The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar

The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar: 

Introduction 

The history of Tamil Psychology is a very ancient one. While the beginnings of it 
can be traced to the ancient civilizations that existed in the Indus, Sumeria, Elam and ancient Egypt, the historical period begins with Tolkappiyam which is placed around 3 rd century B.C. 

The first half of its third book viz., Porulatikaram is in fact a thorough going behavioral analysis 
of people that included verbal and non-verbal actions. The meyppattiyal constitutes the world’s 
earliest study of emotions and attitudes that is definitely scientific. In this analysis, both social 
and psychological behaviors are seen as private and public reflections of some central and 
deep-seated psychic pressures viz., punartal (conjoining), pirital (separating), initial 
(conserving, maintaining), irarikal (being sympathetic, loving) and utal (quarrelling, 
disputing). At the time of Tolkappiyam such forces were assumed to create an inner ecology, 
one type corresponding to each one of these almost instinctive forces: Kurinci (The 
mountainous tract), Palai (the arid and desert like regions), mullai (the forest tract), neytal (the 
sea and the sea sides) and marutam (the agricultural tracts) in that order. The deviant and 
abnormal behaviors were not assigned any ecological regions at all. The five inner ecologies, 
described in terms of the geographical features, were also considered ruled over by some deities 
such as Murukan, Korravai, Mayon, Varuna and Indra. The implication is that the inner 
ecologies presided over by the divine powers constituted the acceptable, ethically speaking, 
while the others were non-acceptable-deviant, abnormal and so forth. 

This search for the inner determinants of behavior continued giving rise to the tantric 
system of Kundalini yoga where the inner ecologies were now described in terms of cakras. A 
transitional point was the Murukarru Patai, where inner ecology was described, not in terms 
of the geographical, but in terms of the temple and what is available there. In this development 
the primordial psychic forces were not taken any more fundamental but rather as special cases 
of something more universal viz., the processes sristi (creation, origination), titi (being, 
existence), cankaram (annihilation, destruction), trobhava (engulfing in ignorance) and 
Anugraha (illuminating bestowing consciousness knowledge etc.) With the clear recognition 
of these five-fold universal processes begins the philosophical / psychological revolution of 
Meykandar from which the Tamils have not escaped yet. 

This study presents the views of Sithambara Munivar (17 th or 18 th century) who takes 
the concept of the five-fold processes to a new level of psychological explanation. The most 
remarkable feature is that he attempts to provide, probably for the first time in the long history of the Tamils of Tamil culture, an explanation of the cognitive processes of perceiving, remembering, forgetting and so forth in terms of these five-fold universal processes. He does a lot more and this study presents only the essentials. 

Subsequent to the philosophical psychological revolution of Meykandar in the late 12 th 
century one could cite Cirrampalavar, the author of Tukal Arul Potam as the one who 
contributed most significantly to the growth of philosophy / psychology among the Tamil people. No philosopher in the Tamil country could escape the insights of these two great 
thinkers and even such brilliant rebels as Kannudaya Vallal could not ignore the concept of 
kalaral introduced by Cirrampalavar. 

In the readjustments that ensued, fresh intellectual efforts were made to seek greater 
perspicuity on the ancient problems of the relationship between man and God, the meaning of 
mukti and so forth the concept of ‘ kalaral ’ simulated. One of the most significant attempts 
appears to be that of Sithambara Munivar, author of Pancatikara Vilakkam and the 
authoritative commentary on the difficult Olivil Otukkam of Kannudaya Vallal and the standard 
texts of Santhalinga Swamikal. In the present text appropriately named Pancatikara-Vilakkam 
viz., an explanation of the five-fold cosmic activities, the author unravels new insights into the 
cognitive processes of perceiving, reasoning remembering, forgetting, the deeper psycho 
transformational processes and how they are linked to the primordial and primary pancakritiyas 
viz., the five-fold activities of Paraparan so ably established in practically all the Saivagamas. 
In this respect the text is immensely interesting and rather original and definitely very 
psychological. 

