When Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal came down to Malaysia in 2005 to officiate a local chapter of his Agathiyar Gnana Peedham at a center in Batu Caves, I made my way there to verify if a leaflet seeking donation to build a temple for Agathiyar that carried the name Thaai Veedu Thangarasan M.A. that I received from the Nadi reader three years prior was him. He acknowledged that it was indeed him. Thus began a wonderful guru-disciple relationship. When I passed the word around of his arrival my brother who was a journalist with a local Malaysian daily newspaper went over to interview him. I had carried a copy of his interview on the now-defunct website at http://www.indianheartbeat.20m.com/cittarbalance.htm.
June 16, 2009
The Cittar Balance
by
A. KATHIRASEN
They are the Cittars, who gave the world Siddha medicine, and their teachings revolve around the mind, the breath, and ethical living. A. KATHIRASEN catches up with Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, a follower of the Cittar philosophy.
He was the owner of a factory making singlets, a successful businessman but at the age of 50 he gave it all up, including his wife and three children, and began a new life as a thuravi, a wandering monk.
Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Tamil Nadu, India, wanted to stay far away from people and work on his spiritual growth. So he selected a hill deep in the jungle in Kallaru and built a hut for his home and meditation.
Having studied the works of the scientist-mystics known as the Cittars from his early years, he decided to follow their ways. He practiced the techniques taught by the Cittars and meditated.
Adigal renounced family life and all worldly attachments at the age of 50 and became a ‘thuravi’.
The Cittars (also pronounced Siddhas) are realised souls who lived simple lives. They believed that man was essentially immortal. Apart from teaching the art of living a balanced life, the Cittars devised methods to stimulate cell regeneration so that one could remain young.
The traditional Siddha medicinal system, now gaining in popularity in Malaysia, was evolved by the Cittars who had written treatises about diseases and their cures long before the advent of modern medicine.
Many of the poems and songs of the Cittars are shrouded in secret codes that only initiates can comprehend.
Although there have been many Cittars, 18 are particularly revered and Agathiar is the most famous of them. He was the foremost disciple of the first Cittar, Subramaniar.
“Historians give various dates as to when the Cittars lived,” Adigal says, seated in front of large pictures of Subramaniar, Agathiar and Ramalinga Swamigal at the Sri Agathiar Gyana Peedam in Batu Caves.
Adigal, 78, was making his second visit to Malaysia, this time to launch the Sri Agathiar Gyana Peedam, a centre dedicated to the service of mankind, in Batu Caves.
Agathiar, also spelt Agastya, is one of India’s most famous Cittars. There are accounts of him having travelled to Southeast Asia in the hoary past.
“Some of the very old stories mention the Cittars. Agathiar, for instance, is found in both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
“But don’t assume that the Cittars are dead and gone.
“They are very much present. I have had many amazing experiences that I can’t talk about, but believe me, they live. But not necessarily in bodily form.”
Legends abound about Cittars who evaporated into thin air or travelled to places such as China and the Middle East where they taught the locals there.
The Cittars teach how man can become a divine being. They set out certain techniques, the most basic and effective of which is Astanga Yoga which is often associated with the Cittar Patanjali.
Astanga Yoga, or eight-limbed yoga, teaches man how to live life, starting from body and ethical discipline to tuning and sharpening the mind to harmonising body and mind to seeing the sacred in everything.
“The Cittars say through yoga we can live well. The secret is in learning to live in balance.
“We must sharpen the mind so that the mind will help us rather than hinder us,” he says as he brushes upwards his grey moustache with the back of his right hand.
Born in Tiruppur, Adigal prepared his wife and children for his new life. He left only after providing for their needs. His family members visit him now and then.
“A few become thuravi like me but the Cittars say you can lead a good life with the family.
“The secret is to live in the world, enjoying things without becoming attached to them. Like the lotus which is not made wet by the water.
Astanga Yoga, he says, helps achieve this.
“Yogasana, makes the body strong and supple and pranayama (yogic breathing) helps keep the internal organs clean and healthy.
“Other aspects of Astanga Yoga help purify the mind and sharpen the intellect.”
Adigal says in the old days kings and governments gave priority to emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. Today, everyone is concerned with material development, about economic figures and forecasts.
“In the past, they used histories, poems and stories such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Harichandra Puraanam to teach: men were to live like Rama while women were to emulate Sita.
Everyone was to uphold honesty and integrity like Harichandra. This went deep into the people’s minds and a society of disciplined and virtuous people developed.
“A man’s word was his bond. They learnt not to be slaves to their desires. They learnt contentment.
“Today, things have changed.
“Governments stress the economy. Have we got a growing economy? How many millionaires have we created? Did we send satellites into space? Will people praise us?
“There is no effort to develop the mind, to sharpen the intellect. No effort to teach the art of thinking, the art of life.”
The world will be a better place if emphasis is also given to strengthening the mind, Adigal adds.
So why or how did Adigal, a hermit who has no money or property, first come to Malaysia 18 months ago.
Some inner stirring prompted him to ask a friend who was going to Malaysia to get him a ticket too. Some of his friends came up with the airfare and money for the trip.
“I don’t know what made me do it,” says Adigal, who holds a Masters degree in Tamil Literature from the Annamalai University, with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I just felt an urge to come here and I came.”
It was a brief visit and he did not expect to return. But recently, several Malaysian devotees of the sage Agathiar sought out Adigal on the hill in the jungle and persuaded him to make a second visit to launch the centre in Batu Caves.
“Now, I have so many children here. Malaysians are so caring. Everywhere I go they give me food.
“In fact, they give me too much food. I am afraid that I might get used to the food and comfort here,” he laughs.
The sprightly Adigal is used to living on leaves and fruits he gathers from the jungle, and sometimes the rice and food that devotees bring to him.
He says: “You don’t know how lucky you are. There are many where I come from who are in desperate need of food.”
Despite his life of solitude on the hill, Adigal is involved with a group of hill tribe people who later settled in the area.
He could not remain aloof, looking at the plight of the hill tribe people.
Assisted by two disciples, he helps provide food and gives the children school uniform and books, with money provided by devotees.
“I never intended to get involved in society. That was why I went to stay in the jungle,” he says with a pensive look.
“But my guru Agathiar has other plans for me. And that is also why I think, I was made to come to Malaysia.”
The above interview was published in THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA.