From Sariyai we move to Kriyai and Yogam. With the vessel emptied of past karma that is a hurdle to many good things coming our way in both material and spiritual life to a certain extend, Agathiyar sends a guru to mold us into becoming the right vessel to now receive his teachings and practices. The guru then leads us further on walking through the other components of Kriya Yoga. He brings us to get our feet wet in rituals rather than rely on others and have priests, proxies and middlemen do it for us. We bath and cloth the deities, sing his praise, and feed him to our heart's desire and joy. Besides cleansing our individual and collective karma further, helping the sick in body and mind recover, and bringing on good health and good fortune, these rituals cleanse and revitalize the Prapanjam and cool Mother nature down, appeasing her. Above and beyond these, rituals get us connected with the faith and the deities and a whole new world. A bridge is laid for them to travel to and fro. One fine day they shall walk us across this bridge too.
Learning good ethics or Yama or restraints or ethics of behavior, we learn to refrain from adding on more karma or take on fresh karma through our actions. Each action is then a calculated one.
Bringing us to his worship and to do charity leads us to carry noble thoughts. The mind and body engaged in his thought and in his work or service towards him never give the devil an idle moment to come and dwell within and begin his workshop creating negative thoughts and talk. Agathiyar showed us his 5 tenets for mankind to live an ideal life with a purpose. This is similarly reflected in the first two Angas of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra too.
Having introduced us to all these fine tools that serve to enhance and enrich our purpose in taking birth, strengthening our body, soul, and spirit, he now comes to work further on the very vessel or vehicle upon which both the soul and spirit travel - our body. As everything is established in prana, the body is made fit for the spiritual sadhana initially by having us take an interest in it and placing the necessary effort into it. Soon we are guided or to be precise the hidden hands of the guru guide us further.
To rid the mind-body and purge the impurities Agathiyar gives us the techniques of Deha Suddhi to adopt and put into practice. The blockages that are a result of our previous lifestyles result in its associated imbalances and disorders in the body and the imbalance in the 3 Dosas or bodily humor namely Vatam or wind, Pittam or bile, and Kapam or phlegm. This necessitates the need for Deha Suddhi too. Agathiyar gives us his Agathiyar Kuzhambu to consume for the purpose of Deha Suddhi. This does an excellent job of cleansing the house further.
"It contains 11 ingredients which are mentioned in the Siddha formulary of India - part -1, that when combined act as a purgative. Besides being a purgative it is said to cure many diseases too. The major ingredients of this drug are Perungayam, Kadugu, Induppu, Rasam, Vengaram, Naabi, Manosilai, Omam, Aritharam, Karunjeerakam, Nervalam." (Source: Muralidass SD and Shree-Devi MS: “Agathiyar Kuzhambu”- not only a purgative- an overview. Int J Pharm Sci & Res 2019; 10(5): 2156-63. doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.10(5).2156-63.)
Once he is satisfied at having seen the student observe and put into practice three of the Niyama or observances of Ashtanga Yoga, namely "tapas or austerity; svadhyaya or self-study of the scriptures; and isvara pranidhana or devotion to God or pure consciousness", the guru embarks them on strengthening the body with practice of Asana or physical postures and Pranayama or control of the breath under his watchful eyes.
But first, the nerves are to be purified, only then comes the power to practice pranayama. For this purpose we take up the tool known as Nadi Suddhi. Swami Vivekananda speaking about this practice of Nadi Suddhi or purification of the nerves quotes from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad.
Stopping the right nostril with the thumb, through the left nostril fill in air, according to capacity; then, without any interval, throw the air out through the right nostril, closing the left. Again inhaling through the right nostril eject through the left, according to capacity; practicing this three or four times at four hours of the day, before dawn, during midday, in the evening, and at midnight, in 15 days or a month purity of the nerves is attained; then begins pranayama.
He adds that,
Nerve currents will have to be displaced and given a new channel. New sorts of vibration will begin, the whole constitution will be remodeled, as it were.
The purification of the Nadis is required before one progresses to take up pranayama. These are prerequisites to taking up asanas and pranayama as we take note in the 8 Angas of Patanjali. Besides the Vishnu Granthi that was pierced on the onset that opened the dam and allowed the flow of the energies upwards, the other two knots known as Brahma Granthi and Rudra Granthi, are pierced with further practice of pranayama. Impurities that block the passage of the prana in the Nadis are removed. Once purified the full force of the divine can come down in torrents and do its will.
Only the divine in coming within once the coast is clear can bring us back to its abode. Rarely does a man stumbled on the treasure. Those who do are the divine avatars who had prior knowledge and wisdom and knew where to search and find the path back. We are now ready for the transmission of Gnana or rather it flowers from within, as Agathiyar tells us that it is not given or gifted by him but arises from within. The guru hastens the process and sees to it that it dawns on us, springs into bloom, blossoms, and flowers.
We are divine in nature for aren't we a spark of him? But our true nature is veiled and shrouded by a thin curtain - Ignorance of the true self and the spirit. The soul knows though. The day we reckon our soul we understand who we truly are. As Balakumaran says the arousal of the kundalini and the moments before death are one. "You can only see your true self at death. We realize who we are at death. When we look within that is akin to death. At death, we can see within. Both are the same." If we can see what is seen during death, while still alive, that is indeed a feat worth mentioning in the text and worth recording in history.
குண்டலினி சக்தி வெளிப்படும் நேரம் மரணத்தின் போது வெளிப்படும் உணர்வு ஒன்றுதான். "மரணத்தின் போது தான் நீங்கள் உங்களைப் பார்க்க முடியும். சாகும் பொது தான் நான் யார் என்று தெரிய வரும். உள்ளுக்குள் இருக்கும் ஆள் தெரியும். எப்போது உள்ளே பார்க்கிறாரோ அது மரண நேரம். மரண நேரம் போது உள்ளே பார்க்க முடியும். இரண்டும் ஒன்று." மரண நேரத்தின் போது நீங்கள் பார்ப்பதை உயிரோடு இருக்கும் போது பார்த்தவர் பாலகுமாரன்..
Then when the student is ready to undertake another journey, that of going within, he is told to refrain from all outside activities or to minimize them at least or to only attend to those crucial only. With Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses in place, and with more time on his hands now he devotes his time to sitting by himself and observing his breath. By bringing his awareness to his breath and letting his breath lead him further within, Dharana or concentration takes place. If both Pratyahara and Dharana is very much our effort, these lead us to the effortless Dhyana or meditation eventually. When one is engrossed and absorbed in this state it leads us further into the state of Samadhi or total absorption. In all these the guru observes from a distance watching us put into practice what is taught to us. Only if the need arises he comes to our aid. He doesn't want anything from us in return. He just wants to see use become him.