When Agathiyar tells me that our relationship spans crores and crores of births, I was stunned. But now I am beginning to see the puzzle pieces come together. Just as anything is possible in a dream, could this too be a dream too, as the famed poet Bharathi asked if it was all a dream? Is this the reason Agathiyar asked us not to investigate the source or primeval cause (Adhi and Moolam) and the end? So why do we argue over the forms and names, the life and times of the Siddhas, and their time periods? Now knowing it's all a game of Maya why should we go to battle among ourselves to defend our right and wrongs? No wonder Agathiyar says there is no right and wrong. No wonder Tavayogi asked me if it was important that both Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal appear before me as I had desired? I realize now as I pen these words that this is the reason Tavayogi at the very onset of my journey pounded me telling me that I was living in Maya when I was in a state of bliss having him come over to my home for the very first time. Tavayogi had broken the spell that Maya had on us the very first day he stepped into my home in 2005, but we could not understand then. It took some 19 years to understand the message he gave in passing when he said that I was living in Maya and that he was no saint (Samiyar) when I expressed my joy in having him over to my home. No wonder he told me that we don't need the 9 gems studded ring and Rasamani bead I wore and Rudraksha bead someone showed him which he gave approval for him to wear. No wonder both he and later Agathiyar ask us to even let go of our attachment to them. Just as we gained a "high" as my wife termed it in doing charity and puja, we fell for it again when they came in the Nadi and through devotees. We had to bring a stop to these addictions. They had us engage in everything and made us realize that these were Maya. Agathiyar after having us take up puja and rituals, eventually asked us to drop them saying that even the puja we did was Maya. Ramalinga Adigal asked us why don't people accept this nothingness? This is the zenith of Siddha teachings. ஏன் இந்த வெறுமையை ஏற்க மறுக்கிறீர்கள். சித்தத்தின் உச்சம் இதுவே. What sustains the test of time and survives in the realm of Maya where everything we do just dissolves into thin air once we gain the experience and the lessons, is our experiences. We are here for the experience as the Little Soul had asked for in Neale Donald Walsch's "The Little Soul and the Sun" and as Agathiyar told us உங்கள் வாழ்க்கையில் நடப்பவை அனைத்தும் அனுபவங்கள் மட்டுமே, they just wanted us to have the experience. So we have asked that he and the Siddhas quit coming through us to deliver their messages knowing that these too are Maya. This last stronghold that we had held on to and that had kept us caught in the web of Maya has dissolved too, just as we asked that their coming through devotees to heal and give solutions through the Nadi previously stop too.
Manickavasagar sings of the dangers were survived right from the moment we are conceived in his 'Potri Thiru Agaval' (போற்றித் திருஅகவல்)
ஊனம் இல், யோனியின் உள் வினை பிழைத்தும்;
மானுடப் பிறப்பினுள், மாதா உதரத்து,
ஈனம் இல் கிருமிச் செருவினில் பிழைத்தும்;
ஒரு மதித் தான்றியின் இருமையில் பிழைத்தும்;
இரு மதி விளைவின் ஒருமையில் பிழைத்தும்;
மும் மதி தன்னுள் அம் மதம் பிழைத்தும்;
ஈர் இரு திங்களில் பேர் இருள் பிழைத்தும்;
அஞ்சு திங்களில் முஞ்சுதல் பிழைத்தும்;
ஆறு திங்களில் ஊறு அலர் பிழைத்தும்;
ஏழு திங்களில் தாழ் புவி பிழைத்தும்;
எட்டுத் திங்களில் கட்டமும் பிழைத்தும்;
ஒன்பதில் வருதரு துன்பமும் பிழைத்தும்;
தக்க தச மதி தாயொடு தான் படும்
துக்க சாகரத் துயரிடைப் பிழைத்தும்;
ஆண்டுகள்தோறும் அடைந்த அக் காலை
ஈண்டியும், இருத்தியும், எனைப் பல பிழைத்தும்;
காலை மலமொடு, கடும் பகல் பசி, நிசி
வேலை நித்திரை, யாத்திரை, பிழைத்தும்:
கரும் குழல்; செவ் வாய்; வெள் நகை; கார் மயில்
ஒருங்கிய சாயல்; நெருங்கி, உள் மதர்த்து,
கச்சு அற நிமிர்ந்து, கதிர்த்து, முன் பணைத்து,
எய்த்து இடை வருந்த எழுந்து, புடை பரந்து,
ஈர்க்கு இடை போகா இள முலை; மாதர் தம்
கூர்த்த நயனக் கொள்ளையில் பிழைத்தும்:
பித்த உலகர் பெரும் துறைப் பரப்பினுள்
மத்தக் களிறு எனும் அவாவிடைப் பிழைத்தும்;
கல்வி என்னும் பல் கடல் பிழைத்தும்;
செல்வம் என்னும் அல்லலில் பிழைத்தும்;
நல்குரவு என்னும் தொல் விடம் பிழைத்தும்;
புல் வரம்பு ஆகிய பல துறை பிழைத்தும்
(https://www.tamilvu.org/slet/l4180/l4180son.jsp?subid=2313)
Agathiyar too had listed the numerous torments and the battles we faced beginning with the very moment of the Pindam or zygote forming in the mother's womb right till this moment. Is that the reason we read that Siddhas have since then never turned to taking residence in the womb of a mother?
