If Tavayogi broke me the very first day I invited him over to my home in 2005 and on my subsequent visit to his Kallar ashram a month later after he returned to India and Agathiyar did the same more subtly over time, reading Ruzbeh N Bharucha's book, "The Fakir - The Journey Continues", Saibaba of Shirdi broke the camel's back trashing my ego even further as I had mentioned in a previous post. Devaki Ma in giving us "Glimpses of her guru Yogi Ramsuratkumar" has brought on a balm that is soothing in the form of clarifications after taking all the beatings. Devaki Ma speaks of the amazing power of the name, which the Yogi used to ask his devotees to sing too. Devaki Ma explains the reason to celebrate Jayanthi for our gurus. Kallar Ashram will usher Agathiyar's Jayanthi on 30 December 2023. If you are in Coimbatore, then please drop in and take in the blessings of Agathiyar and the Siddhas who shall walk the grounds of his ashram on this blessed day.
She recalls her very first meeting with Yogi that I had shared at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2016/09/ma-devakis-meeting-with-bhagavan-sri.html
I had been doing some reading on the places of interest in Tiruvannamalai before my maiden visit to India in 2003. Agathiyar had wanted me to be at Tiruvannamalai on the last day of my pilgrimage, asking me to circumambulate (Girivalam) the holy hill of Arunachala. The other condition was that it had to be a full moon day. So, my itinerary was planned to accommodate Agathiyar's instructions. On Day 9 of my pilgrimage (9 September) which was to be the pinnacle of my journey, I reached the temple at 1.15 pm. I had a beautiful Darshan and a pretty close one too of Lord Annamalaiyar and Goddess Unna Mulaiyal. I worshipped the underground (patala) Shivalingam where Ramana Maharishi had meditated. I left for the hotel at 2.30 pm. At 5.30 pm, I walked to the temple from the hotel. I joined the long queue to get another Darshan of the Lord before embarking on the Girivalam. It was a long queue indeed, for I only saw the Lord at 9 pm. At 9.40 pm, I started on the Girivalam path. The full moon began at 10.47 pm and lasted until 10.48 pm the next day (10 September 2003). At 11.40 pm seeking to visit Yogi Ramsuratkumar's samadhi temple, I asked for directions but realized that I was taken further and further away from the Girivalam route. I then decided that I would come back to visit the Yogi's ashram the next day after daybreak and returned to the Girivalam route to continue my walk. On Day 10, after lunch that day, Deva who chauffeured me in India, sent me to Ramana Maharishi’s ashram where I sat in the presence of Bhagawan's samadhi again. Later we left for Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s ashram. Unfortunately, Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s ashram was closed for lunch. My endeavor to step into the presence of the Yogi Samadhi was not to be, it seemed. But what I did not realize was that I had to meet Yogi's student and disciple first before coming to him. Supramania Swami had to come along too. By the grace of God, and as hinted by Agathiyar in my Nadi reading, when I met Supramania Swami after completing my Girivalam, he began to speak about his gurus. He had five gurus namely his father Jayaraman Pillai, Pundi Mahan (Atru Swami), Sandhanandha Swami of Salem (author of Kandhar Guru Kavasam), Kollimalai Swami and Yogi Ramsuratkumar (Visiri Swami). If the autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda introduced me to the existence of God men, or God taking the form of men, Supramania Swami in introducing me to his lineage of gurus, took me as a disciple and paved the way for me to accept men as God. As I was a temple goer and did home puja to the deities before, he ignited Guru Bakthi in me.
When nearing his samadhi, those administrating to the needs of Yogi Ramsuratkumar forbade Supramania Swami from seeing the Yogi. However, as he was kept out and stood out with the rest of the crowd who came hearing the news, the Yogi asked to see Supramania Swami and spoke a few words before leaving his mortal body on 20 February 2001. The Yogi materialized himself and came knocking on Swami's door at Swami's home in Nachaananthal, some 8 kilometers from Tiruvannamalai town, days after his Maha Samadhi and passed him a portrait of his and left laughing all the way till the sound of laughter faded away as he disappeared into the darkness of the night.
During my second visit to meet him in 2005, Supramania Swami was now residing at his small cottage or Kudil at Thiruvannamalai that we built for him. Swami very much wanted to move from his village closer to the hill and Yogi’s Ashram. So, we built a Kudil which was walking distance to Yogi’s Ashram. From the Kudil one had a beautiful view of the hill. Swami had a small window provided for that enabled him to see the hill while reclining on his bed. But I noticed that he had closed up the window with a gunny sack. When I questioned him, he told me he could not see the hill anymore. His answer was, "It was fire". The Yogi too was of this opinion. He was always saying that the hill was fire. Supramania Swami also told me he was seeing Siddhas moving and roaming on the hill.
