The siddha path is the path of grace or Arul Neri. A path only gains merits if people follow it. It is of no use if a single person had traveled the path and reached the destination without having others follow him. The path less traveled is often swallowed by the undergrowth and any trace of it is lost in the undergrowth and wilderness that consumes it. Then there comes a man who stumbles upon the path, follows it and revives the journey again. Many saints have traveled the same path although at different times. They give it a new form and name but the essence of it remains.
Gnana Bharathi writes in his “Tamil Mannin Thanthai”, drawn by the divine and having worshiped him since young, at 12 years of age Ramalingam followed a guru and traveled the hills and the plains to the abodes of the siddhas. Coming to know that there was indeed a way to remain immortal he sat in tapas for 12 years under the tutelage of his guru.
At the end of the 12 year tapas his body glittered like gold and his guru himself could not bring himself to see Ramalingam as he shone with a blinding brightness. Ramalingam had attained a body that could not be affected by the five elements and could not be brought down by any other factors. His body was to know no hunger and thirst too, said his guru. His guru blessed him to teach the path to others so that they too could defeat death. Ramalingam was 24 then.
Ramalingam came back to the society. What he saw disturbed him a lot. He felt the sufferings of the innocent people who were being manipulated by certain quarters in all ways possible. Ramalingam began to teach people to worship the jhoti. If prior to these we were shown god as having many forms, he brought us to the worship of light. From form to no form. For one who had abstained from naming his guru, he abstained from giving Erai a form too.
It is said that numerous attempts were made to take his photo but surprisingly his image could never be caught on films. Could the reason his photo could not be taken - be to ensure that no one would deviate and sidetracked in worshiping him instead of the formless Erai he was talking about?
Coming back to the society of the day, he fought the problems that had cropped up and infiltrated the society during that time. Besides discrimination based on caste, and the multitude of religion that had arisen, he saw other faiths moving in and encroaching on the locals who were in dire state of disarray. He began a journey of propagating his new found path, the worship of light. Beginning from Chennai his journey brought him to Thiruvotriyur and Tirutani. Moving to Pondicherry and then later to Chidambaram, Sirgazhi, and Vaitheeswaram, he moved south to Madurai, Thiruvathavur, Thiruperunturai, and Karunkuzhi. He briefly goes back to Madurai, before settling at Karunkuzhi from where he used to frequent Chidambaram.
It is interesting to note that while he undertook this journey to reach out to the masses and bring salvation to their souls, when the locals in Patiripuliyur gathered around him and seeked his advice as a result of confusion that had arisen after another movement was telling them that they should leave idol worship, Ramalinga Adigal replied to them to continue what they were currently doing as that was best for them.
The locals at Vadalur donated a piece of land some 80 acres in size. He started the Dharma Salai to feed the hungry; the Sanmarga Sangam to bring together his followers and the Sanmarga Bhotini Padasalai to educate them in divine knowledge or jnanam. Staying at Karunguzhi he began to supervise and direct the construction of all these buildings.
Before he entered the room at Sittivalagam Thirumaligai in 1874 and merged with Erai he told those who had gathered that although he would be out of sight, he would be around another 42,000 years as a Gnana siddhar and after that take on the form of a Pranava Degi or the Pranava Degam. Gnana Bharathi ends his book mentioning that Ramalinga Adigal went into a Peranandha Nittirai or the sleep of joy.
Ramalinga Adigal’s disciple Kalpattu Aiya was adamant that his guru will come to take him just as he had come to Kalpattu Aiya’s home and instructed him to Vadalur, hence taking him in. After 25 years on 26 April 1902 his wish came true. Ramalinga Adigal appeared before Kalpattu Aiya. In that state of joy, Kalpattu Aiya dropped his mortal frame. Ramalinga did the last rites for Kalpattu Aiya.
Just as Ramalinga Adigal exclaims joyously that he became a siddha,
முத்தியைப் பெற்றேன் அம் முத்தியினால் ஞான
சித்தியை உற்றேன் என்று உந்தீபற
சித்தனும் ஆனேன் என்று உந்தீபற,
Mahakavi Bharathi too makes a similar claim.
எனக்கு முன்னே சித்தர் பல ரிருந்தாரப்பா!
யானும்வந்தே நொரு சித்தனிந்த நாட்டில்
மனத்தினிலே நின்றிதனை யெழுது கின்றாள்
மனோன்மணியென் மாசக்தி வையத் தேவி
Nadi Nool Aasan TR explains that Bharathi too picked up the concept of deathlessness at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2017/02/sacred-revelations-4-deathlessness.html.
Bharathi is said to have spoken about immortality in his last speech before he died at https://subramaniabharati.com/2014/09/07/immortality/
Just as Ramalinga Adigal had an unrevealed guru, Bharathi chanced upon his guru at https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2017/02/sacred-revelations-part-1.html
The world’s great saints never attended classes nor took up courses. Some were trained under the watchful eyes of their masters. Guided initially by their gurus, they discovered Erai for themselves. Erai then guided and taught them directly. The saints were all leaders, never followers.
Here we have to be grateful to the siddhas and Ramalinga Adigal for putting themselves through austerities and suffering to achieve the desired results for the sake of ours, so that they could share the secrets, the techniques and methods in a codified and simplified way. Their experiments to decipher the unknown and experiences on the spiritual path and journey has come down to us as wisdom or divine knowledge or jnana. The one who walked the path maps the journey for others to follow, leaving sufficient signage as directions, at times leaving even a boat and an oar for us to travel faster and at ease.
The siddhas start us off with bringing compassion within us. This comes from feeding and serving others. Then when the grace or Arul of Erai falls on us, his Arul leads us to Anbu or love. When the love then binds the body with the uyir or life force, the state of deathlessness is achieved. For these to happen the siddhas drafted the way and means for the common man by walking him through the four states of Sariyai, Kriyai, Yogam and Jnanam. We are humbled that we have been given the privilege to travel the path Agathiyar and the siddhas took, something made possible by Tavayogi and Agathiyar.
We at ATM are truly grateful to the divine for bringing us to know about these magnificent saints who drew up a path for us to follow out of compassion. We shall attempt to walk the path too, irrespective if we achieve the said results or not. At least we have began the walk.