vishnu) Lord Ayyappa is born. As this was an illicit child Mohini had to abandon the child. A Royal childless couple adopts and nurtures it and when they had a child of their own the mother abandons Ayyappa for her excess love towards her Bloodline.

Ayyappa is sadden and depressive by the action of his mother leaves the palace and then comes to know that he is the biological descendent of Shiva and Vishnu, he is in joy and at the same time disgusted (as he was an Illicit). This is when Ayaapa takes his Deity form. Why? – Even though an illicit child he is still carries the divinity gene of Shiva & Vishnu and vows to be a Naishtika Brahmachari.

But why did Ayyappa vow to be a Naishtika Brahmachari when it was not his fault being an Illicit?

Let’s understand how our culture aka Hindu Mythology works:-

Unlike the western monotheist religion we don’t have prophecy or commandments, Hinduism follows the simple Law of Karma – Your actions have consequences, and have nothing to do with the duality of RIGHT & WRONG or GOOD & BAD. E.g.: A Human tries to save the to-be hunted deer from a Tiger by using his gun and feels happy that he saved the deer. Should he really be happy? When the deer is saved and the Tiger is Shooed away what will the Tiger eat in the short term? The same deer will give birth to many other deer and in the long term these deer will eat the forest dry.

These are the consequences a man had to bear for taking actions.

Unlike the monotheist Culture/ Religion, we don’t believe in the fact that there is one god who takes control of everyone sitting somewhere and have to be submissive to him. We being a polytheistic Religion have portfolios to these Deities like Lakshmi-resonates wealth, Saraswathi to Knowledge, Brahma to birth and many more.

In Mythological context Ayyappa resonates Naishtika Brahmacharya which is the deity that is detached from birth chain i.e., No Sex throughout his tenure (if you can observe the posture of the deity where there is a thread circling his knees which indicates a clear restriction for entry of women)

If that being the case why is the Deity so famous and why thousands of men come to visit Sabarimala?

Good Question!

Let’s Find out in the next part, don’t miss as this part is the crux of the topic and why this deity shouldn’t be ‘worshiped’ in Sabarimala.