Swami brings the Yogi from his Samadhi to join us in chanting his name or Nama Japam. I never fully realized the power of the name of the gurus or masters till then. Swami led the prayer chanting his guru's name (Nama japam). It went, "YOGI RAMSURATKUMARA, YOGI RAMSURATKUMARA, YOGI RAMSURATKUMARA JAYA GURURAAYA". As it was a simple mantra, I followed suit and chanted along. After about a few minutes into the recitation, I thought I heard a third voice - that of a male chanting together. I did not open my eyes. I started to listen harder. I could hear Swami’s voice. I could hear mine too. There was no one else in the Kudil. His wife and son had returned to their village home for the night. Yet I could hear distinctly another voice. So, who was this third person chanting with us? The mysterious voice continued chanting with us. Eventually, after about twenty minutes, Swami ended the Japam, and the voice was not heard again. I had wanted to ask him about this third voice throughout the Japam, but completely 'forgot' about it as Swami made his way out of his prayer room into the living room of his Kudil and I followed suit. Later upon returning to Tiruvannamalai after visiting Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal at Kallar, Supramania Swami asked me, “Did you hear the voice?” triggering my memory back to the first day at his Kudil. I remembered then that I had actually heard a third person sing along with Swami and me. I asked Swami who it was. He gave a loud laugh. He answered, “That was Visiri Matai” referring to his guru Visiri Swami (Yogi Ramsuratkumar). Such was the extent of devotion towards his guru that he could call upon the Yogi to appear among us. And such was the grace of the Yogi that he chose to appear, sit and sing with us. Although Supramania Swami had five gurus, he chose to invoke the Yogi at prayer. Was it his expressed wish that I should witness this miracle take place and should know the greatness of the Yogi?
Just before I returned to Malaysia, I stepped in finally into Yogi’s Samadhi accompanied by Supramania Swami. As it was a Pradosham day, Swami sat in front of the Nandi and was absorbed in watching the libation or Abhisegam for a long time. His gaze was fixed on the inner sanctum throughout the Puja. What was he watching I wondered?
Returning home to Malaysia, I was eager to know more about the Yogi. I read much about him and shared it on my blog. Read further at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2014/04/yogi-ramsuratkumar.html
If Supramania Swami made his guru rise from his Samadhi and join us in the chant, he too materialized himself at my home after his Samadhi, following the "footsteps" of his guru, that I have written about at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BNLP9fdJ2OFQzVgSBsvp0x3RAMYeyDFJ/view
Then the Yogi himself chooses to come to our home. A devotee who was finding it difficult to establish when the divine speaks through her friend and devotee and when her friend was himself, was trying to establish the personality shifts that took place in her friend who often is used by the divine as a medium. So, she thought she could outsmart the divine. Thinking that the deities of the Hindu pantheon would only speak Tamil, while they were both dressing up the statue or Murthy of Agathiyar at AVM, she asked him in English, "Are you okay bro?". Her friend replied, "Okay!" She had verified that it was indeed her friend. She said that she would use this approach henceforth to establish and differentiate the divine and her friend speaking. Some moments later after dressing Agathiyar up, when we all sat for prayers, the Yogi surprised all of us, coming and speaking in English through yet another devotee! She was dumbfounded! The divine saw through her game and played a game on her instead, to our amusement! We all had a good laugh.
Yogi Ramsuratkumar surprised us further coming amidst us during a Sivarathri. As Agathiyar phased out the Abhisegam into three phases beginning at 6pm, 9pm, and 12am, and the finale at 3am I chose to play some of my favorite Bakthi songs beginning with Sadhu Om's song on Bhagawan Ramana "Yeppadiyo Arulvaai" set to music and sang by Sriram Parthasarathy's and uploaded to his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@SADHUOMCHANNEL. A devotee from whom Agathiyar used to come was seen immersed in the song. Thinking it was Agathiyar who had come, I knelt before him as he sat on a chair. He pulled me towards him and hugged me. Next, he hugged my wife. That is when he told her that the beggar had come. He asked that we play the song "Unadhu Thiruvarule" again. He sat and listened to these songs on Bhagawan Ramana in a state of heightened Bhakti as Bhagawan Ramana was his guru too besides Aurobindo and Swami Ramdas. The Yogi came where the name of his guru Bhagawan Ramana was played. The Yogi then told us that my guru Supramania Swami too was with him which made me truly happy. Recently Agathiyar came to us and told us to listen to another song of Sadhu Om set to music and sung by the same, "Yeppodhu Nee Arivaayo".