Just as a piece of cloth is elevated and accorded all the respect when the nation's flag is printed on it, a stone or metal is elevated to the state of God when it is carved into the form of deities and worshipped. I guess this is what Agathiyar meant when he revealed the purpose of humankind taking birth in his 5 tenets presented at the assembly of the sages in the past. Man besides elevating himself and others was to help elevate the status of all beings and entities in the animal, plant, and mineral kingdom too.
Vashisht Vaid writes of this message to mankind by Agathiyar in his blog at https://holysageagathiyar.com/
"The number 5 work [pancha karma] for a human being is to dutifully aid and help, the ongoing evolution of all co-existing beings and entities, who all vitally exist upon the lower levels of the evolutionary ladder, also dutifully support the manifested matrix [paripancha], and many of the lower kingdoms, vitally exist like the minerals having precious and semi-precious crystals, who also having basic aspects of vitality, also gradually evolve by increasing in their sizes, in correspondence to the vital energies of celestial organs of time and space relationships, and many of whom get gracefully embodied in various types of jewelry to be prestigiously borne as specific remedies by evolving humans, and also various types of living herbs and plants of the plant kingdom, especially the signature plants with magical and supernatural powers, get vitally planted gracefully in their houses and in their surrounding gardens, and various types of working and pet animals of the animal kingdom."
Hence man's purpose in taking birth was made known to all by Agathiyar. In coming to his path he makes us realize further man's dream of attaining the goal that is "by properly fulfilling their five main duties during their cyclic lives, in this ongoing evolution of planet earth, and get finally liberated [mukta] for their further ascensions in the invisible ethereal web [adrishya akasha jaal], through gradually increasing higher conscious states of time and space relationships, till they all themselves finally achieve the two highest universal worlds tapah loka [brahmanda vaikuntha loka] and satyam loka [brahmanda shiv loka] of this infinite universe [brahmanda], and thus get spiritually qualified to vitally carry out much higher conscious roles, in the unknowable and non-explainable worlds of para brahmanda [outfinite universe], during their distant brilliant future."
Who are these Siddhas then? As the young kid asks the trafficker whether he was a good person or bad in the movie "Nayagan" are the Siddhas good or bad? Where do they live? Is it some distant place, planet, or universe? How is it that they come to our call immediately? How do they materialize in our world?
In coming to follow the path of the Siddhas many find obstacles placed by way of family and friends. Males by nature were meant to take care and protect the herd. When engaged in the teachings of the Siddha they involve completely spending time for social service and upliftment of their species. Sadly this nature or weakness or rather strength in them is seen as threatening to some family members and circles. Many view it as the male distancing himself from his responsibility and spending much less time with his family. This I came to know when I started fresh on the path, has been the reason for many adverse opinions of the path and reasons for others not to venture into it. The Siddhas had been accused of disrupting their lives. When I began to seek information about the Siddhas from existing establishments in 2002, many told me that their family lives were disrupted after coming to the worship of the Siddhas. This was what I saw too with life partners staying apart. It is a blessing if both couples are on the same frequency and are on the same path of worship. It is a blessing to their children too who shall learn the tricks of the trade too and spread the following as they grow older. Couples have gone their way just because of differences in opinion on their respective faiths. Nothing seems to have changed with time. Someone told me the Siddhas drive him nuts and gave up on them in the face of bodily torment that came with certain practices taught by his guru who according to him turned mad too. The failure of the Siddhas in bringing relief to his bodily torment drove him to arrive at this decision. Someone else shared to another that he spending much time doing charity was a reason his wife filed a divorce. I believe a shallow understanding of the path is the reason to arrive at these conclusion. They fail to see that the follower of the path is in fact strengthening his lineage by engaging with the Gods and also helping to remove the stain on his ancestors as a result of their past karma. He is preparing a conducive atmosphere for new souls to grow up into becoming Siddhas themselves in the former. As for the latter, it is said that the ancestors of Agathiyar who were hanging upside down from tree branches due to a curse were relieved of the curse when Agathiyar came by. Also, it is said that one who takes up monkhood will relieve the karma of 21 generations of his ancestors.
