A MASTERPIECE BY A MASTER CRAFTSMAN

Some 12 years back today, Friday 1st January 2010, Agathiyar took the flight to Malaysia from Chennai. Varad Rajh offered to take up the job of making Agathiyar's statue in bronze as specified in my Nadi reading in 2008 and 2009. 

https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2022/12/12-years-of-worship-to-his-murthy.html

https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2015/04/nadi-reading-no-34.html

https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2013/11/agathiyar-jayanthi-guru-puja-in.html

https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2015/06/lord-muruga-lobha-ma-kaveri-agathiyar_28.html

Agathiyar arrived on our shores on 2nd January and graced my home puja on the next day, 3rd January 2010 which coincided with the Annual Vizha carried out by my guru Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal on his ashram grounds of his Sri Agathiyar Gnana Peedham in Kallar. 

Though both Varad Rajh and I had not met he called me from India after receiving the email I had mailed to several Sthapadis or sculptors including him having sourced their contacts from searching the net. He agreed to do it after reading the conditions Agathiyar laid in the Nadi and that I had mentioned in the email. He did not mind traveling to Agasthiyampalli where he had an idea of how Agathiyar was made of granite and worshipped in the first temple built by King Kuberan at the dawn of the Kali Yuga.

He sent me those photos. 

Agasthiyampalli. 17 February 2009. Courtesy of Varad Rajh

I was fortunate to be taken to this temple earlier in 2005 by Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal where Agathiyar performed the miracle of opening his left eye before me in this granite statue.

I met up with Varad Rajh when he visited Malaysia on business many years later after Agathiyar's statue was delivered. That was the first time I saw him in person. Prior to this our communication was through email and phone calls. He never asked for a cent till the day Agathiyar boarded the plane. 

https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-note-of-thanks-to-varadaraj-of-bronze.html

Courtesy of Varad Rajh

Courtesy of Jnana Jothiamma

Agathiyar decided to perform the same feat and miracle that he did at Agasthiyampalli and shortly at his shrine at Papanasam, at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) too. He opened both his eyes and saw the family and Jnana Jothiamma who was visiting us. 

Agathiyar took to the covers of books, brochures, billboards, tv channels, videos and blogs, and websites too. 

Agasthiyampalli. 18 January 2012. Photo Courtesy of Suren

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Suren

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Suren

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Suren

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Suren

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Jnana Jothiamma

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Jnana Jothiamma

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Jnana Jothiamma

Agasthiyampalli. Photo Courtesy of Varad Rajh

AVM Agathiyar on completion on 8 December 2009. Photo Courtesy of Varad Rajh

Agathiyar upon arrival at AVM on 2 January 2010

Jnana Jothiamma made a visit to Varad Rajh and updated me on his dream mission of making a majestically huge statue of Lord Nadarajah.

Thondu Seivom Bala Chandran too met up with Varad Rajh while in India on 23 April 2014.

Thondu Seivom Bala Chandran with Varad Rajh 

That statue was completed recently and placed at the Golden Temple in Vellore. He sent me the link to his channel today.

https://www.youtube.com/@vardasvishvakarma4148

We are pleased to have Varad Rajh make the statue of Agathiyar for us. 

OUR ASSETS

Last night I saw the Hindi movie "Goodbye" with my family. It reminded us of the recent passing away of my mother on 28 November 2022. Harish (Amitabh Bachchan) comforts his last son who arrives late and after all the rites are over, telling him his mother went happily. He shares his story. He recalls that he is left as a kid in a school by his parents. He awaits for them to pick him up but hears that they are dead. Being a child he does not understand the concept of death. He is told by a teacher that though one is out of view it doesn't mean that he or she is not there, pointing out to a cyclist who turns the corner and disappears from their view.

Harish: "You know when my mother and father left me at school (Guru Arjandev Govt School) for the last time... then.. they turned right and never came back. Every day I stood there waiting for them."

He goes back to the past conversation.

Teacher: "What is it?"

Harish: "They are saying my parents are dead. What does that mean?" 

Teacher: "Harish can you see that man on the cycle there. Can you see him now?" He has taken the right turn and you can't see him anymore. But that doesn't mean he is not there."

Harish comes back to the present moment: "Mom took a right turn as well. She moves on but we can't see her. And then one day it would be our turn to take that right turn. We won't be seen but we will still be moving on." 

It reminded me of the words of Agathiyar too who had told me not to fear death as it was another door to another passage. 

The priest who did the rites for my mother from day one too said the same. As we sat on the banks of the river that flowed by the small town of Tanjung Rambutan he described my mother as having become the water that rushed in the river; the cool morning breeze that brought on shivers to us brothers who had taken a dip in the icy cold waters; the earth bank that we stood one and the branches of the trees that bordered the banks which dipped into the waters as if taking a sip. He meant my mother was one with nature now. He asks that we see it and accept it too. It reminds me of Ramalinga Adigal's last words that he would be in all things henceforth. 

Back to the movie, in another instance, the priest on the banks of the Ganges tells the daughter that what we have is memories and stories of her mother. 

"Stories nourish the world. Stories are older than us and also the dinosaurs. It is older than the world. You hear a story and tell your children your version of it." 

The priest goes on to ask her "What would you like to remember about (her mother) Mrs. Gayathri. 

"You will remember all the little things she said or did. Listen Mrs. Gayathri has been here many times. But in this lifetime she left you those stories those memories."

Similarly, we have many stories of our parents and grandparents to share with our children and grandchildren.

My mother came in a dream some days ago but just as my father too came in a dream after his demise I could not remember the conversation. 

On a related note, a relative who attended the wake shared her story. Being a teacher who loved teaching the kids, she was stressed out with the administrative work that came with it, asked me why I opted for an early pension if all things were good at my office. I replied that I did not want to die in office. I wanted some time to be with myself and my family. I wanted to leave when things were good to be true. 