In the first part, the author attempts to provide a distinctly psychological theory of 
human happiness and miseries, using the traditional and well established notion of the primary 
processes of the world as consisting of sristi (origination, production, generation, creation), till 
(conservation, maintenance, preservation, etc.) cankaram (annihilation, resolution, destruction, 
etc.) tirobhava (concealment, hiding, keeping in darkness) and anugraha (bestowal of grace, 
knowledge, consciousness; revelation, illumination, etc.) 

Part I: The Psychological Relevance of the Pancakritiyas 

This part begins with the verses 7 and 8, where the author clarifies the concept of action 
and explains the reasons for Paraparan wanting to act thus. 

He notes that in the affectation of any act, there are goals, intentions, objectives etc., as 
an action is always purposive. In this one may intend to achieve something for oneself or bring 
about a change for the benefit (or otherwise) of others. Now what one may wish for oneself 
could be the removal of some bodily and psychological pains or distress and so forth or the 
attainment of an object that is a source of pleasure or the attainment of social recognition, 
respectability and so forth. 

The actions may also have consequences for others either beneficial or painful. In view 
of the purposive character of actions, Sithambara Nathar establishes the following criteria for 
the evaluation and comprehension of any act, including the cosmic 


2. The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar 


i. The consequences they have for the agent. 
ii. The consequences they have for the others, and 
iii. The possibility of being ineffectual ( avappayan ) or inconsequential. 

Without arguing whether such concepts derived from the social or interpersonal 
contexts of human interactions can justifiably be extended to the cosmic situation (possibly it 
being presupposed that it has been settled once and for all by Meykandar at all), he points out 
that Paraparan could not be effecting the five-fold activities for some selfish motives or other, 
for Paraparan, being pure, integral and not lacking in anything, could not have such desires. 
The affectations could not also be because of the playful nature, a lila of the Supreme Deity, 
for Paraparan is of Boundless Intelligence and Consciousness who dispels Darkness in the 
psychic constitution. The acts, for the same reason, cannot also be inconsequential, ineffectual. 
It is then concluded that Paraparan effects these activities for the benefit of the others viz., the 
innumerable constrained and suffering psyches out of no other reason than immense love for 
them. 

An ordinary psyche is compared to a man who has lost his consciousness because of 
swallowing some poisonous drugs. He is alive but incapable of perceiving the happiness around 
him. He is insensitive, in capable of processing the sensory stimulations and thereby perceive, 
recognize, remember, recall, initiate actions and so forth. In a similar manner an ordinaiy 
psyche is also delimited, insensitive, incapable of processing a certain kind of information that 
is made available to it continuously, of recognizing them and becoming conscious of them. 
This incapacity is ultimately traced to the presence of a Darkness in the psychic constitution 
that makes the bulk of happenings within and without unconscious to the psyche. 

The canonical texts in Saiva Siddhanta attribute this primordial Darkness in the psychic 
constitution to anavam - a blind and ubiquitous impersonal stuff that is just as anati (uncreated 
and eternal) as the pacu (psyches) and Pati (or the Paraparan of the present author). For an 
ordinary person many important things remain unconscious, beyond the reach of 
comprehension and understanding because of innate constitutional limitations - the presence 
of Darkness cause by anavam. 

Now Paraparan, like a good physician who revives an unconscious person through 
appropriate medical prescriptions, provides different kinds of complex physical bodies to the 
psyches to remove the intrinsic blindness or unconsciousness that envelops them. This 
unconsciousness, it is implied, is also the cause for the various kinds of cravings such as for 
material wealth, self-knowledge etc. The Paraparan, it is said, in the guise of a guru also effects 
the therapeutic cure of the psychological distresses. Now a question with respect to the absence 
of uniformity in the provision of bodies and so forth is raised. Birds can fly but cannot crawl, 
dogs can bark but cannot talk and so forth. And within species too there are differences that are 
not insignificant. The primary question is however with respect to the bodies that are given to 
the vinnanakalars, the most highly developed among the psyches. 


