Sunday, 27 November 2011

Devala's Avatar


Devala was created for the twin purposes of manufacturing the threads and the cloths for the use of gods and Men and for this purpose he was made to incarnate seven times, Devala did not stop at that point only.Apart from weaving the cloths, he ruled over a Kingdom with its capital in Amodaganagar and preached Religion and philosophy to all his followers. He went one step further and wrote a number of treatises on religion and philosophy. The following is the detalis of the works attributed to Devala in each of his seven avatars.
  • Devala
  • Vidyadhara Avatar:
    1. Rig-Bhashya                                             2. Manu Sutra
    3. Sandhya Sutra                                           4. Manu Smriti
    5. Devalopanidhi                                          6. Devaraja Chandas
    7. Deval-Jemini Vada                                   8. Varnashrama Mahodadhi
    9. Brahma Sutra Nighantu                          10. Manu Jnana Sikhamani
  • Pushpadanta Avatar:
    1. Sivamahimna Stotra                                 2. Meru Charitra
    3. Vedantakush                                             4. Brahmopadesh Sidhanta
    5. Devi Bhagavat                                          6. Deva Ratnakara
    7. Devaraja Sekhara                                      8. Uttara Meemamsa
    9. Sujnana Deepika
  • Betala Avatar
    1. Chatuhu Shasthikala Sutra                       2. Dhanushastra
    3. Betala Panchatantra                                  4. Betalakhyana
    5. Bhoo Sukta                                                6. Smara Shastra
    7. Mallasadhana Nirnaya                              8. Mahabhairava Sukta
    9. Mantra Shastra
  • Vararuchi Avatar
    1. Praktira Prakasha                                     2. Sutra Tatwa Nighantu
    3. Katha Ganita Shastra                               4. Chandra Sidhanta
    5. Surya Sidhanta                                         6. Trilinga Datta Meemamsa
    7. Srutishat Sutra Nirnaya                            8. Kaumudi Shabda Shastra
    9. Vastavyu Nirnaya                                   10. Bhaga Shastra
    11. Yoni Tantra                                           12. Chandojnam
    13. Sandhi Sutram                                      14. Kanasanyaya bodhini
    15. Nara Pingali Shastra                             16. Lakshana Darshana
    17. Swara Shastra                                       18. VedangamaLayurveda
    19. Yetadvimshati Shastra
  • Devashali Avatar
    1. Paramanya Vadah                                   2. Sujnana Deepika
    3. Jnana Manjari                                         4. Sujnana Ratnamala
    5. Sadvada Jnana Manjari                           6. Panchasikha Nirnaya
    7. Devakalpatmadarpana                            8. Purvapara Prayoga
    9. Deva Rahasya                                       10. Satkarma Jnana Prabodhaka
  • Devadasa Avatar
    Vachanas in kannada written with his pen name "Ramanatha". All his vachanas are not available now.

Devanga
             Devanga is the sub-caste in Hinduism. Devangas are Brahmins by birth. Although Devanga is one of the oldest castes in the India caste, much is known about is historicity. This caste is orginated in the pre-vedic period. There is only one source is there to explain the origin of this caste that source is called Devanga Purana.

Orgins
             According to Devanga Purana Lord Mahadeva created a Jyothi from his third eye which appeared in the form of a man and Lord Shiva called him as "Devala" and assigned him the responsibility of manufacturing the thread and the cloths for Gods and Men. Mahadeva also indicated to Devala that he will have to incarnate seven times and after he finished his work completly he could return to Mahadeva and this is how, the originator of the Devanga matha Devala Maharishi was born.
             Devala then went ahead with his assignment. He obtained fibers from the cotton and manufactured threads from them. He gave these thread with due mantropadesha of Gayatri to Brahmins who in their turn passed it on to Kshatriyas and they in turn to Vaishyas. From that point Devala may be considered as the strater of a Brahminical tradition of wearing Yajnopaveeta. Devanga matha grown by Devala's seven birth.
             After that becase of migration and in the period of Vijayanagara empire the cast people was strated talking Teluge and the Devanga was splited into Kannada Devangas and Telugu Devangas.
In the begining there were only 102 Gotras among them. But in the course of time they were increased to 1,500.

Geographic Distribution
             Devangas are living in the many states in the India, like Assam, Utharpradesh, Madyapradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Andhrapradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.