Another relative with dementia and depression can't leave her husband out of sight even for a moment and won't leave her home. This made me pray again that the dear Lord take me when I am in the prime and peak of my life where all my bodily functions are at their peak and I am hale and healthy. This is what the saints too prayed for if we follow the songs that they have handed over to us. 

During my walk around a park, a Chinese man caught up with me and walked alongside me. Seeing me help a senior citizen who tripped and fell earlier, he started a conversation with me. He told me the greatest treasure was good health and not being dependent on another or becoming a burden to them. Another Chinese neighbor stopped by my home during her walk when I had my grandson on my lap taking in a breather and told me exactly the same too. 

Our greatest asset is this body and mind. Take care of these assets well.

12 YEARS OF WORSHIP TO HIS MURTHY

Agathiyar has been in my home for 12 years now coming in the form of a bronze statue made to specific instructions given by him in my Nadi in 2008. 

We are truly gifted and blessed for Agathiyar having come first in the Nadi reading in 2002 and later come over to my home as the bronze statue in 2010 purportedly as a transit before going over to the Jegathguru Shree Raghavendra Swamigal Miruthiga Brindavanam Kinta, Perak. But for some reason, he decided to stay and had another devotee place another statue at the Brindavanam. Staying with us we became aware of his majestic greatness as foretold by the Siddhas and Gods and Goddesses. For those who came up to me and my wife asked what did we gain by coming to worship him, he came as a guru and later a companion in our struggles to beat the lure of Maya and its creations. Today he stands as one in our family. What else could one ask for? 

The first mention of his coming as a statue was on 8 December 2008. 

The following year on 8 January 2009, he briefed me on how and where he was to be made. 

He guided me in subsequent Nadi readings until the moment he reached our shores on 2 January 2010. We celebrated his arrival and guru puja the next day with a handful of friends and family. Agathiyar reached out to many through their Nadi readings and had them come by my home. My home took a name then. It became known as Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). He initiated puja in temples and charity. With the coming of the pandemic he had us go within carrying out yoga and meditation. When it was safe to gather he began to visit the homes of some selected souls.  

Watch these magical moments from his arrival to the present day on my channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ShanmugamAvadaiyappa/videos

The number 12 has several significances.

In https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/ we learn that "Purna Kumbh- mela is celebrated every 12 years. It is also believed that spiritual progress happens in practitioners in the cycle of 12 years i.e., it takes 12 years of disciplined practice to change a habit. Mantras, Japas and Pranayamas are practiced in multiples of 12. It takes 12 years for Guru (Brihaspati, Guru of Devas) aka Jupiter to complete its 1 year (one revolution around the sun). Just as humans celebrate birthdays every 1 human year, so we celebrate divine festivals like Kumbh-mela every 1 Bruhaspati-year. From Mahabharata Vana Parva chapter 134, Ashtavakra says the importance of each number. In regards to twelve, "Ashtavakra said, Twelve months compose the year; twelve letters go to the composition of a foot of the metre called Jagati; twelve are the minor sacrifices; and twelve, according to the learned, is the number of the Adityas. The secret of 12 is the 12 Adityas. These are 12 forms of Sun/Surya Narayana. These are also called as the 12 purushas pertaining to the 12 lunar months of the year. These 12 also rule the 12 houses of the horoscope of every individual."

From https://mysticalnumbers.com/ we learn further that,

"Time is measured in two groups of 12 hours." Agathiyar mentions the duration of any given practice in terms of a Nazhigai that is equivalent to 24 minutes. 12 would be half a Nazhigai.

"There are twelve signs in the Zodiac." The Chinese Zodiac has 12 animal signs for each year. More significance in the world's religions of the number 12 is given at https://mysticalnumbers.com/ 

THE ONE WITH NATURE GOES BACK TO NATURE

During the last rite in the early morning hours of 13 December as we gathered on the banks of a river to complete the 16 days of mourning for our mother, the priests who saw through all the rites from day one led us on prayer to see our mother in all of nature, in the chill and cool air at the break of dawn, in the gusts of breeze and wind that brushed our faces and made us shiver as we sat in wet cloths, in the ice cold waters of the river that was full to its brim and rushing by us in an apparent hurry, the morning mists that shrouded the place bringing visibility to mere meters, the rain clouds that awaited to pour down, the trees and their branches that occasionally took a dip in the rushing waters too, and the ground that we stood on. This was exactly what Ramalinga Adigal told the handful of his faithful followers moments before he disappeared into a locked room in Sithivalagam in Methukuppam in 1874. He would merge with nature and all of us. My brother in a piece dedicated to my mother at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/12/10/when-we-die-do-we-really-die/ quoted a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye that goes as follows:

“Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush.

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the star shine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave bereft
I am not there. I have not left.”

THE PASSING OF OUR MOTHER

Come Monday 12 December it would be 16 days since the passing of my mother. If traditionally we are told not to light lamps and visit temples during this period a devotee reminded me of the full moon and Karthigai Deepam festival a day before and asked if I was conducting puja. Seeing her keeness I considered carrying out abhisegam and homam. Lord Murugan came to address us that day breaking all the rules just as we did. Another devotee was astonished to hear that both Agathiyar and Lord Shiva came and presided over the last rites carried out for my mother. How can we explain the Lords lila or play? Speaking to Shankaran Aiya who cares for and serves Agathiyar at the Adhi Kumbeshwar Temple in Kumbakonam he tells me that love for him breaks all man-made barriers and walls.

My brother who is a journalist wrote a piece on the passing of our mother at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/12/10/when-we-die-do-we-really-die/

Meanwhile as I sat waiting on my dying mother at the hospital the swirling in the crown of my head went on. It came on during the funeral. It has come to stay for good in all matters of affair.