3. The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar 

The verses 12 to 15 provide greater details about the manner in which Paraparan 
provides the bodies. The five-fold activities of origination, establishment, annihilation, 
concealment and revelation are enumerated as the primary processes, the basic activities of 
Paraparan without which we cannot have the empirical reality with the features that we observe 
to be true of it. In this, through the activity of origination, the psyches are provided with 
different kinds of physical bodies out of proto-matter that is termed mayai. Through the activity 
of establishment (in worldly existence), the psyches are enabled to experience pleasures and 
pains. 

In other words, the psyches with a physical body endure and exist and experience 
pleasures and pains because of Paraparan who ‘protects’ or conserves ( kattal ) the creatures 
from being annihilated. Existence, which consists in experiencing pleasures and pains cannot 
be without endurance. Now the reabsorption of the bodies the us generated, to their primordial 
state is the annihilator function of Paraparan. Among the living creatures, it constitutes and 
among the non-living the biochemical process of decay death and atrophy. An interesting 
explanation is given about tirobhava, translated here as ‘concealment’. It is said to be the 
activity of Paraparan that maintains interest in living, a keenness to exist and struggle, the 
having of an instinct for survival and so forth. The Paraparan conceals Himself from the 
consciousness of the psyches so that they would persist in struggling, in living, in learning and 
so forth (till the time is appropriate for immediate presentation) Now anugraha is the 
component of the primary processes by means of which the psychic insensitivity is removed, 
consciousness is gained and knowledge is acquire. Anugraha or the inflow of Grace is that 
which facilitates learning in the most general sense and thus the acquisition of knowledge of 
whatever kind. 

One is reminded here of Freud’s pleasure principle - a principle invoked to explain the 
universal desire for pleasures that is seen in all creatures. Sithambara Nathar attributes this ti 
Siva-utensils, which interestingly enough, is said to function along with vittya karanam i.e., 
cognitive utensils. It appears that seeking of pleasures is a primary dispositional trait of all 
creatures which provide the impetus for acquiring knowledge and effecting various kinds of 
actions. It may be on account of this that Siva-utensils are said to be beneficial as well. 

Part II: The Phenomenal Reality and The Pancakritiyas 

This part begins with arguments related to the reality of the pancakritiyas of Paraparan. 
It is stated that there are two stages in this viz., the intellectual conviction of their reality 
through rational enquiry and later the direct apprehension of them through various kinds of 
psycho-transformational technologies. Now we can dismiss the logical reasons Sithambara 
Nathar provides in the verses 1 6-22 as not something very profound or brilliant, nothing at any 
rate comparable to the brilliance of Meykandar or Arunandi. However, from verse 25 begins 
an account of the cognitive processes in the creatures and how they are related to the 
pancakritiyas an account that is immensely original and though-provoking. The author also 
appears to claim that what ensues is something new, a new ‘secret’ that is his good fortune to 
unfold. The new insight is this: the pancakritiyas are the fivefold activities that are observable 
or inferable in the cosmic processes - they are activities at the micro-level without which the 


4. The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar 

universe will not have the observable features they have. But in addition to these pancakritiyas 
being present at the macro level, they are also present in a subtle manner, in subtle causal states. 
The author claims that this new knowledge viz., how the macro-acts are present as micro 
processes in the world is a kind of knowledge that is liberating. Something that would enable 
a creature to reach the feet of Paraparan. 

Paraparan is the absolutely autonomous and totally independent Reality and without 
His Cosmic Dance, there will be no universe, no change, no development, no growth, no 
activities, and processes whatsoever. 

Part III: Aspects of Transformational Psychology and the Pancakritiyas 

We have already mentioned that what are termed kevalam, sakalam and suddham are 
evolutionary states with all the different creatures including man having evolved from the 
kevala state and existing now in the sakala state. The suddha state constitutes the future 
possibility in the evolutionary development, a state higher than which there is none. A psyche 
can attain the para mukti, only by first evolving into the suddha type of existential mode, a 
mode of existence of absolute purity and universal love. In the verse 3 1 , it is explained that the 
creatures can evolve from the sakala stat of existence to the final suddha state again through 
the appropriation of the five-fold activities of Paraparan. However, an important difference is 
noted. Unlike the attaining of knowledge through the various kinds of cognitional activities of 
perceiving, thinking, recalling etc., the evolution into the suddha existential state can be 
effected only through intense meditative absorption ( samadhi ). The procedures or technology 
described is then psycho-transformational, a technology that consciously effects evolutionary 
development into higher species. The evolutionary development of creatures in nature is 
unconscious, something that happens unknown to the creatures. 

