A turning point on our journey came when Agathiyar brought an abrupt end to all forms of worship that were initiated by him in the first place, nurtured by the gurus, and enhanced by upagurus. Another was when he told us to drop all external forms of activities including charity and go within. This happened a year and a half ago. We began to observe Patanjali's Yoga as Agathiyar pulled the plug on Sariyai and Kriyai and brought us to Yogam and Jnana.
Recently he told us that he has had enough of praise showered on him through puja and rituals. Agathiyar also added that he had enough of hearing us praise and speak of the feats of the Siddhas. "When are you going to become one and join our folds?", he asks. He told us to attempt to become Siddhas too.
Beginning with the art of right living they worked on the body to gear it up into top form and become a conducive receptor and vessel to achieve greater spiritual heights. Agathiyar wants us to indulge in and adopt and carry the way of life, as practiced by the Siddhas or சித்தர் வழக்கை நெறி முறை. Agathiyar told us that he was only sharing the time-tested practices that the Siddhas themselves had carried out in the past that had contributed to their current state. Together with Ramalinga Adigal and Tavayogi, they began pushing and working on us to ensure we adhere to and follow the diet and yogic practices prescribed and given respectively. Besides giving tips and lessons, they worked on our inside without our knowledge bringing on unexplained changes. Then the shift moved towards the soul bringing on complete transformation from within. Our effort ends there. The divine takes charge. Agathiyar brings Ramalinga Adigal to aid us in tapping into the consciousness. With the coming of the divine within all the favorable aspects of the much-needed change take place without our doing and spontaneously.
All the simple instructions they gave us since the start of this journey some 18 years ago are making sense today as we begin to see the reasons behind them and see the workings and the accompanying results. The Siddhas are slowly enlightening us step by step on the mystical knowledge and experience that has been shrouded in a veil all this while. If Agathiyar asked us to adopt and live the life of a Siddha and become a full-fledge Siddha, understanding the present circumstances, Bhogar came along to ask us to at least attempt to become half a Siddha. I have come to realize that when the Siddhas ask us to follow a path, way, teaching, practice, or method they shall also make it available and make it conducive for us to attain and achieve its results. It never was a wild goose chase unless they intended us to learn a lesson from it too.
We have had the grace of the divine throughout our journey. We had been guided well by some great masters from the Siddha lineage. The masters in the lineage rejoice in seeing the seed germinate and bloom for many newcomers and rejoice in seeing their long-lost children head back home after a long interval and absence.
It is also said that man recreates himself through his children. I am my father, my grandfather, and my ancestors before me. I shall be my child and their descendants too. We carry both the blessings and the curses of our forefathers. Just as we seek their blessings the merits we earn help our ancestors to settle their debts and hence settle the score.
Living a life full of joy, the child grows up into a teen and youth. The youth grows up. Soon he fathers a child and faces his share of responsibilities. Towards the end of his life, when he has settled all his responsibilities towards his family, he begins to serve his community and society. Soon he begins to look for salvation for himself and pursues the spiritual path. He brings others along too. For one who succeeds to bridge the gap, meet up with the divine, it is generally claimed that 21 of his generations gain moksha. They rejoice in seeing their kin make it to the tallest peak in spirituality hence bringing a close to the karma of 21 generations of his. Manusmriti 3:37 claims that "A son who performs meritorious acts, absolves the sins of 21 generations; he liberates ten generations of his ancestors, ten generations of his descendants and his current generation." They are all freed. A story is told of how Agathiyar freed his ancestors who were cursed to hang upside down from a tree.
Agathiyar never wanted to marry and have children. But he was haunted by the vision of his ancestors hanging upside down over a bottomless abyss. There they would stay, they howled, until he married, fathered children, and helped them be reborn. (Source: https://devdutt.com/articles/the-sage-who-went-south/)
Agathiyar in the Nadi told us that having become an accomplished Siddha, Shiva called him aside and told him that he wanted to see him with a companion just as he had Parvathi with him. Hence the reason Agathiyar sought Lopama in marriage.
