Siddharta saw his people in pain, suffering, growing old and die. He wanted to get down to the ground beyond his palace walls to understanding why all these were happening, what seems to be something new to him, as he had been shut out from the outside world all the years.
Agathiyar too brought us into the homes of some families to see for ourselves the sufferings people were undergoing. He brought us to the hospitals to treat our illnesses or accidents so that we could see others suffering even more.
When a devotee of Agathiyar fell and fractured her patellar bone just days ago at her working place, I called her to inquire about her condition. She was a strong lady, being a nurse and having seen many injured patients herself. I told her to see things positively. Accidents are bound to happen. It doesn't mean that once we worship the Siddhas no mishaps or sufferings will take place in our lives. We will have to go through all these but the severity of it is lessened by the glance and grace of the Siddhas. A worse scenario would be if she had fell outside in public among strangers. Someone would have to call for the ambulance that would have taken some time in the city traffic. She would have to bear with the pain for even longer hours while waiting to be seen at the emergency unit of the nearest hospital. The family would only come to know about her accidental fall much later.
Whereas the most merciful and compassionate father although could not stop the accident, helped cushion it. She fell at her workplace which coincidentally was a hospital too. Her colleagues picked her up and attended to her immediately. She was operated the very next day and is back home recovering from the injury and operation that was done on her. The period of pain and anguish, worry and all the accompanying troubles she would have to go through were shortened drastically. I strongly believe the Siddhas were with her in her moment of need.
When my daughter was knocked down by a car while riding pillion, she broke both her tibia and fibula bones. She was cast in a fibreglass cast and had to layoff for the next nine months, missing her internship. We chose to see a blessing even in these times of suffering and anxiety. Her case was unique as she fell within the 5 per cent who have non-union of their bones. She needed help to recover for there was no new bone growth taking place in the site of injury even after four months had gone by, bewildering everyone. The good doctor at the general hospital suggested a new and alternative treatment as we did not want a titanium bone plate placed in her. The ACP injection or Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy worked wonders after she received three injections over the next few days. There was new and positive growth of her bone cells.
Here again, the most merciful and compassionate father although could not stop the accident, helped cushion it. Immediately after she was hit, her friends summoned the ambulance that took her to a nearby hospital. After our insistence that she needed to walk again quick so that she could continue her internship, the good doctor at the emergency ward recommended the external fixation kit be attached to her bones that would enable her to walk while waiting to heal, instead of lying down in plaster cast for the next three months as he originally proposed. The next day the divine interferes in the form of a senior doctor who reverted back to casting her leg and waiting for nature to heal her rather than performing the operation to place the fixation. We would like to see her long wait to heal and walk again as a blessing. If she had had the fixation as we had requested, she could have got herself in more trouble and danger. Maybe there was a reason she had to stay at home for the next nine months, under the watchful eye of Agathiyar. We chose to see things positively.
Accepting suffering and believing that our prayers will be answered, keeps us from going into depression. Believing that we have survived a tragedy or an accident, an illness or a disease, by the grace of the divine, will accelerate recovery. When visiting a patient do not enquire from him what had happened, forcing him to revisit and relive the horrific incident to each and every one. When visiting a patient do not play the role of a doctor, suggesting other options, treatments, or medicines etc. Neither mention other similar cases but with more intense or tragic outcomes, scaring the patient. Don't frighten their wits or dampen their spirits by narrating other severe case histories to them. Positive talk and wishes from visitors and family help towards a fast recovery. In short, like Thumper says in the Disney cartoon Bambi, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it.