The Tale of the Fork

THE SUBTLE WORKINGS OF THE DIVINE

If we thought that we the siblings were in charge and carried out the last rites for our mother, I realized that we were wrong. It was Agathiyar coming as the eldest who saw through the whole rites. I saw his hand in every moment, how he charted the course, swept the unnecessary meddling and interferences, rituals and customs aside to precisely carry out God's will. 

When I received the news on Sunday that my mother was admitted to a private hospital on Saturday night, 26 November 2022, my wife and I headed for Ipoh some 206 km away. Our children joined us later. Upon arrival, my brother who was a Medical Assistant briefed us on the updates. That night my mother spoke to each of us who came by and stood at her bedside in the ICU. She told us that she wants to sleep. I knew that she had meant that she wanted to sleep and never awake. I told her, "So be it."

The next morning at 6am as she was not responding we were all summoned to the hospital. My brother wanted her to pass away at home but the eldest was still considering having her monitored at the hospital. That is when Agathiyar came and told him not to delay the process as another birth was awaiting my mother. Only then he moved to have my mother move to my sister's home with whom she was staying. As arrangements for an ambulance and the relevant papers were readied for her discharge my mother passed away. We now arranged to have her body taken home to be cremated. As my mother wished that she should be cremated, the undertakers told us that the two crematoriums in the vicinity were booked to the brim and suggested that we cremate her body the traditional way using logs. This was god sent. It was akin to cremating in Kasi.

The undertakers engaged a priest from the transgender community to carry out the last rites at home, at the funeral pyre, and at the riverside. This was god sent too. We saw her as Ardhnarishwar. She carried out the rituals to our heart's content till the end explaining all the finer details as to the purpose, reason, etc of doing them. She carried out many radical changes to the usual norm that others would adopt, dropping many rituals, or setting others straight and returning to tradition. The moment she began to sing the Tiruvasagam Agathiyar came and announced the arrival of Shiva and asked all gathered to abstain from talking. Agathiyar turned to my mother and announced to all gathered that she was his mother. I knew then that in worshipping the Siddhas, besides coming as a deity, and god, and a guru, and later as a companion, they stand as a family member among us. He was there to do his last rites for his mother, the body that housed her soul or Atma. Later at the cemetery the priest told us that he would not want to place the logs on my mother and instead poured ghee on her. This was an act of the divine too. This reminded me of how Pattinathar knowing that his mother's body was to be cremated rushed to her side and had them remove the wood and instead have them place banana plants and light the flame singing hymns. We saw her cremated in full view which otherwise would not be possible if it was done at a crematorium. 

My participation was deemed sufficient as the priest released us to attend our daughter's convocation the next day.   

THE PASSING OF MY MOTHER

We lost our mother at 12.27 noon last Monday 28 November 2022. She was 95. She complained of stomach pain and was quickly brought to the hospital on Saturday night. Tests were done and she was given antibiotics and medicine to relieve the pain. The night before she passed away she told each of us standing around her bed that she wanted to sleep. I knew that she had meant falling asleep and never waking up. 

From an article on https://www.britannica.com/science/human-body/Basic-form-and-development, we learn that "In vitro experiments indicate that the body’s cells are programmed to undergo a finite number of divisions, after which time they lose their reproductive capacity. Thus, the potential longevity of the human body—about 100 years—seems to be encoded within the very cells of the body." 

The Yogis tell us that we come with a certain number of breaths that we exhale during the course of our lives engaging in various activities. Once it is exhausted and the breath that is expelled never returns death befalls. The Yogis though knew the secret to extend their breath - by just sitting still hence prolonging their lifespan. Swami Satprakashananda in his book "Meditation - Its Process, Practice, and Culmination, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, says "Through this very life, by regulating this mortal life he can reach the immortal.”

My mother prayed till her last days. She was thankful for her limbs, often speaking to her hands and feet, thanking them. She was thankful for life itself. She was a strong lady. Thus I used to send others who had lost their spirit to battle their illness, pain, and suffering to her. She would raise their spirits with her presence and talk. She would always bless us "God Bless You My Child/Son/Daughter". She never spoke about her pain if ever she had it. She had no further desires having exhausted all. She even saved for the cost of the funeral rites not wanting to trouble her children. Hence though we were sad that she would not be around us in physical form, we sent her off happily. As my wife said, "It was a celebration of LIFE."

She wanted to be cremated. But as the only two crematoriums nearby were unable to accommodate another death, the funeral care provider suggested that we cremate her at a funeral pyre the traditional way using logs. We saw it as equal to being cremated at Kasi. 

Though the Siddhas had told us that the Sivapuranam was to be read/sung to uplift the Atma while alive and not after death befalls us and fire and earth consume us, why did they allow the song to go on? Then it dawned on me that the former was a message specific to those on his path. As for the general public who never knew what the Sivapuranam was or never read/sang it here was an opportunity for them to know and perhaps follow the song at funeral parlors. But as all things lose their true meanings and intentions over time, a fellow student stopped my daughter from listening to the Sivapuranam in her hostel room telling her that it was to be played only at funeral houses. She picked up from her mother who forbids playing the song in their homes. People think it is a song to be recited only during funeral rites. This reminds me of how Agathiyar changed our perspective too sometime back in 2016. As Agathiyar in the form of the bronze statue at AVM, Tavayogi and Mataji were making their rounds to the homes of devotees who invited them over for puja one of the host began to sing poet Vairamuthu's "Jenmam Niraintathu" that has been popularized at funerals. A shock came over our faces as here we were gathered for a Siddha Puja. Later that weekend Agathiyar coming in Tavayogi's Jeevanadi reading praised her for the song!

