with the conditional vow that he will
marry her the year that a celibate pil-
grim does not come to visit him on
Shabari Malai—a vow that will never
come true since celibacyis the single
most important requirement for the
Shabari Malai pilgrimage. Manikanta
then placates Lila by establishing a tem-
ple for her on a neighboring hilltop.
Returning to his original task of
retrieving the tiger’s milk, Aiyappa then
bids Shiva to take the form of a tiger,
upon which he rides back to his steppar-
ents, inviting them to milk the tiger to
their heart’s content. This image of the
young boy returning astride the tiger is
one of the most common Aiyappa
images. For further information see
E. Valentine Daniel, Fluid Signs, 1984;
Kunissery Ramakrishnaier Vaidyanathan,
Pilgrimage to Sabari, 1978; and Lars
Kjaerholm, “Myth and Fascination in the
Aiyappu Cult: A View from Fieldwork in
Tamil Nadu,” in Asko Parpola and Bent
Smidt Hansen (eds.), South Asian
Religion and Society, 1986. See also
Tortoise avatar.
Aja Ekadashi
Festival falling on the eleventh day
(ekadashi) of the dark (waning) half of
the lunar month of Bhadrapada
(August–September). As are all of the
eleventh-day observances, this is ded-
icated to the worshipof Vishnu. Most
Hindu festivals have certain pre-
scribed rites, usually involving fasting
(upavasa) and worship, and often
promise specific benefits for faithful
performance. The most important
requirement for this festival is to pass
the night in worship; taking part is
believed to free one from all evil. The
name Aja means “unborn” and is one
of the epithets of Vishnu.
Ajamila
In Hindu mythology Ajamila is an exam-
ple of a completely corrupted sinner,
who is saved from Death by the bound-
less power of God’s grace. Ajamila is a
fallen brahminwho does all the things
forbidden to brahmins—he eats meat,
drinks liquor, takes a low castewoman as
his mistress, and ignores all the purity
laws which brahmins are supposed to
keep. His only redeeming feature is his
love for his son Narayana, which is also
one of the names of Vishnu. As he lies
dying, Ajamila sees the minions of Death
coming for him, whose terrible forms
portend a dire fate. In his terror at this
vision and his longing for his son, Ajamila
calls out “Narayana” with his dying
breath, and because of this Vishnu sends
his minions to rescue Ajamila. Ajamila is
brought to Vaikuntha, Vishnu’s dwelling
place, where he lives happily.Ajatashatru
(“[he whose] enemy is unborn,” 5th c.
B.C.E.) King in the Magadha region in the
modern state of Bihar. Ajatashatru
deposed and murdered his father,
Bimbisara, around 494 B.C.E., then
expanded his father’s territorial gains.
Ajatashatru first annexed the area
around the city of Benaresand then
conquered the city of Vaishali, capital of
the kingdom of the Vrjjis. Ajatashatru
and his father both aimed at building an
empire in the GangesRiver basin, and
they were among the first Indian kings
to conceive of a far-flung empire.Ajatashatru
(2) In the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, a
great sage who was also the king of
Benares. Ajatashatru is notable for
instructing Gargya, a brahminpriest, on
the nature of Brahman, even though this
was inappropriate by contemporary
standards since Ajatashatru was a ksha-
triyawarrior king and thus should have
been receiving instruction from Gargya.
The Upanishadshave several episodes in
which, contrary to the norm, kshatriyas
instruct brahmins. Such episodes reveal
the nature of wisdom as conceived in the
Upanishads—it is achieved by individual
striving and realization and not con-
ferred by birthor social position.Ajatashatru