Then there are others who come seeking the path with an agenda and expectations. They too leave. Many years on we see them return disappointed, coming back to the starting point and turning up seeking relief from the Siddhas and gurus rather then having become Siddhas and gurus themselves in this time of absense. Yet others keep seeking never satisfied with the journey. They chose to see the negative traits in all and thus can never settle down on the path. I believe no one can satisfy this lot.
We are made to understand that all these are part of the evolution process. The souls are in different stages of evolution. These experiences shall bring on enlighthenment or gnanam within them eventually. We are told to accept everyone.
In walking the path we are told of the four stages that we progress on this journey namely that of Sariyai, Kriyai, Yogam and Gnanam. In Sariyai we live a mundane life in the world created by God. In Kriyai, we serve God as obedient baktas or devotees, servants, followers, and believers. In Yogam we serve him as a son and a student and disciple. In Gnana we merge with him or rather he merges within us, moving in us and dictating us henceforth. On this pilgrim's journey, it is said that the transformation takes place in us as we progress along on the spiritual ladder. The divine comes down or rather blooms from within and shows itself as does a seed germinate and sprouts from the soil and grows into a plant.
It is because we make contact with the Siddhas that they become accessible to us 24/7. With the initiation into the path and concerted efforts and sadhanas by the seeker and follower that follows, a bridge is built between two worlds. The Siddhas then visit us occasionally and later come to rest in our homes. Soon our home becomes their abode too. Eventually, they take up residence in the cave in our hearts and lead us on without the need for external apparatus or other known mediums. This is when many are seen performing Siddhis. But in reality, they are not doing it but the divine in them moves them to do it. The deity Karuppanasamy told a devotee through whom he comes not to receive payment for His "services". I figured that it was He who was healing them compared to the many trained healers and gurus who make it their living and profession. While the former shall not be tainted by karma as he is a vehicle of the Gods, the latter can receive payment for their services as it shall offset the karma that leans on them in treating others. But sadly man manipulates this divine energy and uses it to his advantage for want of fame, money, and power. This is where we are told that even while standing at the threshold of the kingdom to God we have to be careful that we do not fall prey to these vasanas or desires. The moment of revelation is said to be akin to standing on the razor's edge. It can cut the veil asunder or also hurt us badly and derail our mission for good. The lure of the world lurks behind the curtain for those who have not burnt their desires to ashes though they might have progressed to the dizzy heights of attaining the state of a guru. Here is where we have to constantly call upon the divine to safeguard us from falling down the dark pit - again!
If the Siddhas are accessible to us, is there another mystical world out there or rather running parallel to us?
My first guru Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai told me as he sat on his bed made of jute ropes and looked out through the small opening that was the window at his kudil which displayed the holy mountain in all its majesty, he could see Siddhas and Rishis going about their daily chores on the slopes of the holy mountain. Ain't that amazing? Bhagawan Ramana is said to have entered an opening in this mountain and seen a world akin to what was shown to us in the movie "Baba" where a stranger brings the lead character to a cave opening and leads him over the dales and plains to finally meet Babaji Nagaraj. Knowing that man shall taint and spoil every place he steps into Ramana had the opening closed. A devotee who took up the chore and responsibility to care for a run-down Shiva temple on the fringes of Tiruvannamalai was jolted off his feet or rather given a tug and pulled along when he was invited to follow a stranger who revealed himself later as the famed Isakhi Siddhar to enter into another portal and world that lay within a crack in the wall behind the Shivalingam at the temple. As the Siddha disapeared into the portal or the other realm while still holding on to the hand of the youth, the youth panicked and pulled his hand away hence missing the chance to venture into the world of the Siddhas. My second guru Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal who after his demise appeared in a dream to a devotee of Agathiyar and a disciple was seen ferried across an ocean of water with several others by Lord Shiva, towards the other bank where Siddhas, Rishis, and sages were seen going about their daily regime.