Lord Shiva came with Agathiyar and graced my mother's funeral upon singing the Sivapuranam. I was surprised that they arrived at a funeral house but later realized the reason. As we know during the many moments in communication with them that they only saw the Atma or soul and never the physical body, they had come to pay their last respect to the physical body that was an abode of the Atma. A day before Agathiyar came at the wards and informed us that another birth was waiting for her. 

Srinatha Raghavan posted the following enlightening conversation on Fb some time back,

In Banares, I happened to meet a young Aghori, or a Tantrik, on the ghats of Manikarnika. As I was just staring into the pyre of death, He came and sat beside me and struck up a seamless conversation.

He: Death is as temporary as Life?

Me: Yes.

He: Do you know why Death (Yama) & Time (Kala) are so feared?

Me: No.

He: Because they are least understood?

Me: True. How to understand Death?

He: By experiencing it, even when alive.

Me: And how do we do that?

He: Under the guidance of a Guru, you can experience Death.

Me: What is Death?

He: There is nothing called Death?

Me: What?

He: Death as we know it, is just physical cessation of the Body and its functions.

Me: Yes.

He: But what made the Body once tick, the spark of life, lives on, and just like a drop of Water that has turned into Vapour, it goes back to become one with the whole.

Me: Interesting.

He: What is more interesting is what happens after that?

Me: What would that be?

He: It's the way the whole game once again when the droplet separates itself from the whole to become an individual again.

Me: That's true.

He: Thus the play of life and death continues, till the drop has finally lived its share of desires to assume a form and lives happily as a part of the formless whole.

Then giving me some Bhasma and a Rudraksha, as a parting gift, He said, "May this Bhasma ever remind you of the impermanence of life and death and the Rudraksha of the latent Divinity that lay hidden within you, which is nothing less than Shivahood?"

From www.lionsroar.com we read that "In Buddhism generally, death isn’t death - it’s a staging area for further life." 

Death is another doorway to another journey says Agathiyar. If I had thought that Agathiyar was educating me on death just some weeks ago, I understood that he was preparing me for the moment. One who faces death boldly is indeed a Siddha he says. 

"மரணம் ஒன்றும் அல்ல. மற்றொரு பயணத்தின் கதவு. மரணபயம் வேண்டாம். எவன்  ஒருவன் மரணத்தை அன்போடு வரவேற்கின்றானோ அவன் சித்தன் ஆகின்றான்."

TO BE IN THE WORLD & NOT OF IT.

When the King picked and appointed a Prime Minister after five days of a hung parliament I was delighted that Agathiyar's prophecy in the Nadi of a supporter many years back had materialized. I was worried that the predictions of his if and when they do not take place would place the Siddha in a bad light. Though I have heard many a politician seeking divine guidance from the Siddhas and the Nadi through devotees, I had once wondered if Agathiyar besides painting a picture of individuals' lives ever spoke about politics. When another senior devotee and I were summoned for a Nadi reading in the midst of a gathering at a temple in 2016 just days before our departure to India, while waiting I brought up this topic and we discussed it. To our surprise, Agathiyar mentioned politics and the state of affairs in the Nadi to us for the very first time, clearing the air. 

The Nadi that intrigued me and guided me from day one has been sidelined since the emergence of the Coronavirus in 2019. Henceforth, the Siddhas came through devotees to deliver messages. They began to speak about Nadi of a different kind, that which runs through another body that we carry with us too. The https://www.yogajournal.com/ describes it as follows.

The presence of these Nadis is felt these days in me. The tug and the pull and the subsequent pain and blocks that result are regular things these days. But by the grace of the Siddhas, they see to it that it does not permanently harm me. The purging of the excess in the three dosas too has subsided. The occasional churning in the abdomen and the more frequent spinning in the crown of my head continue. The occasional unobstructed flow in both nostrils brings an immediate calm and bliss within. There is total disinterest and disassociation from all things in these moments. I guess this is what is meant to be in the world and not of it.

TURNING POISON TO NECTAR

We read that in their bid to recover the Amirtham or divine nectar, the Asuras cooperated with the Devas, and took Mount Mandara, a spur of Mount Meru, as a churning stick and the snake known as Vasuki as the churning rope, churned the cosmic ocean. While the "stick" was steadied at the bottom of the ocean by Vishnu in his avatar or incarnation as the tortoise Kurma, Lord Shiva then consumed the poison which otherwise would have contaminated the Amirtham that lay in the depths of the cosmic ocean. In the Vishnu Purana, it is said that,

In the churning of the ocean many wonderful treasures that became the prototypes for their earthly and heavenly counterparts were brought up from the depths: 

(1) Chandra, the moon, 

(2) parijata, a beautiful and fragrant tree now planted in Indra’s heaven, 

(3) the four-tusked elephant Airavata, Indra’s mount, 

(4) Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty, 

(5) Madira, the goddess of wine, who became Varuni, the wife of Varuna, 

(6) Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree, 

(7) the apsaras (celestial dancers), 

(8) the celestial horse Uccaihshravas, 

(9) the goddess Lakshmi, who became Vishnu’s wife, 

(10) Panchajanya, Vishnu’s conch, 

(11) Vishnu’s mace and magic bow, 

(12) various gems, and 

(13–14) Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, rose up out of the waters carrying in his hands the supreme treasure, the amrita. 

(Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/churning-of-the-ocean-of-milk)

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_Manthana we learn further that, 

According to the quality of the treasures produced, they were claimed by Shiva, Vishnu, Maharishis, the devas, and the asuras. There were three categories of goddesses who emerged from the ocean; most lists include:

Lakshmi: the goddess of prosperity and wealth, who chose Vishnu as her eternal consort.

Apsaras: divine damsels like Rambha, Menaka, Punjisthala, and others, who chose the Gandharvas as their companions.

Varuni: the goddess of wine (sura) and the virgin daughter of Varuna, accepted by the devas. (Some interpretations believe her acceptance to be the etymology of devas being termed as suras and the daityas as asuras.)

