riage rites, is recited at all Vaishnavite weddings
in South India.
Further reading: S. M. S. Chari, Philosophy and Theistic
Mysticism of the Alvars (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1997); Norman Cutler, Consider Our Vows: An English
Translation of Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai (Madurai:
Muthu Patippakam, 1979); Vidya Dehejia, Antal and
Her Path of Love: Poems of a Woman Saint from South
India (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1990); Alkondavilli Govindacharya, The Holy Lives of
the Azhvars or the Dravida Saints (Bombay: Ananthacha-
rya Indological Research Institute, 1982).
Andhaka
Andhaka (Blind One) is the blind demon born to
SHIVA and PARVATI in the following way: Parvati was
joking with Shiva and covered up his three eyes with
her hands. As she did this, the entire cosmos fell
into darkness. Parvati’s hands began to sweat as they
covered Shiva’s potent third eye. From the sweat of
her hands, heated up by the third eye of Shiva, arose
Andhaka, an angry black blind demon.
Andhaka is thus considered the son of Parvati,
but when the childless demon king HIRANYAKSHA,
after performing strict austerities, requested a son
as a boon from Shiva, he gave him Andhaka. After
a short time, Hiranyaksha died and Andhaka
became the king of the demons. After horrific
austerities, in which he offered every ounce of
his own flesh to a sacrificial fire, Andhaka was
given a boon. His request was very strange: If he
were ever to desire the most desirable woman of
all, he asked to be destroyed. The “most desirable
woman of all,” however, could only have been his
own mother, Parvati. Eventually, he did in fact
manifest this desire, and he was impaled by Shiva
on his trident. Existing half-dead there, Andhaka
became purified and a complete devotee of Shiva
and Parvati and ceased being a demon.
Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); E. Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986); Stella Kramrisch,
The Presence of Siva (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1981).Anekantavada
One of the underlying philosophical ideas in JAIN-
ISM is Anekantavada, “the assertation that every-
thing is many-sided.” This historical Jain concept,
which for centuries remained largely at the level
of theory rather than practice, has received more
focused attention from many modern Jains, espe-
cially those in the diaspora. One must take a
position of Anekantavada when one realizes that
no ordinary human can have a full view of any-
thing—as only the Omniscient SIDDHA or TIRTHAN-
KARA can. It logically follows that all views are
partial and subject to many-sided analysis.Further reading: Paul Dundas, The Jains (London:
Routledge, 1992); P. S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purifica-
tion (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979);
Bimal K. Matilal, The Central Philosophy of Jainism
(anekantavada) (Ahmedabad: L. D. Institute of Indol-
ogy, 1981); Satkar Mookerji, The Jaina Philosophy of
Non-Absolutism, a Critical Study of Anekantavada (Cal-
cutta: Bharati Mahvidyalaya, 1944).Anga (c. 400 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.)
The Angas are the 12 main texts that are seen
as fundamental by all Jains (see JAINISM). SHVET-
AMBARA Jains believe that 11 of these are still
extant; DIGAMBARAS believe that none of the
original texts any longer exist and that the exist-
ing versions are not authoritative. The Angas
cover ecclesiastical law, doctrine, determination
of false views, and narratives for the laity. The
texts were all originally written in Jain Prakrit;
however, Jains most commonly refer to them by
their SANSKRIT names.
See also ACHARANGA SUTRA.Anga 37 J