So how do they appear to us? To one who is in Sariyai living in the world of material possessions, he could be jolted from his dream by a total stranger who knocks on his door bringing him a timely message. To one engaged in Kriyai they could come through others as energies and talk to them as is seen widely in the worship of village deities or yellai deivam and kaval deivam, ancestral deities or kula deivam, and the pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. They could appear in the flames of the fire pit that is lit as vouched by many as having seen the myriad shapes and forms of deities in the flames or seen to open their eyes in their idols and paintings as witnessed by us at AVM. They could come as vibrations sensed by a select few during the moments of puja as felt solely by Mataji Sarojini Ammaiyar at AVM. They could come as the breeze, aroma and scent in the air, balls of light and sparkles in the eyes as Tavayogi introduced us to them. For one engaged in Yoga, they come as the breath and the light sensations within the forehead. They come as energies and vibrations too that traverse their body momentarily connecting internally and bridging these worlds for these brief moments. Finally, they come in the silence that prevails in sitting alone transmitting Gnana or divine knowledge or rather bringing out the wealth of hidden knowledge lodged in them from time immemorial.
We are told of many existing worlds. The movies have conveyed and depicted numerous worlds in celluloid that grasp and hold our attention at the cinemas. Books, mostly science fiction and fantasy, have delved into these worlds. Then on further scrutiny of the sacred texts, we are told that there is life and death. While alive, we fall asleep and enter the dream world daily. While awake, we tend to daydream too. In death, we are told there is heaven and hell. Ramalinga Adigal and Agathiyar have spoken about these external worlds. Agathiyar speaks about a world of Siddhas just 40 feet down at a place revealing it to Hanumathdasan in his Jeeva Nadi. From further revelations to him, we tend to understand the magic of the Siddhas.
Once a villager came to see the Jeeva Nadi in possession of Hanumathdasan after hearing about it. He narrated the reason he wanted the Nadi read. His wife was carrying their eight children. The doctors had advised against it saying that it would put her life at risk. To make matters worse his village was not easily accessible and did not have the necessary amenities. The villager wanted to know from Agathiyar if his wife’s life was at risk.
Agathiyar reveals, “What the doctors said was right. There is the likelihood that she would not survive this delivery.” Agathiyar then reveals to Hanumathdasan, “He has faith in God. I have to help him out. He had saved many lives from drowning in his last birth. He had fasted and had climbed, amidst many difficulties, to my shrine at the Pothigai hills to perform milk libation or Abhisegam, all out of devotion to me. He had saved a girl from drowning in the Pothigai waterfalls too. That is also the moment when he was pulled in by the strong undercurrent and drowned. Due to his good deeds in the past life, my wife Lobhamudra and I shall attend to his wife during her time of delivery." He directed him to return immediately for she was in labor. However, the man did not return to his village immediately.
After four days, he returned cheerfully to Hanumathdasan. He narrated what took place in his village home in his absence. A couple had gone over to his house. They asked his seven children to leave while the woman attended to his wife. When the woman held his wife’s hands, his wife was relieved of her labor pain. His wife delivered a boy without any complications and both were fine. The man on his part chanted outside the villager’s home and later prepared some herbal medicines and passed it to the villager’s wife. They both left without asking for anything in return.