Likewise, three types of supernatural animals appeared:

Kamadhenu or Surabhi: the wish-granting cow, taken by Brahma and given to the sages so that the ghee from her milk could be used for yajnas and similar rituals.

Airavata and several other elephants were taken by Indra.

Uchhaishravas: the divine seven-headed horse, given to Bali.

Three valuables were also produced:

Kaustubha: the most valuable Ratnam (divine jewel) in the universe, claimed by Vishnu.

Kalpavriksha: a divine wish-fulfilling and flowering tree with blossoms that never fade or wilt, taken to Indraloka by the devas.

Sharanga: a powerful bow, given to Vishnu.

Additionally produced were;

Chandra: a crescent, claimed by Shiva.

Dhanvantari: the "vaidya of the devas" with amrita, the nectar of immortality. (Sometimes considered as two separate Ratnas)

Halahala: the poison swallowed by Shiva.

This list varies from Purana to Purana and is also slightly different in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Lists are completed by adding the following ratnas:

Panchajanya: Vishnu's conch

Jyestha (Alakshmi): the goddess of misfortune

The umbrella taken by Varuna

The earrings given to Aditi by her son Indra

Nidradevi, goddess of sleep

Here is an interesting perspective of the peacock that Lord Murugan rides. 

The peacock is the mortal enemy of snakes, killing cobras with their talons. The main quality of the peacock is the transmutation of poison into amrita or nectar. This is tied to Lord Shiva getting a blue throat from taking the poison produced by the churning of the ocean; thus the transmutation of poison or venom by the peacock is said to produce the electric blue of its throat plumage and the wisdom eyes of its tail feathers. (http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/Peacock)

When my daughter was concerned that during the times her children stayed over at their paternal grandmother's home, they could be fed non-vegetarian food, Agathiyar consoled and assured her that he would transform such food. Sri Raghavendra too is said to have transformed the meat offered to him by the ruling Nawab of the land where the saint placed his holy feet, into flower petals. 

Octavio Salvado describes it too at https://www.thepracticebali.com/2016/08/16/ride-peacock-octavio-salvado/

In the Yogic tradition, the Peacock symbolizes our own capacity to inwardly alchemize poison into nourishment, like the peacock does with the venom of the Cobra. In this way, the combination of Murugan and his prissy, yet very powerful bird presents us with a choice. No, it’s not the choice of fight or don’t fight. As the Bhagavad Gita assures us, life is a battlefield, hiding and shrinking away from living a life of meaning is not an option. Backing out of the confrontation is not the choice. We can’t control life. Believe me, I’ve tried. She’s relentless! And she knows that it’s her duty to prod us, lovingly (sometimes) and gifts us the opportunity to sharpen our tools. No, the choice is about how we manage ourselves in moments of confrontation and more interestingly, in times of outward defeat. Can we alchemize the situation so that it becomes nourishment? Do we lay down and die. Or do we transmute adversity into excellence, wisdom, humility, growth, and compassion? The struggle ‘is’ the nourishment, it’s built in. Every obstacle presents the opportunity to refine our authenticity, to deepen our Yoga, and become more of who we truly are.

Agathiyar has told me to stomach both the bodily pains and the troubles that come our way that is beyond our own doing. It is nourishment for the soul says Ramalinga Adigal too. The back pain went away unnoticed several days back just as it had come on. But my stomach keeps churning. I guess like in the Puranas maybe, just maybe, it is a similar scenario in real life too. 

Swami Muktananda in his "Kundalini - The Secret of Life", a Siddha Yoga Publication, published by the SYDA foundation, 1994, writes,

"She (kundalini) penetrates all 720 million nadis consumes all the old decaying fluids, then releases vital energy into them all. The nadis become filled with prana. It is only after the body has been purified that the shakti can work with full force. The basis of all disease and pain is the impurities that block the flow of prana in the nadis."

Likewise, could I safely deduce then that the chakras once activated and the Kundalini in arising consumes the toxin accumulated within the body for the last 63 years, clearing the path as it went to enable the river to flow unobstructed into the cosmic ocean where the lost Amirtham is recovered for good?

THE GOSPEL OF THE SIDDHAS

The Gods are known to give boons to their devotees. If we had read about this in the Puranas, Bhogar came on 11.3.2021 and invoked Lord Shiva to come before us. He asked Shiva to open the door for us.

சிவனே...உன் மக்களுக்காக வா...கதவைத் திற. 

Bhogar then asked us to ask Lord Shiva for any boon. We were tight-lipped until I told him we were pretty satisfied as he had given us all that we needed. I guess he too was happy that we had nothing to ask for. It only means that we are already in the state of being complete and entire, having everything that is needed or Puranam. 

Similarly, I was in a dilemma as to what to ask for when Agathiyar came several months prior to Lord Shiva's visit and turned to each of us gathered asking what we wanted. I had nothing to ask for but he waited patiently for my reply. As he kept waiting, not moving on, my brain worked in overdrive. I finally asked that I be born again and again and be given the privilege to serve him as I do now. He asked me back if that was what I wanted prompting me to pause and realize that it was not what was to be sought after. Later as I and Mahin discussed his visit over a telephone conversation, I told Mahin that maybe we ought to ask him for the state of Gnanam which was highly spoken about by Tavayogi although we never comprehended it. Tavayogi always lamented that people always either asked for riches and position or for their troubles and sufferings to go away, never at any instance did they ask for Gnanam. 

It happened that Agathiyar eavesdropped on our telephone conversation, for the next time he came, on 30.1.2020, he told me that I had asked for Gnanam. I was taken aback. He went on to elaborate on it. He said it was not something to be gifted but earned through our efforts. If I thought that that was "the" thing to ask, it was not to be so too. He came again on 16.3.2021 and told us that the yearning to join them and their company was the ultimate thing to ask for.