But here in the context of transformational psychology, evolutionary development has 
gone conscious, reduced into a systematic science. It must be mentioned here that Saiva 
Siddhanta system is the first system in the world to have recognized this possibility and 
developed a systematic technology for bringing about this development. Cirrampala Natikal 
the author of Tukal Aru Potam appears to be the first to have articulated this possibility and 
developed a systematic technology in terms of the central concept of disengagement (Ta. 
Kalaral). The verses 32 and 33 describe very briefly the six stages in this progressive 
development. More detailed descriptions are available in Tukal Aru Potak Kattalai and many 
other texts in Dasakarya. The central concept in all these is the progressive disengagement of 
the psyches from the 36 tattuvas, the primary constituents of the world process. The tattuvas 
are graded from the lowest Prithvi to the highest Natham and through a process of intense 
reflection and absorption, the psyches are required to affect a disengagement from them 
through severing the false self-identification with the tattuvas that has been the primary cause 
of creatures’ existence and thereby effect the evolutionary progress. This, it must be noted, is 
not sufficient for attaining mukti. In addition to effecting disengagements, it must also be 
realized through reflection that the tattuvas , because they can be made objects of 
consciousness, cannot be intelligent and that the psyche which holds them in reflective 
consciousness is intelligent, in contrast to them. Further, it must also be realized through 


5. The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar 


reflection that the disengagement was in fact effected by Paraparan and not by the psyches 
through His Power of Grace (And). 

More details as to how exactly the psychological transformation is effected by Siva, 
through His Dances within the heart of every creature become available in Tirumantiram (7 th 
century). We cannot do full justice in the span of a few pages to the intricacies and depth that 
Tirumular reveals in Tirumantiram. We shall concentrate here only on one issue, perhaps the 
central issue, of the text. In the fourth Tantra (verses 884-1418), we have an extensive and 
detailed discussion of what Tirumular calls sivayokam but more popularly known as Kundalini 
Yoga. In depth and detail the text remains unmatched; the later developments such as that of 
Pokar and Korakkar (14 th century) the famous sittas, given in such texts as Pokar ‘ elayiram 
‘ Candra rekaf and so forth appear to be mere simplifications, betraying no important advance 
at all. In all these and similar accounts we note four distinct components: 

a. A description of the various kinds of dances effected within the body to account 
for the physiological and psychological processes; 

b. A description of the evolutionary progress of the psyches in terms of their 
location in the hierarchically organized cakras with each cakra having its own 
a Male and Female Deity pair as the animating intelligence; 

c. A description of psychic strategies of technologies in terms of mantras, yantras 
and so forth to affect the evolutionary ascension of the psyches, and 

d. A theoretical account of what really happens within and causes the upward 
progress of the psyches. 

Among the dances, he distinguishes arputam, anantam, anavaratam, pralayam and 
cankaram. The arputa tandavam is the creative, generative activity; the anantam is that which 
furnishes happiness and pleasure; the anavaratam is that which sustains the autonomous bodily 
and other processes; pralaya is that which brings about sleep and such states and cankaram is 
that which dispels ignorance and facilitates the upward evolution of the psyches. It is stated 
also (verse 886) that these dances are enacted with the right side of the bran as the platform. It 
is also stated quite categorically that it is the mystic syllable om that becomes in fact all these 
dances and thereby the primary mode in which the primordial Siva-Sakti or Paraparan animates 
and regulates the cosmic processes including the psychological. The primary reason for 
enacting these dances is anugraha or the Arul, for it is stated in no uncertain terms that the 
dances are in fact the activity of anugraha ( tandavamanatu anugrahat tolil -888) echoing 
Karaikal Ammaiyar’ s claim that it is Arul that rules the world. The Paraparan stands 
independently as the illuminating light, one with the tattuvas, becoming the mantric syllables 
‘A’ and ‘U’ and the light that leads the dance of the tattuvas (verse 889). 

