The Saint-Scientist Vallalar has a precise answer for what you came here for, which is ahimsa toward animals practice. This article explains how he connected this practice not just to peace of mind, but to the physical removal of aging, disease, and deathβand the three specific stages of transformation he documented. While most spiritual traditions treat nonviolence as an ethical rule, Vallalar framed it as a biological necessity for divine transformation. Itβs a claim Iβve never seen made with such precision anywhere else. To understand why, we need to look at the man who lived it.
The Life and Teachings of Vallalar
Ramalinga Swamigal, known as Vallalar, was a 19th-century Tamil mystic whose collected writings, the Thiru Arutpa, remain one of the most extraordinary spiritual records ever produced. His life was filled with remarkable featsβthough he dismissed anything supernatural, insisting that everything he did was a science. He established a center for feeding the poor that operates to this day, based on his principle that compassion must be an action, not just a feeling. On January 30, 1874, accounts from those present record that he locked himself in a room in Mettukuppam and was never seen againβhis body never found. This event is documented by government records and by British Collector John Henry Garstin.
From Passive Nonviolence to Active Compassion
Ahimsaβnonviolenceβis foundational to most great spiritual traditions. But Vallalar connected it to something more specific than ethics or peace of mind. For him, nonviolence was the starting point for Jeeva Karunyam: the active, intelligent protection of every living soul from suffering.
Passive ahimsa means you do not kill. Active Jeeva Karunyam means you intervene to stop killing and alleviate pain wherever you see it. It is the core practice of his path, Sanmarkkam. Vallalar taught that the greatest and most widespread cause of suffering on the planet was the human practice of killing animals for food. He saw this not as a simple dietary choice, but as a constant, violent disruption of the divine order.
Therefore, the most fundamental ahimsa toward animals practice is to stop participating in this cycle of suffering. This isnβt about moral purity. According to Vallalar, it is a matter of spiritual and even biological physics.
How Your ahimsa toward animals practice Transforms the Physical Body
Vallalar made a claim no other teacher made so explicitly: that the practice of Jeeva Karunyam, taken to its fullness, opens the body itself to divine transformation. He taught that the physical body is not inherently flawed or destined for decay. It is a vessel capable of being perfected and filled with divine grace-light, or Arut Perum JΕti.
The primary obstacle to this transformation is the ingestion of violence. When an animal is slaughtered, its body is flooded with the chemistry of terror and pain. Vallalar taught that when a person eats the flesh of that animal, they are consuming that energy of suffering. This dense, βgrossβ energy anchors the physical body to the cycles of disease, aging, and death.
By practicing Jeeva Karunyamβspecifically by adopting a compassionate, plant-based dietβyou stop introducing this dense energy into your system. You create the internal conditions for the body to purify itself and receive the subtle energy of Arut Perum JΕti. Compassion, in this science, is the solvent that dissolves the structures of decay.
The Three Stages of the Deathless Body
Vallalar did not speak of this transformation in abstract terms. In his work, he documented three distinct, observable stages of physical transmutation that become possible through Jeeva Karunyam.
Suddha Deham β The Pure Body
This is the first stage. Through consistent compassion, a sattvic (pure and light) plant-based diet, and devotion, the body becomes impervious to disease. In his text Nithya Karma Vidhi, Vallalar gives precise dietary guidelines, favoring foods like rice, lentils, and stem vegetables that are easily digested and carry a peaceful energy. In the state of Suddha Deham, the physical body stops producing waste, the need for sleep diminishes, and the skin takes on a radiant glow. It becomes a perfect, self-sustaining biological instrument.
As the practice deepens, the Pure Body evolves into the Primal Body. The physical form becomes increasingly subtle, composed more of light than of dense matter. Witnesses described Vallalar in his later years as appearing perpetually youthful, with a body that cast no shadow. This body is no longer bound by conventional physical laws. It is a body of light and sound, perfected and resilient, which has overcome the force of aging itself.
Gnana Deham β The Wisdom Body
This is the final and ultimate stage of transformation, which Vallalar alone is documented to have demonstrated. The Pranava Deham, having been fully saturated with the Vast Grace-Light, dissolves its physical appearance entirely. It merges completely with the divine, becoming a bodiless, deathless, omnipresent state of being. This is not an annihilation but a fulfillment. The consciousness, perfected in a physical form, becomes one with the formless Grace-Light. This state has parallels in other traditions, such as the βrainbow bodyβ of Tibetan Dzogchen, but Vallalarβs path to it through active compassion is distinct.
The Daily Practice: Compassion, Diet, and Grace-Light
The path to this transformation is not complex, but it requires absolute consistency. It rests on three pillars.
First and most important is Jeeva Karunyam. This begins with the commitment to cause no harm and extends to actively feeding the hungry, human and animal alike. Vallalar taught that none of the other techniques can take root without Jeeva Karunyamβactive compassion that prevents suffering in other living beings.
Second is a compassionate diet. This is the most direct application of Jeeva Karunyam. By refusing to eat meat, you refuse to ingest suffering. This clears the biological field for higher energies to work.
Third is the invocation of the Grace-Light through the Mahamantra. Vallalar gave this mantra as the central tool for drawing the divine into the cells of the body:
AruαΉ Perum JΕti β AruαΉ Perum JΕti β TaαΉi Perum KaruαΉai β AruαΉ Perum JΕti
This translates to: βThe Vast Grace-Light. The Vast Grace-Light. The Incomparable Great Compassion. The Vast Grace-Light.β Reciting this mantra with feeling saturates the body with the very substance of divinity, accelerating its purification and transformation.
One Concrete Action to Begin Today
You do not need to change your entire life overnight. The science begins with a single, conscious act. Before your next meal, pause for a moment. Look at the food and consider its origin. If it contains animal products, acknowledge the chain of events that brought it to your plate. If it is plant-based, feel the peace in that. This simple, silent acknowledgment is the first step. It is the seed of Jeeva Karunyam taking root in your awareness.
You came here for ahimsa toward animals practice and found something worth reading. Want much more?
The Sanmarkkam Journey delivers free teachings, health guidance, and translations of Vallalarβs works, directly to your inbox. We take you by hand, at your own pace.
No pressure, no selling. Just value. Unsubscribe with one click. Join the Sanmarkkam Journey
Want Vallalar's wisdom
delivered free to your inbox?
All directly to your favourite email inbox.
We take you by hand, at your own pace. Step-by-Step.
- Free E-book: Jeevakarunyam Ozhukkam β Vallalar's Guide to Compassionate Living IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD
- Free E-books, translations & commentaries
- Free health tips from Vallalar's manuscripts
- Free community
- Free Emporium items
- & Much More π
π―οΈ Welcome to the Journey
Look for an email from international@sanmarkkamlife.org. Check your inbox, spam folder and Promotions tab. Your first teaching and your free e-book are on their way.
π We hate Spam. No Pressure. 0 Selling or Pitching.
1 Click Unsubscribe any time.
Privacy Policy Β· Sanmarkkam Life APS Β· GDPR compliant