Bringing us from Sariyai to Kriyai and Yogam, in dispensing Gnanam, Agathiyar brought down the walls that we had begun to build around us and that confined us and trapped us as in self exile. Lord Muruga and Agathiyar exposed Lord Shiva's divine play recently saving us from falling further into the pit that Maya had dug out on the path. When many fall for it, unable to come out of the pleasures it brings, Agathiyar gave us a taste of it but quickly pulled us from falling further into it and getting caught in the trap for good in the nick of time. It is interesting how Agathiyar had us carry out Sariyai, Kriyai, and Yogam and had us halt, drop, or let go of it. Though he did not give us any reason back then, it dawned on us now that in having us do so he had us drop the hold of Maya that accompanied each of these. The Siddhas had won the battle against the Maya and its tattvas. Now they were the Masters and Maya its servant. We too can bring change either for the better or the worse to all things that are considered Maya. In bringing us to their path the Siddhas set us free too. They freed us from the grasp of Maya. They freed us from the grasp and hold we have on the world around us. They have helped us break the limitations we have come to self-imposed on ourselves. We are free to soar in the skies. There are no boundaries. There are no limitations. We feel light. We feel detached. Is this then the nature of the Atma or soul? Are we now the Atma witnessing the world around us? Since anything and everything that sees and undergoes a change is Maya, that which is changeless and pure has to be this Atma which remains a witness to these changes. Is this Atma Darisanam then? The Siddhas have shown us Maya in action in creation, its sustenance, and how it brings an end to it all. They have shown us the veil of Maya and finally brought their Grace down upon us to draw the veil aside. It is indeed a Divine play.
What is Maya according to the sacred texts?
"The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and Prakṛti (the temporary, changing material world, nature). The former manifests itself as Ātman (Soul, Self), and the latter as Māyā."
"Māyā pre-exists and co-exists with Brahman – the Ultimate Principle, Consciousness. Maya is a perceived reality, one that does not reveal the hidden principles, the true reality."
"Māyā also connotes that which "is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" (in opposition to an unchanging Absolute, or Brahman), .."
They mention Indra whom Agathiyar spoke about too.
"Indra, is the master of māyā;.."
Agathiyar said the same as Swami Vivekananda explained.
"Vivekananda explains the need to understand Maya as follows (abridged),
"The Vedas cannot show you Brahman, you are That already. They can only help to take away the veil that hides the truth from our eyes. The cessation of ignorance can only come when I know that God and I are one; in other words, identify yourself with Atman, not with human limitations. The idea that we are bound is only an illusion [Maya]. Freedom is inseparable from the nature of the Atman. This is ever pure, ever perfect, ever unchangeable."
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_(religion))
Though Indra is made out to be the mastermind as Shakuni was in the epic Mahabharata, Indra has done well in helping us. He has helped clear the air. It reminds me of how the late Dr.Krishnan saw the planet Saturn or Sani. When everyone else dreaded the arrival of Saturn making his rounds through the dormitories in our horoscope, and with the astrologers adding fuel to the fear that the public had, Dr.Krishnan who was both an astrologer and Siddha physician asked me to usher his arrival instead. Saturn would hasten our journey in reaching God he said by having us go through the pain and sufferings and misery. The problem with some Nadi readers and astrologers is that they instill fear in some in the very first place and add to the existing fear that others carry in them. They tend to dramatize the happenings through their elaborations and their explanations. Be aware of such interpretations. I guess that they have to advertise their wealth of knowledge for it is common for the man on the street to praise them as being good and knowledgeable if and when they say and speak a lot. This is how some gurus, teachers, Siddha practitioners, Nadi readers, and astrologers manipulate others. This is where in comparison, we see that the medical doctors are so professional. They tell us very little but carry on with what needs to be done. Their qualification, training, and practice speak out for them. Just as I had to take lessons from Agathiyar on anger management, and later on Gnanam, now he is giving me lessons on Maya. I am indebted to Agathiyar for life.