Have we come any closer to knowing him by knowing his story? I doubt it. Just as clothes do not make a man, knowing (his)tory would not maketh him. The only way to know the man is to live like him. The only way to know the man is to bring his soul to live in us. The only way to know the man is to carry his teachings. The only way to know the man is to put into practice his techniques and methods.
So, what do you do when Agathiyar calls you to his worship and that of the Siddhas? Although I only knew worship to deities all this while, having pictures of them at my altar at home spiced up with occasional visits to the temples, I took the lead without further ado. I did not have to seek far for Agathiyar introduced me to all the Siddhas through a ritual Nadikku Dhanam at the end of my Nadi reading. The Nadi guru received my offerings towards the Nadi and their authors, the Siddhas, and in return carried out a prayer calling on all the Siddhas to come forward and receive my thanksgiving offerings. I was given a booklet containing these names and a picture of Agathiyar to be worshipped at home too. Armed with these tools, the Nadi reading that came as a revelation and remained a constant guide in my life, the list of names of the Siddhas, and a picture of Agathiyar, I began my maiden worship to Agathiyar and the Siddhas. A year later I stepped on Indian soil going on my maiden pilgrimage to carry out the remedies or Parikaram that Agathiyar gave me in the said Nadi reading. I was then brought before Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai in a mysterious way, on the pretext of drawing out my daughter's horoscope. A new relationship bloomed that day between a guru and his student. He took me as his son and student, initiating me with a Siva Mantra. Supramania Swami introduced me to Guru Bhakti or devotion towards the guru, an entirely new concept and perception from what I was brought up to do. From the unseen Gods and Goddesses whose form was captured as visions and paintings that we adored and worshipped at our altar at home and the stone statues in temples, now I was shown the might and compassion of divinity that takes the form of humans too as the gurus.
If Supramania Swami ignited me into the traditional worship of Lord Shiva and Lord Narayana, and into Guru Bhakti, Agathiyar sends Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal Tavayogi whom I met under mysterious circumstances too in 2005, to be nurtured further and molded into the ways of the Siddhas. Holding on to a leaflet given to me by the Nadi reader in 2002, I wanted to verify if the name on the piece of paper was the Tavayogi who was to officiate a Peedham in Malaysia then. A beautiful relationship bloomed again between a guru and his student when Tavayogi officially gave me initiation into the Agathiyar mantra.
Tavayogi invited me over to his Kallar Ashram in India providing me with my very first experience of staying at an ashram, and brought me into the jungles, caves, dens, and abodes of the Siddhas, giving first-hand experiences and insights into the lives of the Siddhas.
- When Tavayogi told me that Agathiyar came the night before and asked what he (Tavayogi) was going to give me, I looked back at him in disbelief. How was that possible I asked myself? The Agathiyar I knew till then only spoke through the Nadi.
- When Tavayogi took me on the new adventure walking the path of the Siddhas, he would look towards the sky and point out to certain aroma that lingers in the air telling me that the Siddhas came or were ushering us with flowers. I would look up in disbelief. The Siddhas I knew till then only spoke through the Nadi.
- When he called me to his side and told me that Agathiyar was opening and closing his eyes in his granite statue at his temple in Agasthiyampalli, I blinked into the darkness of the inner chamber, hardly able to see his form much less see him wink. The Agathiyar I knew only came in the form of writings in the Nadi till then.
- When he spoke about a statue of Agathiyar in the jungles of Kallar hill, that he placed after having had a darshan or vision of Agathiyar, I asked him how he came. He replied: "In the form of Light". I could only give him a blank stare then. The Agathiyar I knew till then took the form of the Nadi, paintings and statues.
Then Agathiyar chooses to come into my home in the form of a bronze statue where now we had a personal form of God whom we bath, dressed and worshipped. A subtle relationship between the divine in the metal and the devotee who chose to see him going beyond the material emerged.
Following the directive to conduct Abhisegam to him, and the Homam that was instructed to be done by Tavayogi, and supporting these Agamas with the acts of doing charity, we stepped further into Sariyai and Kriyai. Armed with these new tools, we still kept to following the Nadi readings that came as a revelation and remained a constant guide in my life, reciting the names of the Siddhas, following the teachings of the personal gurus, and with a whole lot of new experiences added on, I and my family continued worship to Agathiyar and to serve him.
But the answer to the question "Who is Agathiyar?" was nowhere in sight. Going through the numerous texts on Agathiyar and the Siddhas, we are given many varied accounts of him, right from his birth to the many miracles he did, as we have seen earlier in Part 1. But just by reading his biography, although we shall have admiration and respect for him, it does not bring one to understand him better. It is only by knowing him personally that one can rightly say that he knows Agathiyar. How does one get to know him personally? When he drops in on us daily. When he becomes a part of our family. When he dines with us. When he rests his weary feet in our homes. When he chooses to continue his Tavam in our home. When he calls over and sees his devotees at our home.
All these has taken place now. From Salokyam or living in a world created by him as in Sariyai, seeing and worshipping him externally, Agathiyar came to us Sameepam or very very close as in Kriyai. He stood in our thoughts. He stood in our actions. He began to speak through others. He then held our hands as we ventured into Yogam or Sarupam, taking on his soul and form. As Gnanam dawns arising from these mystifying experiences, we enter a state of Sayujyam. Sivavakiyar mentions these four paths or Neri as relative states of Moksha. After traveling 22 years, he has me drop everything and do nothing.
Traveling with Agathiyar we have learned to drop our own desires, likes and dislikes. These were what initiated this cycle of death and birth in the very first place. Coming to him, he made us realize the effect of our past karma on the present and its possible influence in the future. He gave us the tools to cut asunder the chain of action and its corresponding results. With the aid of Tapas or Tavam or austerity, devotion or Bhakti and service and doing Dharma or charitable acts, we can convert the harm to goodness. Bringing change for the better, we moved forward accumulating good merits that would help shadow or offset our liabilities.
Agathiyar has shown us that beginning with devotion and worship towards him,
- we can gain his blessings and grace;
- we can bring him from his abode in Pothigai into our homes;
- we can bring him into the very statue or picture that we use to worship him;
- we can bring him to reside in our homes, and
- bring him to reside within too.