இவன் சரியாகக் கேட்டான். திருகுட்டத்தில் சேர வேண்டும் என்று.

When I report back to him that I have failed miserably in my efforts at meditation, "மனம் ஒடுங்க வில்லை", he tells me "நீ முயற்சிக்கின்ராய்", appreciating my effort. On 26.4.2021 when I told him I do not know how to repay his kindness, என்ன கைமாறு செய்வேன் அப்பா? he tells me that there is no need for that, "ஒன்றும் வேண்டாம்." After awakening the chakras in me, I asked him what I should do further and if there were any further practices that I needed to do, and he replied that there was nothing for me to do. The awakened energy or Sakti shall take care and govern all things henceforth.

Editing a video in which Tavayogi speaks at his event celebrating Agathiyar's Jayanthi I realized he had summarized the entire teachings, practices, methods, ways, path, and achievement of the Siddhas in a few words to the devotees gathered at his ashram grounds in 2005.

I guess I was born with a silver spoon. Although growing up with seven siblings in the sixties meant we did not have the luxury of three meals a day we never went hungry. The good Lord and my parents and later my older siblings took care of matters. The scholarship, the job, the motor, and later a car, the home, and the wife all fell into my lap. They were God-sent. We have two wonderful daughters and three grandchildren. 

The path of the Siddhas opened up before me. Inviting me to the path, Agathiyar provided me guidance through his Nadi, through two wonderful gurus, and now coming through his devotees. Walking the path of the Siddhas was not tough as Agathiyar, Supramania Swami and Tavayogi had gone through. I was blessed to have the Siddhas cushion my fall. 

So how do I repay them? I listen and follow their dictates. I carry out everything they say without question and without wanting to know the reasons behind these directives. That was the secret ingredient in my progress on the path. Among the many aspirants he sent over to my home Mahindren follows what is told by Agathiyar, to the extent that Agathiyar had him pull the brakes for he has only started a new family. Agathiyar told him to cool off and that he shall come to claim him in the future. I observe that my grandaughters will make good students too.

LET US CONNECT WITH THE PRAPANJAM @ 8pm TONIGHT (MST)

Reading Ramalinga Adigal's live history and his songs we tend to realize that he has even surpassed the Gods in the area of compassion. When the Hindu Gods took arms and defeated the evil forces that took hold of their devotees at some time later in their lives as told and retold in the Puranas, Ramalinga Adigal like Jesus never lifted a finger against his foes. Lord Muruga is known to have gone to war with Surapadma and his brothers Tarakasura and Simhamukha. But he did not vanquish them to rot in hell altogether but kept them among the Gods after they were defeated and pardoned. Surapadma was split into two halves, a peacock and the other a cock taking the peacock as his vehicle and the cock as his flag. Simhamukha was turned into Goddess Sakthi’s lion. Goddess Mahishasura Mardini took arms against Mahishasuran and defeated him. These devotees turned Asuras all turned evil after gaining boons from the Gods. This is where even the Devas and heavenly beings, and the greatest of saints and gurus tend to slip and fall if their ego, greed, and lust are not kept under check. 

Nowadays we have treats of a different kind unlike the ones in the Puranic times. The Prapanjam seems threatened.

The first time the Prapanjam was mentioned to us was in a Nadi reading on 27.8.2009. Agathiyar who gave me several yogic practices in the reading told me these practices would strengthen the state of Gnana in us further. As a result, the clarity and powerful thoughts would pave the way to lure the Prapanjam for sure.

பக்குவமாய் பயிற்சியும் செய்து வர பலப்படுமே ஞான நிலை பலவாறாக. பல்வாறாய் தெளிவு திடம் சிந்தை கீர்த்தி பிரபஞ்சம் வசிய நிலை திண்ணம் திண்ணம். 

Later on 17.10. 2010 Agathiyar told us that the Prapanjam was in him. Hence he shall present himself and grace us in whatever form we may worship him in.  

என்னுள் பிரபஞ்சம் உள்ளத்தப்ப. அவனியிலே எதை நினைத்து புசித்தாலும் அடுத்த கணம் அது வாய் மாறி ஆசி அதுவும் அளிப்பேன்.

Agathiyar who began to come through his devotees after the Nadi readers stopped coming over to Malaysia due to the pandemic, mentions that Ramalinga Adigal come into our midst on 21.2.2020 to bless us and helped us bring within us the energy that is dominant in Prapanjam. 

வள்ளல் பிரபஞ்சத்திடம் இருந்து சக்தியைப் பெற்றுக் கொள்ள உதவினார்.

Agathiyar came again on 29.6.2020 and told us that he was the Prapanjam. He was us too. His powers were in us too. The moment we realize this truth we shall attain emancipation. 

நான் தான் பிரபஞ்சம். நான்தான் நீங்கள். என் சக்தி உங்களிடம் உள்ளது. எப்போது அதை உணர்விகளோ வீடு பேறு கிட்டும்.

Lord Shiva too came on 29.6.2020 and told us to give thanks to Agathiyar telling us that he was only there because Agathiyar was present. 

இவனுக்கு (அகத்தியர்) நன்றி சொல்லுங்கள். இவன் இங்கு வரவில்லை என்றால் நாங்கள் வந்து போகமாட்டோம்.

On 20.7.2020 Agathiyar again reveals that Ramalinga Adigal brought the Prapanjam within us.

வள்ளல் பிரபஞ்சத்தை தருவித்தார்.

On 30.11.2020 he says that he was all the deities put together. He was the Prapanjam. 

நானே அணைத்து தெய்வங்கள். நானே பிரபஞ்சம்.

I never doubted after I pondered over the story of Agathiyar's travels to the south to bring balance to the earth that was said to have tilted when all the Gods and Goddesses and heavenly bodies gathered for Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy's wedding in Kailash. Logic tells us that only one who was equivalent to all the superpowers (and heavyweight) gathered at the wedding ceremony could bring a balance by standing at the other end. 

On 10.12.2020 Ramalinga Adigal asks us to bring the Prapanjam within us. The Prapanjam would serve us. It would come along. I guess this is what is meant by the Siddhis that the Siddhas are able to perform at will. He came down with such intense energy and laughter and became chanting the Arutperunjothi mantra, prompting us to do the same. He was totally and fully immersed in bliss throughout his stay where he could hardly hold his ground. He was elevating. We had to hold on to the devotee through whom he came within. He was constantly telling us to bring the Prapanjam within and that it would listen to us and accompany us.

பிரபஞ்சத்தை உள்ளுக்குள் செலுத்துங்கள். பிரபஞ்சம் உங்களுக்குக் கட்டுப்படும். துணை வரும்.

On 6.5.2021, Agathiyar spoke again on the Prapanjam making us understand that the doctor's role ends with the procedure done on their patients. Then Prapanjam takes over and begins healing the patients from within and without. He reassured my daughter that he shall stand by her and heal her eyes together with the Prapanjam. 

பிரபஞ்சம் உனக்கு உதவி புரியும். நானும் துணை இருப்பேன். 

He shows my daughter the way to tap into the Prapanjam and bring it within to heal her eyesight. Again he reiterates that it was he who sent both me and her for the procedures. 

உங்கள் இருவரையும் நான் தான் அங்கு அனுப்பி மேலும் சிகிச்சை அளித்தேன்.

Ramalinga Adigal came too to lead the way to show us the way to access and connect with the Prapanjam. He says that the Prapanjam shall assist us. He too would come to assist. 

உன் கைகளை உயர்த்தி பிரபஞ்சத்துடன் தொடர்பு கொள்க. பிரபஞ்சம் உனக்கு உதவி புரியும். நானும் துணை இருப்பேன்

We are indeed gifted to have these superpowers with us.

On 15.5.2021 Lord Shiva addressed our worry about seeing the numbers surging during the pandemic, saying we are the cause of it and Prapanjam used it for its purpose. Man now needs to join forces with the Prapanjam and use it as a force field or shield and engaged in cleaning the Prapanjam. When it's cleansed the world will be completely rid of the virus. He goes on to explain how it shall take place. "When engaged with the Prapanjam the vibration that takes place in you shall become atoms that cleanse the Prapanjam. The virus will be around till that day (till that is achieved fully). I, Shiva will join you in prayers to heal the Prapanjam. Whenever and wherever possible continue with this Homam. Those who can join do so (in lieu of the lockdown). Those who engage in this prayer will be safe. I have accepted your Puja. Share this with Shanmugam. Let it be known to all through his writings."

இந்த நோய் மனிதனால் உருவாக்கப் பட்டது. பிரபஞ்சம் அதனை உபயோகப் படுத்திக் கொண்டது. மனிதர்கள் பிரபஞ்சத்தோடு இணைந்து பிரபஞ்சத்தைக் கவசமாய் பயன்படுத்தி பிரபஞ்சத்தைச் சுத்தம் செய்ய வேண்டும். பிரபஞ்சம் சுத்தம் அடையும் தருணம் இந்த நோய் முற்றிலும் குணமடையும். பிரபஞ்சத்தோடு இணையும்பொழுது உங்களில் ஏற்படும் அதிர்வுகள் அணுவாய் மாறிப் பிரபஞ்சத்தைத் தூய்மை செய்யும். அதுநாள் வரை இந்த நோய் நீண்டகாலம் இருக்கச் செய்யும். சிவன் நானும் உங்களோடு இணைந்து பிரார்த்தனைகளை முன்வேய்ப்பேன் பிரபஞ்சம் தூய்மை பெற. முடிந்தமட்டிலும் ஒவ்வொருவரும் இந்த ஹோமத்தைச் செய்து வாருங்கள். யாரெல்லாம் கலந்துகொள்ள முடியுமோ கலந்து கொள்ள தும். பூஜையில் இணைவோருக்கு இந்த நோய் பாதிக்காது. உங்களின் பூஜையை நான் ஏற்றுக்கொண்டேன். ஷண்முகனிடம் இவற்றைப் பகிர்ந்துகொள்ளுங்கள். எழுத்து வடிவில் உலக மக்களுக்குக் கொண்டு சேர்க்கத்தும்.

Shiva told us that among the many forms and names he was the Prapanjam too. He says that his energy is in us too. It makes sense now that he is asking us to enhance its power, the inherent energy of his in all of us to battle the pandemic as shown by Ramalinga Adigal. It looks like Shiva won't take up arms to battle the enemy as we have read in the Puranas and epics but we have to do it though he shall help us subtly. 

On 24.12.2021 we carried out a puja in conjunction with Agathiyar's Jayanthi that day. We lit the homam, and did abhisegam to Agathiyar's statue. While a devotee was dressing him up, I picked up Ramalinga Adigal's "Agaval" and begin to recite it. I could only recite until verse 305 "நாயினுங் கடையே னீயினு மிழிந்தேன் ஆயினு மருளிய வருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதி" when strong emotions came over me and I began to sob. I struggled to continue further but could not go beyond verse 336. I have been reading the Agaval solo and with my family numerous times but never could comprehend it. It was a mere song but a melodious one to me back then. But that day it  was different for I could feel the words reverb in me having me recall similar experiences. I stopped singing. To our amazement, Ramalinga Adigal picked up from where I stopped, through the devotee present. But the words were not that from the original "Arutpa" but were coined in real-time. Ramalinga Adigal composes a song of the cuff. As he took us by surprise, we could only record the later path of his song. It went as follows.

என்னுள்ளீல் நீ உன்னுள்ளில் நான் அதுவே அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
போகமும் அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி … நீ கடந்து அறிவே நீ அறியும்அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
எல்லாம் செய் சித்தம் சிவனடி சேரும் அதுவே அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
ஆண்மையும் பெண்மையும் கலந்தன இறுதி வெளிப்படும் வெளிச்சமேஅருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
இவை எல்லாம் தாண்டிக் கடந்தபின் காண்பது அதுவே அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
இளமையில் நீ செய்யும் யோகங்கள் யாவும் முதுமையில் சேர்ந்திடும்அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
ஜோதியுள் ஜோதி அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
குளிர்ந்தது ஜோதி
வெப்பமும் ஜோதி
நீயும் ஜோதி
நானும் ஜோதி
பிரபஞ்சம் முழுதும் ஜோதி
மின்மினி போல் மின்னும் ஜோதி
பரத்தில் இருக்கும் அருட்பெருஞ்சோதி
இப்பரதேசியில் காண்பதும் ஜோதி

Once more he tells us in these verses that the whole of Prapanjam was Light or Jothi.

In telling us that their powers were in us too and asking us to enhance them showing us the ways and the means too, they are making us superbeings too to help run the universe on their behalf. 

என் சக்தி உங்களிடம் உள்ளது. நிமிர்ந்து நடங்கள். பெருமையுடன் வாழுங்கள். அகத்தியன் உங்களில் வாழ்கின்றான்.

I now understand why Agathiyar said that we have to give power to the metal statue of his that he had us make in Swamimalai back then in 2009. He had us recite his name 100,000 times but we managed only 45,000. But the most gracious Siddha accepted our effort. Today he stands tall at AVM and grants our wishes. 

Agathiyar had been telling us that he was Prapanjam and that the Prapanjam was in him several times. Although he is Prapanjam and he can resolve all our worries, moving the chess pieces and realigning the course of events taking place and yet to take place, they want us, mankind to actively engage in bringing the desired positive changes as we are part of the Prapanjam too. He wants us to know our true nature and potential and not to forever depend on all things external. Rather than adorn a gauntlet as did Thanos in the Avenger series to wipe out half the population, in our case to heal the planet, they ask us to build the Prapanjam within to an extent where it keeps all diseases at bay. It is said that the villagers would be aware of the arrival of the Buddha even before his coming as his energy or aura was far-reaching. I guess he wants us to build our aura to that extent too to help wade off diseases and dangers. 

I understand that we are now called to connect with the Prapanjam. Once connected and as we tap into its energy and bring it within, the vibration that results in us generates atoms that shall then cleanse and rid it of the virus. We are to become channels and tap into the Prapanjam and pass it on to our surroundings. Before we can become transmitters of the Prapanjam we need to cleanse ourselves and our homes first. Before we can heal the Prapanjam we need to heal ourselves first. We need to prepare the vehicle for the transmission to take place. Hence the reason for Agathiyar to have us consume his Agathiyar Kuzhambu and other purgatives that purge the body of toxins and heal it. We see the need to conduct the Homam that connects us to the Prapanjam and energizes us through the external heat of the fire and heals us by inhalation of the herbs offered into the fire. At the same time we bring the offerings we place into the fire pit to reach far and beyond our surroundings, healing it too. We see the need for them to push us to do Yoga Asanas and Pranayama that besides healing body and mind, expand the lung's capacity to absorb more air and with it the life force Prana that can then be transmitted and shared with others. When this body that is the fortress is healed and fortified only then can we serve as channels to distribute the Prapanjam that has come within and in turn begin to energize others and our immediate surroundings, eventually healing the Prapanjam. By reaching out to the Prapanjam and bringing the body to the desired vibrational state and dispersing the charged atoms that build within us into our surroundings we bring about the healing of the Prapanjam. It is quite clear that God would not use his magic wand and make the virus or other dangers disappear overnight. Neither will he sweep the virus away. The Siddhas are not going to perform any miracle to bring everything back to normal. They want our active participation in reaching out to the Prapanjam for help. But the Prapanjam too shall not heal on its own but wants man to align with it and combat together the mutual enemy. 

If Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal had laid the bridge for us to reach out and connect with the Prapanjam in the past, if we had been put in touch with the Prapanjam and asked to work closely with it, Prapanjam came to address us through a devotee just days ago. The Prapanjam took the form of my wife in her dream. She was told to share it with us and every like-minded devotee concerned for the welfare of the earth. In the vision. In the dream, the devotee had approached Prapanjam who sat with our kids and grandchildren entertaining them. The devotee put forth her feelings of sadness seeing the calamity and natural disasters taking place and the emergence of the virus in various new forms and threatening and curtailing our freedom to move around freely again. Prapanjam tells her to ask likeminded devotees who cared for the wellbeing of the world and others to carry out the homam and chant the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra and Dhavantri mantra just like Lord Shiva had directed us at the beginning of the pandemic. Prapanjam asks that we fire the charcoal with dried cow dung. She asks to burn powdered dried neem leaves in this. 

Let us come together today Saturday 12 November 2022, at 8pm (Malaysian Standard Time), in lighting a homam (for those who are equipped with the tools to carry it out) or reciting both these mantras. Those who were shown the way to tap into the Prapanjam its pranic energy and shown the relevant techniques of pranayama to enhance it are asked to induce the said mantras and energize it further and return the renewed energy that has been provided by the Prapanjam back to it in the form of fire and smoke, cleansed and healed. We shall fortify ourselves with these mantras, engage with the Prapanjam, and send back the unified force to the Prapanjam to ward off the dangers. Our prayers shall be directed towards and for the betterment of the Prapanjam. If the Prapanjam lives we all live.