In another episode from Hanumathdasan's writings of his many encounters with the Siddhas, he writes that just as Agathiyar ended his revelation in the Nadi, some thugs gatecrashed into his home with weapons asking to know about the whereabouts of a vagabond who was with him the night before. Hanumathdasan tried to calm them down. He invited their leader to take a sit. He questioned him as to why he was looking for the vagabond. The leader refused to divulge and kept asking about the vagabond’s whereabouts. He questioned Hanumathdasan the vagabond’s purpose and reason to come to him. Hanumathdasan narrated what took place the night before. After listening to what had transpired the night before, the leader was surprised and impressed and asked if Agathiyar could reveal all. He wanted to find out from Agathiyar if the vagabond was alive. He revealed that he had to deliver the vagabond to someone. Hanumathdasan looked into the Nadi where Agathiyar revealed the intention of the leader is looking out for the man. The huge sum that he received to bring the vagabond would aid in his daughter’s eye operation. Hanumathdasan told the leader what Agathiyar had mentioned in the Nadi. The leader immediately fell at the feet of Hanumathdasan in an outburst acknowledging what Agathiyar had mentioned in the Nadi as being true. Hanumathdasan put forward a proposal to the leader that if Agathiyar should show him another way out of his predicament would the leader give up the idea of looking for the vagabond?
Agathiyar revealed more.
“In the past birth, a kid had lost his eyesight due to the leader’s action. As a result, his daughter was losing her eyesight at this birth. Even if he resorted to carrying out what he had come for, his daughter would not regain her eyesight.” Then Agathiyar stated three conditions if she was to see again. First: the leader was to change over a new leaf. Second: he was to seek out a Siddha in Kollimalai. Third: he was to serve in an orphanage until his life’s end. The leader agreed to do the first two but explained that he could not carry out the third because he was married to three wives and had to support them. Agathiyar provided the remedy to regain his daughter's eyesight. The juice of the rare Nethira Thosa Nivarthi Puspam, a flower that bloomed once in three years in Kollimalai, was to be applied to the eyes and head daily. Agathiyar added that a Siddha at Kollimalai should provide for this unique and rare flower. “Carry out this treatment for ninety days. She will regain her eyesight. She would not need to be operated on."
"Leave for Kollimalai immediately”, instructed Agathiyar.
Hearing Agathiyar's revelation in the Nadi, the headman's follower objected to him leaving for Kollimalai before finishing their ‘business’ since they had already received payment for it. The leader then motioned him to come forward to seek the Nadi too. Agathiyar revealed about him too. He too began to cry, acknowledging that what Agathiyar had revealed in the Jeeva Nadi was the truth. He too was asked to seek out the Siddha in Kollimalai for a remedy for his wife’s ailment. Both of them left immediately for Kollimalai.
Hanumathdasan was keen to find out what had transpired in the days that followed. He peeked into the sacred oracle again. Agathiyar answered, “The vagabond left the family and had ventured north, had made numerous reports to the police regarding his safety. That is how the family came to know that he was still alive. One of the family members had engaged the hitmen to ‘finish’ him off. But the one who sent out the hitmen was in very bad shape in the hospital. Now the family had repented and had taken the vagabond in."
After some time the assistant who had the earlier reading too arrived at Hanumathdasan’s door with his family. They fell at the feet of Hanumathdasan. This man’s wife had recovered fully. Hanumathdasan was told that the leader's daughter too was cured and her father had since taken up Siddha medicine, becoming a practitioner. The assistant narrated what had taken place in Kollimalai. After looking around in vain for the said Siddha in the Kollimalai hills, the men had laid down to rest under a tree. Suddenly an old man tapped one of them and asked him by his name. The hitmen were amazed how this stranger knew their names and how he identified them correctly. He asked both of them to follow. The old man then led them to a hut. He handed one of them an extract of a plant in a bottle to apply on the eyes of his daughter and assured him that she would begin to see in thirty days. He asked him to come back for more if needed. To the other, he handed an herbal preparation in a powder form to be taken with honey. The old man assured him that his wife’s heart problem will be cured in twenty-seven days. When the men handed him some money, he refused to accept saying that the money was taken to ‘finish’ off someone and that he did not want ‘stained’ money. When he went into the hut and did not come out for a long time, the two men took a peek inside but there was no one. They waited a while but as he did not turn up they eventually returned home.