The primordial om that becomes the five syllable mantra ‘Na-Ma-Si-Va-Ya’ is now 
given a symbolic significance each syllable becomes a technical name for the universal and 
primary force through the combinations and permutations of which the different forms of 
cakras are created and thereby the psychological propensities or natures of the psyches (verse 


6. The Psychological System of Sithambara Munivar 


898, 999, etc.)- The different combinations and reconstitutions of the primary force fields 
symbolically represented by the above five letters, are in fact the dance ; the kuttu is none other 
than the different formations of the mantras, the force fields that remain an integral part of the 
primary processes (verse 912: kutte-ci-va-ya-ma-ci-ayitum.) The Paraparan creates the five 
basic elements, the different types of bodies for the creatures, sustains the universe and stays 
one with them through these five-fold fields (verse 966). It is these five-fold force fields that 
have evolved into the Vedas, Agamas and every other form of knowledge (verse 965). 

The Modern Relevance of the Text 

In order to see more clearly the scope of the accomplishments of the author and what 
limitations, if any, exist that may point out directions for future investigations, let us note 
briefly the different strands of explanations that the text encompasses. 

a. The first part clearly is cosmological with focus on the evolutionary aspects of 
the living creatures. It is also simultaneously metaphysical. In the sense that a 
meaning for the world to be as it is given. The account is clearly theological 
with the whole cosmological processes making sense in terms of a purposive o 
model. The universal processes have a direction, a goal and furthermore it is 
intelligent, the agent being Paraparan. The purpose for the universe to be and to 
be thus is the liberation of the countless number of psyches from being afflicted 
by the ever present and indestructible psychic constraints of various sorts, the 
primordial one being anavam, a stuff that envelops the psyches creating a 
Darkness in the constitution. The evolutionary development of all creatures is 
seen very broadly in terms of gross psychological states of kevalam, sakalam 
suddham, a progression that is in fact the reason for the universe to be with the 
structural diversity that is observable. The provision of the different bodies, the 
evolutionary development in bodily forms and so forth are seen as the products 
of the pancakritiyas of Paraparan. 

b. The second part contains many original contributions of the author that are 
clearly very psychological. The different contents can be seen as follows: 

i. A theory of emotions where a distinction between psychic and 
physiological basis is clearly drawn. 

ii. A theory of perception and other cognitive processes where such issues 
as recalling, recognizing, forgetting and so forth are dealt with. 

iii. A theory of the commonly accepted existential states of vigilance, dream 
and so forth. 

iv. The origin of psychopathological conditions and methods of regaining 
control over the inner processes so that normalcy is maintained. 

c. The third part contains an elaboration of what has come to be distinctive of 
Saiva Siddhanta viz., a theory of self-evolution and a technology for effecting 
it, i.e., elements of what has been termed transformational psychology. It must 
be emphasized clearly that what is described here is not simply a theory of 
cognitive development such as that of Piaget in the West or even a variant of 
the different theories of personality development current in modern psychology. 
The transformational psychology is a psychology of self-evolution, the 
transformation of the species characteristics themselves through a technology 
that reaches the primary cosmic processes themselves, a willed transformation 
of the psyche so that it evolves from being a lower kind species into a higher 
species with the end state of this evolution being described as paramukti - the 
ultimate end to the ancient and long evolutionary progress of the psyches. This 
part also contains an account of the evolutionary stages brought about by this 
technology and their behavioral correlates. 

Such a psychology, it should be noted, does not yet exist in the West. 

by 

Ullaganar.  M.Ed., Ph.D., 

[London MEIKANDAAR AADHEENA PULAVAR] 



[Extract from the book “Finding Fulfilment” Published by London Meikandaar Aadheenam]