Just as our ancestors watch in joy seeing our achievements and accomplishments, similarly, our merits help uplift the state of the guru just as the guru is responsible for the student's upliftment. Just as there are the மும்மூர்த்தி or trinity looking over all matters, I was blessed to have Supramania Swami, Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal, and Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar, who were shown to me and looked over my shoulders. Supramania Swami introduced me to Guru Bhakti or patronage to the Guru. Rengaraja Desigar was synonymous with the Siddhas and the foundation stone and catalyst who brought the path and the way of the Siddhas to the masses, including to our shores through his followers. And finally, Tavayogi came to toil the ground, plant the seed in us, nurture and water it, and personally groom and trim the bush to stand out in all its majesty and withstand the onslaught of adverse weather. I watched and learned much from him and his experience. They have become my trinity in Siddha worship.
I am blessed to have met all three gurus. They showed me the way and means and stepped aside for me to mark and travel my own journey, and to experience all that life had in store for me. I was free to do as please. I was free to investigate and experiment. I was free to venture and learn. I was not shackled with dogmas and restrictions. Neither did they pamper us but instead insisted we perform the tasks given, coming back frequently to ask if we were doing it. They did not make us into their clones. We each had an identity although we took to the same path. The beautiful thing about all these gurus is that they never claimed ownership over me. Neither did I hang on to them like a parasite. I took only their teachings and journeyed along knowing pretty well that they were always with me. These gurus showed us the simplest way to gain the grace or arul of the entire pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. I never dreamt that I shall come face to face with the Siddhas, though the form they took were many. I never imagined that just by showing devotion and love to Erai, and a simple recitation of the names of the Siddhas could open a portal to the other world. Agathiyar brought all the Gods and Goddesses, the Siddhas, rishis, munis, devas, and the whole kingdom of Erai down each time at prayer. Today even if Supramania Swami and Tavayogi are not in the physical form, I know that they are with us in spirit. Both these gurus have visited my home in subtle ways. The Siddhas have attested to their presence.
We too have come to feel their presence among us and in all our undertakings. They come to suggest, encourage, and drive us, blessing us with success in these endeavors that are to their liking. As to those envisioned and driven by us they either bless and come to our aid or stop, delay or divert us if the end results are to be detrimental to us. Deep within me, I knew that the Siddhas and my gurus had a big part in every instance of my life. They never claimed credit for it though. They save us from falling into a pit, or from suffering, and acquiring financial losses. I dread to think of life if I had fallen for the lure of bright lights and been lead elsewhere, astray, or stumbled on something else and got caught in its web of false belief, codes, and doctrines for life.
Adopting the numerous songs of saints and Siddhas as our prayer we saw its results. These experiences, in turn, came to be incorporated in the lyrics of the song "Ariya Payanam" from our album "Agathiyar Geetham", an audio compilation in honor of Agathiyar, an idea mooted by Tavayogi and Gowri Arumugam. We took inspiration for the lyrics from the many scriptures, upadesam from our gurus, and our experiences walking the path shown. This song that describes the four stages we traveled beautifully translates our journey into words. All this was made possible by the invisible divine hand of Agathiyar.
பாராட்டு பாடல் (அறியா பயணம்)
அனு பல்லவி
அறியா பயணம் தொடர்ந்தோமே நாம் இங்கே அழியா நிலை பெற்றோமே மௌன ஞானம் நீயும் அளிக்க கருணை விழி நீ திறக்க என்ன தவமோ என்ன வரமோ உனது பதம் சரண் அடைய ஈசா அகத்தீசா தரிசனம் நீ தந்தாய்
பல்லவி
போற்றிட போற்றிட துன்பங்கள் விழகிட போற்றிட போற்றிட நோய் விலக போற்றிட போற்றிட துயர் மறைய அருள் பொழிவாய் குருவே