Hanumathdasan asked if they went back to the Siddha again. He replied that they went to Kollimalai again but there was no hut at that spot and the Siddha was nowhere to be seen too. When these men asked those who frequented Kollimalai about the Siddha and his hut, they were told that they had never come across any hut or Siddha either.
After they left Hanumathdasan approached Agathiyar to find out who the Siddha was. “That was my disciple Bhogar. He carried out my wishes and had dispersed the medicine to both of them personally”, came the reply in the Nadi. Agathiyar added, “Bhogar still lives and moves around in Kollimalai. If one prays to Bhogar for assistance, he shall take the form of a Siddha practitioner and treat them, cure their illnesses and save them."
In another episode, Agathiyar most graciously delivers Bhogar's remedy for aids to an individual who sought out Agathiyar's Jeeva Nadi. Agathiyar instructs him to carry out atonement for each member of his family to remove their past karma and only then to undertake a journey to Sathuragiri or Pothigai where certain herbs were available for preparing the Siddha medication prescribed by Bhogar. The person took his family to Sathuragiri as instructed by Agathiyar hoping someone will deliver the cure. But no one was of any help to them. After 45 days someone delivers a note to Hanumathdasan from the person mentioning that he had run out of cash and food and nearing death, but he and his family are adamant to stay on until the family was cured. After 25 days Hanumathdasan is told of a miracle that took place at Sathuragiri. The family had decided to end their life as no one could help them with identifying and preparing the herbal portion as per Agathiyar's directive. That is when someone resembling Agathiyar and another person like Bhogar appeared to the family of four and directed them to follow them into the deep jungles of Sathuragiri where they prepared the medicine for them and had them consume it. The medicine put them to sleep. Upon awakening, the family realized they were in Sundaramahalingam Temple at Sathuragiri! After 3 months, the family appeared before Hanumathdasan, hale and healthy and cured of aids and alive to tell their tale. Agathiyar explains the human body is susceptible to 4128 diseases of which aids was listed as 3798th. The HIV virus was already known to the Siddhas years before it emerged.
Jnana Jothiamma was equally surprised to learn from Agathiyar in a Nadi reading that Bhogar had come as a youth to deliver her herbal preparations. Lord Murugan came as a kid to her on the steps of Palani and soothe her pain in her legs. Similarly, we had Bhogar come in a devotee and treat a young child and her mother at AVM. We had Agathiyar come in him and prepare a herbal poultice made from kitchen herbs and plants from the garden and placed it over the knee of another devotee bringing relief to his sports injury. I too was treated for my back pain by Dhanvantri and later Lord Murugan.
To another question from Hanumathdasan, “How can one identify Bhogar?”Agathiyar explains, “Bhogar shall have a twinkle in his eyes. He shall emit the aroma of Basil or Tulasi herb or Jawathu essence sacred ash or Vibhuti.” It is interesting to note that Agathiyar in the Jeeva Nadi revelation to Hanumathdasan says Bhogar was from Mongolia. In a Nadi revelation, Agathiyar reveals the extent of humbleness in his student Bhogar. When once Agathiyar asked Bhogar if he knew Mother Goddess, Bhogar replied he did not know. When asked if he knew Lord Vishnu, he replied he did not know too. When Agathiyar asked if he knew Lord Muruga, again Bhogar to everyone's surprise answered "No". How could one who was behind the making and installation of Lord Muruga's statue at Palani not know him? How could one who treated those mentioned in the many episodes above, when asked if he knew about the herbs, reply in the negative when he had sought, collected, and done extensive research on numerous herbs too? Bhogar replied that he did not know to all the questions put forward by Agathiyar. This surprised all those gathered. Finally, when asked what he knew, Bhogar answered that he only knew the Holy Feet of his Guru, Agathiyar. Such humbleness and total loyalty towards one's guru!
I saw this twinkle in the eyes of Tavayogi as we came out of Bhogar's samadhi at Palani. He had turned around towards me and enquired, "Yenna Magane?", after seeing me in bliss. I just walked up to him, and laid my head on his chest, thanking him silently for bringing me over to Palani that I had always regarded as the "Twilight Zone". There is something mystical about the place. I believe I had stepped into a portal going back years before what we see as the present-day samadhi of Bhogar at Palani. We just need to be led into a portal or step into one to reach the other side though I had no idea that I had just done that back then. In 2003, I was completely depleted of my energy and most likely my ego too trying to climb the steps up the hillock. Arriving at the top and still in a daze, upon entering the premises of Lord Murugan's sannadhi I only vaguely remember that a priest came up to me and snatched my bag of goodies for Lord Muruga. The next moment I remember is when he came back to return the bag of abhisegam and puja items topping it up with the sandal paste from that morning's abhisegam. I had no further recollection of what I saw in the Lord's chamber. I then took a few steps stepping into a dark corridor. Another few steps took me to a door on the right where I stepped into Bhogar's samadhi that was immediately at the back of the Murugan sannadhi. The second time I was invited to Palani by Agathiyar through the Nadi reading. Tavayogi, my brother, and I started for the Palani temple at 5 in the morning while the streets were quiet and the shops were still closed. We had to wait in the queue, as the temple was still closed. At 6.00 am we were allowed to enter. We stood in front of Palani Andavar and offered our prayers. Again I could not recall what I saw. We went down some steps to the open and crossed over to another temple structure that housed Bhogar’s shrine. But it was not so the first time I stepped into Bhogar's samadhi! The entire place now seemed shifted away and was brightly lit and colorful! I was truly puzzled. It blows my mind to think how was this possible? I wanted some answers then. Now it was clear to me. This was definitely not the route I took to Bhogar’s shrine in 2003. In my earlier visit, I walked along a passage from Lord Murugan’s shrine to Bhogar’s shrine. There was no necessity to go into the open. Bhogar's samadhi was immediately behind that of Lord Murugan's sannadhi. The shrine walls now were beautifully painted with murals depicting episodes from Bhogar’s life in color. In 2003 there were no paintings on the wall either. I was shown yet another play of the mischievous Lord Murugan.
There were four temple priests when we stepped into the chamber just as I had stepped into it in 2003. One of them showed the flame in front of the Maragatha Lingam and another figurine of Goddess Bhuvaneswari that Bhogar had worshipped, both placed on a raised dais. The priest then pointed out the opening where Bhogar had entered and is still believed to be. While he narrated the history of the temple to Tavayogi and my brother I moved to find a spot in the room to sit for a while. The fourth priest who was very much younger than the rest was standing in attendance observing me and the others, not uttering a word. As we came out of this chamber, this young priest intercepted us at the corridor away from the others. He passed a tumbler that he was holding to Tavayogi who was right in front, saying, Abhisega Paal. "Oh my God! It is happening again!" I told myself, " I am being given the Abhisega Paal again.” I was given a tumbler of milk on my visit here in 2003. I was receiving it again in 2005. Tavayogi drank a portion and passed the tumbler to my brother who was behind him. He drank a portion too and passed the rest to me. I emptied the tumbler and gratefully handed it over to the priest who look pleased. Surprisingly no one questioned him nor did he say anything further. Neither did Tavayogi, my brother, nor I talk about the incident. As we came down the steps into the open again, Tavayogi stopped and turned back to look at me. I was lagging behind obvious to him that I was in a state of bliss. He questioned me, “What is it, my son”. I went up to him and placed my head on his chest. Tears quelled in my eyes. He had this twinkle in his eyes and gave me a broad smile. I knew that he knew. I remained silent as we left the temple premises.
The divine too is known to come as Avatars in response to the cry of innocent souls and when they are affected by the rot that sets in when there is a decline in morality and virtues and Satyam in the world. I should say that both Jesus and Ramalinga Adigal had surpassed the Gods for the former could show the other cheek and the latter could show compassion even to his enemies whereas the Gods were known to take up arms to battle and rid evil.
