VAIRAGYA

My blog posts might seem repetitive. A friend and reader from Kerala once wrote in, saying, "Even if you wrote it umpteen times, we learn from repetition the most." Science says that in repeating 21 times, only then shall it begin to register in our subconscious minds. Repetition and making a habit of good things register a corresponding response and outcome in the subconscious. I used to wonder why Tavayogi kept repeating the same speech everywhere he went. Reading the book "Jeeva Brahmakya Vedanta Ragasiyam" by Satchidananda Yogeeswar, I was asking myself why the author repeats the same matter again and again in subsequent pages. He answers my query in a later chapter, saying that one needs to drive a notion again and again so that it is registered and remembered. So too, I guess I end up repeating the same in these pages, at least so that I can remember them too. Please bear with me.

Now, coming to today's post, are we ruled by the stars? It sure does seem so. Are we merely living out what has been determined in the stars? Going by what Tavayogi says, that we are living in the past, and creating the future, it sure holds water. 

As there is a barrage, onslaught, and overdose of talk shows on the net currently, where astrologers are each predicting what is going to happen to us, due to certain planetary movements taking place currently, though I had left seeing my horoscope after taking Agathiyar's hand, curiosity and having much time on my hands, I too was drawn into watching them. And they sure answered the what and why of things that happened the way they did. I can settle in peace now, knowing that it was not my doing, but the circumstances and events were all their doing, all laid out waiting to happen. Knowing that relationships, and the direction they took, too, were determined by the stars and not of my doing, has me lay down my guilt. I remember Agathiyar telling me that though karma prompted certain actions, Agathiyar too had pushed me into certain circumstances, and for the sake of gaining those experiences, too, had me engage in them. 

As Bhagawan Ramana too says that all is well, the saints tend to leave it as it is. They live a life, bringing in and channelling the divine love and showering it on others, and share the bliss, too. I came to know that even if one wants to be a saint, it has to be written in the stars, from reading JN Bhasin's book "Events and Nativities Explained", Sagar Publications, 1974, where he studied the birth charts of prominent people, including saints, and wrote about the expressed need to have vairagya in one's charts. 

No astrologer, neither AM Duraisamy nor Dr Krishnan, mentioned vairagya in my charts. Supramania Swami expressed his wish to chart my chart, wanting to know why I came to him. He told me something had taken place the previous night as I was sound asleep. As I was sleeping on the floor of the living area of his kudil, while he was sitting beside on his bed made of jute ropes, rolling the Rudraksha beads, a mother and child had come and sat beside me. They were in conversation, oblivious to Swami watching them. The kid placed his hand on my belly button. Soon, the kid invited his mother into Swami's prayer room. Following them into the room, Swami was surprised to see the room empty. Swami shared this with tears brimming and a smile the next day. Before that, he told me that he was taken aback when I stepped out of the car and approached him upon arriving from Malaysia. The reason being that he heard the Pranavam loud and clear that moment. When I asked him later why he had closed the window with a gunny sack, which he purposely positioned to watch the Holy Hill from his bed, he told me that he could no longer see Annamalaiyar's form, as he was fiery. He told me that he saw Siddhas and Rishis going about doing their work on the hill. He surprised me by saying that he saw me too in their midst. Agathiyar, in coming to us after Tavayogi's samadhi, told us that he had to come to guide us further, as Tavayogi was called in to do Agathiyar's work in their realm or Siddha Loka.

It is said that all findings and discoveries are made in this realm by the Siddhas and Rishis before man discovers them for himself. I always wonder how lyricists and music directors come up with such soulful songs, be it for the cinema or devotional. I have come to believe that these writings and tunes are constructed in another plane before these souls pick them up, arrange and conduct them, and deliver them to us, just as the writings come to me in a continuous flow as I pen these posts, too.

When we come to the Siddhas, they speak about karma and reveal ours. The option is there for us to live it through without interfering, or take measures to try and make it favorable, less hurtful, and less of a torment. I understand now, when I had noisy neighbors, during the period of my solitude, Agathiyar asked that I bear with the noise, as it was a test. Rather than attempting to change others or confront the external source of our troubles or problems, he asked me to change my mindset and go with the flow, instead, watching the transformation taking place within. 

As Siva Thondan wrote earlier, in his analysis of "The Kolaru Pathigam" by Thirugnana Sambandar, 

"For one who has taken refuge in Shiva at Sirkazhi, the planets — all of them, in whatever configuration — become 'pure good' (Nanmayae Aavaarkal).... 

This is not a promise of astrological correction — a better chart, an improved Dasha. It is a statement about the ontological transformation of the soul's relationship to cosmic forces....

This is not the dismissal of planetary influence; it is its theological reframing....

What it promises is that the devotee who is anchored in Shiva-bhakti — whose soul is oriented toward Pati rather than contracted around its own Prarabdha — will not be bound by what the planets deliver. The experience may still occur. Its binding power will not.....

This reflects the Siddhantam's precise theological priority: the devotee's relationship is with Pati, and Pati's Grace operates at a level that encompasses and transcends the Pasa order of which the planets are a part....

The practice of its recitation is itself a living enactment of the philosophical principle: the devotee does not ignore the astrological warning, nor does the devotee capitulate to fatalism. Instead, the devotee brings the planetary situation into the field of Bhakti — into Shiva's presence — and there the cosmic arithmetic is reconstituted.....

..this practice as expressing what the Siddhantam teaches: that Karma is real, that planetary influence is real, that they must be engaged and not bypassed — but that Arul operates from a level that neither Karma nor planets can constrain. 

The Kolaru Pathigam is not magic. It is sadhana — it reorients the soul's fundamental posture from anxiety about cosmic forces to trust in the sovereignty of Shiva. And in that reorientation, the planetary machinery — still running, still delivering its consequences — ceases to be the defining reality of the soul's experience."

I guess, though, I don't have viragya or the determination that buries all other aspirations in solely wanting only to reach the Holy Feet of the divine, in my charts; their mercy, grace, and blessing have fallen on me, seeing those little moments where I attempt to carry out what they say or gave me to do, which has brought me this far. This is enough. And Agathiyar, in telling me that I had taken crores of years, traveling with him, to just arrive at this stage only now, has me realize that there is a long way ahead. As Supramania Swami and Tavayogi say that there is always a tomorrow, another birth where we could perfect our skills and attain Siddhahood and Godhead, I shall keep polishing my skills and keep trying. 

Though it seems our life is predetermined and we have to live it, Siva Thondan, in sharing Thirugnana Sambandar's song, gives us hope.

Saiva Siddhantam takes karma seriously enough to have built a precise and systematic account of it. It takes planetary influence seriously enough to situate the Navagrahas within a coherent cosmological hierarchy. And it takes liberation seriously enough to insist that neither karma nor cosmic alignment constitutes the soul's final condition.

The Siddhas and the divine have the final say!

Of Astrology, Palmistry, Nadi Reading, and Soul Contract Reading

Astrology, Palmistry, Nadi reading, and Soul Contract Reading help us know ourselves and the direction we could take, saving us time and money in futile ventures. They can warn us of booby traps along the way. For the spiritually inclined, these could show us to our guru, the path, and the teachings that our soul desires. They address both the desires of man and his creator. 

Srīnāthā Rāghavan wrote in fb about his encounter with an astrologer. 

He called out to me, "What is it you want to know?"

That was pretty much a direct Question, so I replied, "My Future?"

He was quick to answer, "So you know the Present well, I guess?" It was a valid Question and I did not have any answer for it, when He said, "Astrology, as much as it gives you an idea of the Future, it's primarily meant to tell you how to use the Present well."

I listened to His wise words, as He continued, "Our Future is based on the choices made in the Present, so it is very important to gauge and know all the options available with us in the NOW, and which one to choose so the future is pleasant."

I asked, "Then isn't our Future predetermined?" To which He replied, "A part of it is fixed, what we call Fate, and a part of it is in your hands, what we call Destiny."

"What's the difference?" I asked.

"Fate is like Laws and Destiny akin to Rules, the former is fixed and predetermined and rarely can be broken, but the latter can be broken through effort, and if not broken, then at least bent as per situation," He said.

After reading my birth chart and telling me some points to take note, He said, "Don't rely on the Stars too much, as even they are controlled by a Higher Power & Intelligence. So either believe in the intelligence of THAT (God) or THIS (Yourself). 

So too my friend and reader Siva Thindan, in writing about "The Kolaru Pathigam's refrain, which appears in each verse with structural variations, states the central theological proposition with directness: the planets — all of them, in whatever configuration — become 'pure good' (Nanmayae Aavaarkal, நன்மையே ஆவார்கள்) for one who has taken refuge in Shiva at Sirkazhi. This is not a promise of astrological correction — a better chart, an improved Dasha. It is a statement about the ontological transformation of the soul's relationship to cosmic forces."

Though I had my horoscope charted at the age of 23, by Sri AM Duraisamy Aiya from my hometown on 15 May 1983, I never kept track of what was said. 

As I was saved by the Chinese gods as an infant, I frequented Chinese temples too in the eighties. There, I was asked to shake a can of numbered sticks. One carrying the number 11 dropped. The temple priest opened up a huge book, looked for this number, and started predicting. He told me that I had the Gods as my friend. 

Later in the nineties, when I was introduced to Dr.Krishnan by Mr. Sethu from my office, he did a reading on 12 Feb 1996, when I was 37. I began to frequent him. Was it a coincidence that I should have a reading during the Guru dasa at both times? I began to show a keen interest. I bought books on astrology and read them. I took an interest in reading about numerology, too. 

Dr.Krishnan spoke about many things, including my health concerns, education and career, business opportunities, and career switch. He told me that I was a priest in the last birth. He said that the stars showed that I was inclined to do service and religious deeds. He predicted that I would meet my guru and travel to India, which did take place in 2003. These were later told to me by Agathiyar in my Nadi reading in 2002. 

In 1997, Dr.Krishnan gave me tips on doing puja and meditation, and suggested which gemstones to wear. I wore the Rasamani bead he made me on 16 March 1997. Being a Siddha physician too, he gave me tips on proper diet. I was moved to learn about Siddha medicine and bought books and read them. 

Coming out of Goddess Mariamman's temple in Jalan Bandar, Kuala Lumpur, after praying to her, I chanced to see an astrologer practicing Kili Jotidam, having a parrot on the five-foot way in front of the temple. As I was undecided whether I should opt for a job in a new Ministry or stay put in my present, I consulted the parrot, which picked a card numbered 21 that carried a painting of Goddess Saraswathy. She told me to stay put. I did as told. 

I wore the blue sapphire later on 2 Dec 1997 on the advice of Dr.Krishnan. I was moved to know more about gemstones and bought books and read about them. 

On 13 Nov 1998, Dr.Krishnan told me that I could take up politics or spirituality. I had missed to reap gains and benefits due to the planetary positions. He surprised me by saying it was not necessary to chart the horoscopes of my wife and children and went on to speak about them based on my chart. He spoke about the Siddhas and their Nadi for the very first time, while I sat and listened in a state of bluriness, when I asked if his predictions had never materialized for others. As he did not point me to a Nadi reader, nor did I have any idea to travel to India, I left it at that.

In 2002, when Muralidharan Saminathan from my office talked about his experience in seeing his Nadi in 2000, an excitement came over me to see mine. He made an appointment, and I saw myself sit before a Nadi reader in Petaling Jaya. Agathiyar asked that I go to India on a pilgrimage to temples and to carry out remedies for my past karma. 

I left for India in 2003. I met my very first guru, Supramania Swami of Tiruvannamalai. Returning home, I had a nine gem-studded gold ring made and wore it on my finger after Swami told me it would do me some good. 

In 2005, I met Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal of Kallar Ashram in Batu Caves, where he would come to break my hold on all things dear to me, including him. Agathiyar, too, in the years to come, had me drop my hold on all that he had me carry out, and even my hold on him. 

Subsequently, Agathiyar, in another Nadi reading, asked that I go over to India and stay at his ashram for several days. I left for India after he returned to his ashram. Tavayogi took me places. He had me drop my hold on the Rasamani and the Navarathna ring. Supramania Swami, being an astrologer too, in wanting to know why I came to him in 2003, sat down to chart my horoscope. 

In 2013, when Agathiyar asked that I visit Tavayogi, I left with my family. 

Tavayogi and Mataji came to Malaysia again in 2016 to attend my daughter's wedding. That was to be his last visit to Malaysia. 

I left for the inauguration of his new ashram, later that year, with fellow devotees from Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM). 

Tavayogi went into Samadhi in 2018.

On 4 Feb 2024, Haary Roshaahn Yograj read my "Soul Contract Reading," also referred to as a "Tool for Accession" for mankind. where we get to know our purpose here and how far we have lived it out or worked on it. He wanted to read mine after getting to know me, AVM, and engaging in the many puja and charity programs we held. 

I have indulged in astrology and numerology, but this was simply superb. It struck me that Agathiyar, too, had given humanity 5 tenets as tools for accession. Agathiyar, in his 5 tenets to mankind list the first as knowing one's purpose. Reading the 5th purpose, "Once you work through it all, you begin to manifest your soul purpose by helping and giving back to humanity". Haary wrote in, "Wow, Uncle Number 5 is the same as what I explained. 

He gave his interpretation of this reading.

Every soul, before being born on earth, they have chosen their name prehand, and this is then telepathically channeled to its parents. Intuitively, the parents feel to name their child a specific name. This is not a coincidence; this is because THE SOUL HAS CHOSEN ITS JOURNEY AND ITS NAME PREHAND.

A Soul Contract Reading (also known as the Spiritual Numerology of Moses) is an accurate channeled system of spiritual interpretations of your birth name. From your birth name, we decode the Spiritual Map of Your Life, so you can align with it and manifest your soul purpose.

Soul contract reading gives you a deeper understanding from the spiritual perspective of what you are here to experience in this lifetime, what are your challenges, and what possible lessons that you might need to learn and face. With that, you also have certain strengths or gifts within yourself. And lastly, we are able to decode what you are here to achieve in this lifetime. And once you have worked through all this, you then become the positive aspect of all the numbers, and you begin to manifest your soul purpose by helping and giving back to humanity by using your talent." 

I was asked to come out of my cocoon and take up my purpose as revealed in the "Soul Contract Reading". My purpose in coming here was to be a catalytic spiritual teacher. Agathiyar came to endorse this reading later and told me that he had now to prepare me to fit the role. He asked me how was he to depend on one person to do his work. He had to raise everyone to come to the state where they carry out his work. Again, Agathiyar said that since I had desired it, he had to fulfill the Vasana or Karmic imprint by preparing me for the role. 

Running a search on the term "A spiritual Catalyst", Teal Swan at https://tealswan.com/resource, gives a detailed description of it. 

"A spiritual Catalyst is a person who precipitates an event or a change on the level of spirit (the essential, incorporeal part of someone or something). Spiritual Catalysts, like gurus, have attained a high level of spiritual authority, awareness, and knowledge, which enables them to guide others. Spiritual Catalysts, however, do not aim to become “Leaders” to their disciples as much as they wish to cause their disciples to question and find answers within themselves. It is the firm belief of a Spiritual Catalyst that if a person is caused to initiate their own exploration on the level of spirit, that person will then become the conscious leader of their own life. It is also the belief of a Spiritual Catalyst that if a person becomes the conscious creator and leader of their own life, that their life will inevitably become a kind of living enlightenment; thereby allowing that person to live in a continuous state of internal peace and joy."

If previously Agathiyar had told me that he would not "expose" me, giving me the task to just keep writing, later, Agathiyar came along asking if he should make me a guru, telling me that I had desired it, again another Vasana, but immediately retracted the offer, saying he would make me somebody else. As with everything else, I am not giving much thought to it, telling myself that I will eventually come to know. 

Going by the gift of life that I had after my parents brought me to the Chinese Gods who saved me as an infant, going by the change in the planetary positions of my horoscope that Agathiyar revealed in the Nadi, which was pretty different from what I had held to earlier, charted by Sri AM Duraisamy and Dr.Krishnan, and with Lord Muruga coming in a Nadi reading in 2018 and declaring that he had henceforth changed my fate, it is pretty apparent that the Siddhas can change our fate and write a new destiny. I shall keep holding on to them for life. 

THE MIGHT OF AGATHIYAR

In wanting to learn astrology back then, I bought books and looked through them. In plotting my horoscope for a start, I found it to be a great science. The challenge is not in plotting it but in delivering the Gochara Palan or providing a reading of the circumstances that arise from and as a result of these planetary movements. Astrology cannot be said to be a hoax, for Thirugnana Sambandar himself had composed a hymn, "The Kolaru Pathigam", that acknowledges the planetary reality, as Siva Thondan wrote earlier.

In coming before Agathiyar and his Nadi reading for me, Agathiyar, besides mapping out my horoscope, spoke about karma and curses, and revealed mine too, and gave remedies to soften the effects of my past actions. Though initially the Siddhas tend to help us work out our karma, the ailments of the body, and address our needs towards our continued sustenance and survival, they later bring us to a state of acceptance. They then work on the soul, "orienting it toward Pati rather than contracted around its own Prarabdha." "The experience may still occur. Its binding power will not," says Siva Thondan. When the soul or Pasu deals directly with God, "Pati's Grace operates at a level that encompasses and transcends the Pasa order of which the planets are a part."

And so I have come to know why Tavayogi would call all those who came before him with problems and troubles, to worship the Siddhas. 

Furthermore, it is said that the Siddhas had approached Lord Brahma and voiced a similar concern to him in the past. Velayutham Karthikeyan Aiya, the admin and author behind the blog "Siththan Arul", reveals in his blog entry, taking us back to a time immemorial, when the most compassionate and kind Siddhas presented their wishes for humanity to God or Erai. The Siddhas had wished that whoever seeks them out for solutions to their problems and surrenders to them, shall be pardoned for their past deeds. However bad and evil they may be, they shall not be put through the trial and tribulations and made to face the consequences, but instead be saved. When Erai granted the Siddhas this wish, the next instant the Siddhas wrote down in Tamil prose on dried palm leaves that came to be known as the Nadi, the reasons for each individual’s sufferings, listed out solutions and remedies, and showed ways and means to overcome or end the seeker's problems, sins, diseases, illnesses, and sufferings. 

Karthikeyan Aiya adds that the Nadi has been written by Siddhas for us to know about our past, the present, and the future. The Siddhas are those who know the past, present, and the future. They were gnosis. The Siddhas were similar to a company’s secretary. The Siddhas were God’s messengers. When those who had prayed to God and had yet to receive God’s blessings approached the Siddhas instead, they immediately received God’s blessings.

If I understood that this one sage, the Almighty Agathiyar, was equivalent to all the gods when it was told that he was sent to the south to balance the world that had tilted due to the presence of the Gods and Goddesses gathered to witness Lord Siva and Pravathy's wedding in the north, Velayutham Karthikeyan Aiya's post on Thursday, 12 September 2013, sheds further truths. In Agathiyar's revelations in 2009 to Karthikeyan Aiya's friend, the famed Jeeva Nadi Guru of Chennai, through the Jeeva Nadi in his possession, Agathiyar says that,

"I had taken the Avatar Lord Murugan as my guru. Lord Shiva has handed over 75% of his authority to me. Lord Vishnu has given all of his authority, blessing me to conduct myself on his behalf. Thus, I have been given all the powers of Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma, on his behalf, surrendered all the knowledge of his (Brahma's) creation to me. Lord Brahma granted that if I wished so, I could change the fate and destiny of all those who were dumb and not knowledgeable, of unsatisfactory health, mentally retarded, lame, paralyzed, deaf and dumb, and blind, all created by Lord Brahma for various reasons known only to him (Brahma)."

As Siva Thodan wrote: "the Siddhantam teaches: that Karma is real, that planetary influence is real, that they must be engaged and not bypassed — but that Arul operates from a level that neither Karma nor planets can constrain."

"The devotee in bringing the planetary situation into the field of Bhakti — into Shiva's presence — and there the cosmic arithmetic is reconstituted."

"The Kolaru Pathigam is not magic. It is sadhana — it reorients the soul's fundamental posture from anxiety about cosmic forces to trust in the sovereignty of Shiva. And in that reorientation, the planetary machinery — still running, still delivering its consequences — ceases to be the defining reality of the soul's experience."

"The deepest paradox of Saiva Siddhantam: the very Pasam — the bonds of Anavam, Karma, and Maya — that obscure the soul from Shiva are simultaneously the curriculum through which the soul grows capable of receiving Shiva's grace. The Pasam, in Saiva Siddhantam, is not ultimately opposed to Shiva. It is the very material through which Shiva works."

 "The Pasu struggles within Prakriti Maya."

When we surrender looking out to the basic needs and the struggles in our daily life to the divine, we have more time to look within - at our soul or Pasu.

While Nadi and horoscope readings reveal the person that we are and the reasons for taking birth, helping us to understand our Prarabdha karma, the soul can only be known by the guru pointing it out. Sivam is then known by the grace of the divine. 

Surrendering self-willed action by Karma Marga, going beyond feeling by Bhakti, and eventually going beyond thoughts by Gnana, thence we come to the threshold of Gnana Marga for good. 

When the vessel is ready for the divine energy to traverse within and along its network of nerves, the Siddhas take control of the breath and deliver the much-anticipated and awaited Kundalini energy, breaking through all the blockages inherent in the body, consuming the poison, opening up the chakras, and delivering ambrosia that reverses the aging process of the blessed devotee. When I surrendered to Agathiyar in 2002, took heed of his words, did his will, carried out the given practices, the Kundalini arose and made its way to the higher reaches. My effort was only in faithfully and diligently carrying out the Yoga Asanas and Pranayama practices that Tavayogi showed me in 2007. It opened the Muladhara without my knowledge, bringing on intense pain in my lower back, down to my right foot, which I had to bear for some 2 1/2 years. In 2022, Agathiyar opened the gates to the dam at Svadishtana, which withheld and forced this force to pond and stagnate, allowing it to flow swiftly in a couple of days to the Sahasrara, where the 1000-petaled lotus blossomed in all its glory and majesty. When I asked him if there were any further practices, he replied that there were none and that she would do her work. If Tavayogi told me the same too, that "Our effort is only till Svathisthana. The Siddhas shall lead us on beyond that", Lucy Cornelssen, in her book "Hunting The 'I' ", Sri Ramanashramam, 2005, quotes Ramana as saying, "Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the Beyond (Sakti) will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it......He knows what is best and when and how to do it. Leave everything entirely to him. His is the burden; you have no longer any cares. All your cares are his. Such is surrender. This is bhakti."

Lucy writes, "Henceforth his karma is his guru's, his desire conforms to his guru's, his possessions are those of his guru's, his responsibilities become those of his guru's, his body, mind, and soul are that of his guru's."

The self, soul, or JeevAtma that designed and engineered this body for its purpose in coming here, which eventually turned out to be to do Agathiyar's tasks, went into hiding and later returned to take up the calling to read the Nadi, whence a beautiful journey began that has now come to a closure, revealing the Bigger Self or Soul, Param or ParamAtma.

Agathiyar says that we are all one Atma, one energy that has taken various forms, and that we are here to do God's work. He adds that,

"The 'I' has to be erased. Only then shall the Atma surface. That is my Atma too. All is God's Atma (ParamAtma). We are all part of God. We have come to do his work. We have taken many births. But then we only attended to our work. At least begin to do God's work now. Ask Agathiyan what your purpose is in coming here. He shall make you realize. He shall guide you on what to do and what to let go. Your Atma shall speak to you. Only when you drop your work shall your Atma arise. It will begin to do its work. Agathiyan shall drive your Atma and bring it with him. It shall not be after death but right now in the here. It is not death. Do not waste precious time by stalling. Everything should happen now in the present. It should all take place while you are alive. Once life leaves you, you are just a corpse. It serves no purpose. Achieve it while alive. Lord Murugan had come earlier and reminded you of the need to surrender. This is the reason. Surrender unto me. Surrender when you are still alive. There is nothing to achieve after death. Karma shall follow the dead. If you achieve it while still alive, there is no death. Neither is there karma."

அனைத்தும் ஒரே ஆத்மா. ஒரே சக்தி கூடி செயற்படுகின்றோம். அவ்வளவுதான். இறைவனின் செயலைச் செலுத்துகிறோம். 

உங்கள் வடிவம் நாமம் மறைய வேண்டும். அந்த நான் மறைய வேண்டும். அப்போது மிஞ்சி இருப்பது பரிசுத்த ஆத்மா. அது என் ஆன்மா. அகத்தியனின் ஆத்மா. ஈசனின் ஆத்மா. சுப்பிரமணியனின் ஆத்மா. தவயோகியின் ஆத்மா. முருகனின் ஆத்மா. அன்னையின் ஆத்மா. விஷ்ணுவின் ஆத்மா. 

நாம் அனைவரும் கடவுளின் அம்சம். அவரின் வேலையைப் பார்ப்பத்திற்கு வந்திருக்கின்றோம். பல பிறப்பு எடுத்து விட்டோம். அப்போது நாம் காரியத்தைப் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருந்தோம். இனியாவது இறைவனின் காரியத்தைப் பார்ப்போம். 

அகத்தியனிடம் கேளுங்கள் "நான் எதற்கு வந்தேன்?" அவன் உணர்த்துவான். எதனை நீங்கள் செய்யணும் என்று, எதனை நீங்கள் செய்யலாகாது என்று, அவன் உணர்த்துவான். 

உங்களுடைய ஆத்மா உங்களிடம் பேசும். எப்போது உங்களுடைய காரியத்தை விட்டு விடுகிறீர்கள் அன்றுதான் உங்களுடைய ஆத்மா வெளிவரும். அது தன்காரியத்தைப் பார்க்கும். 

அகத்தியன் உங்கள் ஆத்மாவிற்குள் செலுத்துவான். உங்கள் ஆத்மாவை தன்னுடன் கூட்டிச் செல்வான். அது இறப்புக்கு பின்னர் இல்லை இப்போதே இத்தருணமே கூட்டிச் செல்வான். அது இறப்புக்கு சமம் இல்லை. இறப்புக்கு பின்னர்தான் அனைத்தும் நடக்கின்றது என்று எண்ணிக்கொண்டு பொன்னான காலங்களைப் போக்கி விடுகின்றனர். அனைத்துமே இப்போதே நடக்க வேண்டும். அனைவரும் என்னுடன் இப்போதே வந்து சேர வேண்டும். உங்களின் ஆத்மா என்னோடு இணைய வேண்டும். அனைத்தும் உயிருடன் இருக்கும் போதே நடந்தேற வேண்டும். உயிர் பிரிந்தபின் அது வெறும் சவம். யாருக்கும் பயன் அற்று அழுகி போகும். உயிர் இருக்கும் போதே அனைத்தையும் சாதித்து விடுங்கள். 

அமைதியாக அகத்தியன் செயல் படுவான். முதலில் உங்களை என்னிடம் ஒப்படையுங்கள். அன்றே என் குருநாதன் பலமுறை உங்களிடம் வந்து அமர்ந்து உங்களிடம் பலமுறை கேட்டான் சரணம் அடைந்து விட்டீர்களா? அதற்கு இதுதான் அர்த்தம். உயிர் இருக்கும் போதே சரண் அடைந்து விடுங்கள். இறப்புக்கு பின்னர் ஏதும் இல்லை. இறந்தவனுக்குத்தான் மறுபிறப்பு. இறந்தவனுக்குத்தான் கர்மா தொடரும். இருக்கும் போதே சாதித்து விட்டால் மரணமும் இல்லை கர்மாவும் இல்லை.

As we recall all the above that Agathiyar told us in January of 2022, Agathiyar reminds us why Lord Murugan came to ask us to surrender. It is only when we surrender that the divine can work on us. It is only when the "I" that is thought to be the doer submits to the holy feet of the divine that the Atma that resides within us and has been watching silently can arise to lead us to greater heights, not to achieve more monetary gains, but to show the way to God. This JeevAtma shall lead us to the ParamAtma. 

Having got the greatest boon from Agathiyar, this is where I have to tread with caution, for this last phase is akin to walking on the razor's edge. I have to keep reminding myself of all the teachings of my gurus, especially on humbleness, and not slip into arrogance that destroyed King Ravana of the past and many gurus in present times too, for history stands witness to how arrogance, the ego, destroys man. In witnessing others' flaws and their downfall, it serves as a lesson for us to take charge of our lives the way the Siddhas intended and desired. This is where I have to be continuously aware of my consciousness and senses, and keep watch. This could yet be another test for me, probably my final, after having tested me several times earlier to see if I was a viable candidate for the post that the Siddhas have reserved for me. I am glad and grateful that I have made it this far to qualify to be a candidate to join their ranks. In holding to Agathiyar's feet, we can be assured that we will be delivered safe and sound to the holy land. 

THE SOUL'S JOURNEY

Although I was into Sariyai, taking after my parents, visiting temples, and praying to the many deities at my home altar, I only came to do rituals on my own after coming to the Siddha path. Agathiyar, in calling me to the worship of the Siddhas, in my Nadi reading in 2002, armed me with his painting and a booklet carrying the names of the Siddhas. He then sent Tavayogi over to our shores in 2005, where Tavayogi officially initiated me into doing rituals, such as lighting the sacred fire or Homam. I later guided my family after he asked that I bring them into the Siddha worship too. I began doing the ritual of libation or Abhisegam to Agathiyar's bronze statue, which Agathiyar had me commission and made in Swamimalai in 2010. Later, he sent many youths to watch and participate in our family puja beginning in 2013. Agathiyar came through the Nadi regularly to guide me, apart from Tavayogi, who would do the same through phone calls or whenever he visits Malaysia. If Agathiyar showed me to Tavayogi, Tavayogi asked me not to hold to him, instead showed me to Agathiyar. Tavayogi, who tells us that Agathiyar was God, Taniperung Kadavul, showed me Agathiyar as syllables of his Moola mantra written on paper when he initiated me and several others the first time, on his visit to Malaysia in 2005. After a Nadi reading, where Agathiyar sends me to receive another initiation from him, in private, it came as a "touch" on my shoulders. Tavayogi tells me that Agathiyar came as light the night I arrived at his ashram shortly after, asking what he was going to give me. Bringing me to the woods and jungles, he pointed me to Agathiyar as nature or Prapanjam, showering flower petals on us and coming as aromas. Bringing me to see the miracle where Agathiyar opens his left eye in the granite statue of him at Agasthiyampalli, as Agathiyar had promised in the Nadi, Tavayogi throws in a bonus when we are at Papanasam, where Agathiyar opens both his eyes to see us. Giving me another initiation as a bonus and a parting gift, he told me that Agathiyar was the breath or Vaasi. Agathiyar, who then comes as a bronze statue, an exact replica of his granite statue at Agasthiyampalli in 2010, opens his eyes in his statue in 2013. 

Having his devotees bring my family and me to the Kallar hills in 2013, Tavayogi tells me that Agathiyar had come to him as light in the hills. Coming down the steps of the Nattatreeswarar temple in Erode, he tells me that both Agathiyar and Siva were one. Agathiyar, in asking me to let go of him too, asked, "How shall we become one?" He asked that I come to know the Soul or Atma and know Sivam. 

I have come one full cycle. I started my journey as a spark, a soul from the source, according to Agathiyar, many crores of years ago, lived through many lives, including that of a Namboothiri priest in Kerala and a fruit seller in Papanasam, took up this body that my soul designed for its current purpose and soon went into hiding, only to have Agathiyar call it out and reveal its purpose through the Nadi and have Tavayogi come knocking on its door, and bringing it to familiar places reminding it of its past bond. Though Agathiyar knows me from the past, I have forgotten him. He had to come knocking on my door and bring me places to remind me of our bond. 

But the sad thing is that I have yet to know Agathiyar. I do not know if he was for real. I do not know if he is thin and tall or short and stout. I do not know if he is fair skin or dark. I do not know if he is a she either. Though he has shown himself to some who visited my home he has not shown himself to my family or me. I do not know any "his"tory of his except for what has widely been spread by way of mouth, in the Siddha texts, in books, in research papers, in Nadis, in movies, etc., and the little preview he gave us in his Nadi reading.

Dr. Mandayam Kumar from the Siddha Medical Research Institute in Bangalore gives a short narrative about Agathiyar at http://www.tknsiddha.com/medicine/origin/ and in another article of his, "Siddha Agastya – Foremost of the Siddhas". The Dr mentions that it was possible to find out details about Agathiyar during the course of literary research on the Siddha medical sciences in a Tamil manuscript written on palm leaves about 3,000 years ago. The text attributed to Lord Muruga is titled "Prapancha Kaandam," and according to the Dr runs into several volumes. Agathiyar narrated the contents while his student Pulastyar recorded it.

Sage Agastya is stated to have been born nearly 5000 years prior to the commencement of Kali Yuga, at a place in Gujarat, as the son of Bhargava and Indumathi, who followed the traditional Pasupatha cult which was widely prevalent at that time.

Agathiyar was said to have been born about 4573 years prior to the commencement of Kali Yuga at a place in Gujarat, in the early hours of Tuesday, 14 February 7673 BC. Belonging to the early Aryan race, his father Bhargava was well-learned, while his mother Indumathi was from Punjab. They were both devotees of the Pasupatha order of Rishabha Muni. 

Agathiyar had his early education in Gujarat. As his thirst for knowledge, in particular on philosophy, yoga, medicine, and astronomy, was immense, he traveled all over Kashmir, Tibet, China, Nepal, and Kailas in Manchuria. (Mount Kailas was deemed to be in Manchuria during that time). He became a disciple of Nandi and Dhanvantri. He then traveled towards the south to Cambodia and Malaya (present-day Malaysia). In Cambodia, he established the very first of his many educational institutions for the propagation of philosophy and science. After establishing a similar institution and hospital in Malaya, he crossed the sea to the continent of Kumari Kandam. During Agathiyar’s time, Kumari Kandam occupied a vast area extending from present-day Sri Lanka to the Antarctic. King Ravana, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, who ruled this continent, gave away a portion of his kingdom to Agathiyar to establish more institutions. The foremost of these institutions in this region was known as Arunodaya Giri or Meozone. Here Agathiyar practiced Yoga and taught it to his large following of disciples. Agathiyar then went back north to Malaya, where he was betrothed to the king’s daughter. (Pa. Kamalakannan in "Cittar Uruvil Shivaperuman", Vanathi Pathippakam, 2007, says Agathiyar married Yasomadhi from Cambodia. Among his children who ruled the land, Yasovarma became a famous ruler.)

He then ruled the kingdom of Vijayapuri. He returned to Kumari Kandam, where he met Lord Murugan in the form of Supramaniar at Trikona Malai (present-day Trincomalee). At the hill station called Kadari Kama or Kadhirgama, Lord Murugan imparted spiritual knowledge to Agathiyar. 

Agathiyar could see impending calamities take place in the future during his meditation. As a result, he moved to the North Pole, considering it to be a safe place. This period of his move to the Arctic was said to coincide with the end of the Dwapara Yuga, placed at about 6580 BC. Just as he had seen an impending calamity and had decided to move north, a tremendous explosion on the planet Mars sends a piece of debris toward Earth. This impact caused a great deluge on Earth. Significant portions of Kumari Kandam submerged into the Indian Ocean. Continental drift then resulted in the present-day arrangement of this region. After the great flood, the Himalayan mountain range emerged in North India. 

Amidst all these geographical changes, says the Dr, Agathiyar went seeking a place that would not be affected by future calamities. He located a mountain range in South India. This is the present-day Courtalam. This spot is said to be the safest place and free from any future catastrophes. Agathiyar met Lord Dhakshinamurthi, Shenbaga Devi, and Lord Murugan at Mahadeva Giri in Courtalam. This meeting also signified the commencement of the Kali Yuga. Other Siddhas then started coming to Mahadeva Giri. Lord Dhakshinamurthi revived the knowledge of the Vedas and instructed these Siddhas to propagate this knowledge in the appropriate manner and time for the benefit of humanity. The imparting of this knowledge was said to have taken place on the 21st day of the Tamil month of Kartigai, during the eleventh year, Eswara Samvatsara, of Kali Yuga. Agathiyar gave much importance to this day. All his dating was reckoned from this day. 

After extensive discussions held in Alagan Kulam, the Siddhas recorded their knowledge on palm leaves and presented them to Lord Dhakshinamurthi for his perusal. This included the 64 kinds of learning, 18 Puranas, 96 tattvas, and 48 branches of scientific knowledge. Agathiyar, on the instruction of Lord Murugan, originated the Tamil language. The entire literature in Tamil came to be called "Siddhaveda". It was then translated into the four existing languages of that period, which were Sanskrit, Greek, Hebrew, and Chinese. 

Bhogar from China (Agathiyar in the Jeeva Nadi revelation to Hanumathdasan of Chennai says Bhogar was from Mongolia), Thaeraiyar from Malaya, Yugimuni from Kerala, Pulipani from Kantha Malai, and Pulastyar, and Kapiyar all served Agathiyar. A conference of Siddhas called Siddhar Sabai was held during the 53rd year, Siddharti Samvatsara, of Kali Yuga at Courtalam. An institution known as Siddhar Gnana Koodam was inaugurated by Lord Murugan and was headed by Agathiyar. Pulastyar and Kapiyar headed the literary section while Pulipani headed research. Thaeraiyar, an exponent in surgery, headed a medical research center established at Thorana Malai. Yugimuni, who was into herbal medicines, headed an Ayurvedic hospital at Paradesi Kundai. Bhogar, who was in charge of all scientific research, established an alchemy research center at Tiruparankundram. Pambatti headed a team researching venom at Marudamalai. After having established these institutions, Agathiyar again started on an extensive mission of propagating the wealth of knowledge gained by these Siddhas in Tibet, Manchuria, Egypt, Palestine, Rome, America, Africa, Malaya, and the Arab world. 

After satisfactorily completing their mission of propagating the said teachings, the Siddhas went into samadhi, merging themselves into the cosmos. Supramaniar went into samadhi in Thorana Malai, Bhogar in Palani, Thaeraiyar, Pulipani, and Yugimuni in Kantha Malai, and Agathiyar himself chose to come back to Courtalam. He chose a spot called Dhashina Meru in the Pothigai hills. This spot is also the abode of Dhakshinamurthi.

P. Karthigayan, in his book "The History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", Notion Press, 2016, writes that Agathiyar had many mentors, including (Lord) Siva and (Lord) Kumaran, and an equal number of disciples. Agathiyar, in his search for knowledge, approached many people from various communities, finally picked up the yogic way, and excelled in it. On achieving the inner glow, he took on the name Agathiyar. P. Karthigayan lists out an extensive list of Agathiyar's contributions towards the community and humanity, hence receiving the famed title Gurumuni or great mentor. P. Karthigayan dates Agathiyar's achievements accordingly as pre- and post-Sanga period, whence the establishment of the Sangam or literary academia took place. If during his pre-Sanga days, he was into yogic practices, after the establishment of the Sanga, in his post-Sanga years, he concentrated on medicine and science. He established more Sangams and monasteries, pioneered and promoted the Tamil script and Tamil grammar, collected and compiled the works of the Siddhas and published them, streamlined the Siva faith, spread the Siddha Marga, and exposed the false teachings, in total bringing a Renaissance. His greatest achievement was his ability to live for four eons, at the time of mention in writing by Bhogar, and still lives among us in the present times. Agathiyar is said to have "given rise to 48 generations." 

M. Govindan, in "Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga tradition", Kriya Yoga Publications, Quebec, Canada, 1991, details Agathiyar's journey as starting at Agastya Ashram near Nasik (Pancavati in ancient times), married King Vidarbha’s daughter Lobhamudra (mentioned in the Mahabharata), and met up with Rama. Then his pilgrimage takes him south, where he has a residence at Malakuta near Badami (ancient Vatapi Puram or Dakshina Kasi) in the northern part of present-day Karnataka. He then comes further south to the Pothigai Hills. He moves on to the Indonesian islands, the islands of Borneo, and takes up residence in Maha Malaya hill in Malaya Dvipa. He enters Siam (present-day Thailand) and Cambodia, where he marries Yasomadhi. They beget a young prince named Yasovarma. Agathiyar is reported to be living until the present day at Courtalam.

Pon. Govindaswamy, in his book, "Sirsabaiyum Porsabaiyum", Bharath Book Bureau, 1985, mentions that Agathiyar took birth as Valluvar and gave us the "Tirukural" besides other texts. He mentions that Agathiyar took birth as Ramalinga Adigal in the 19th century and gave us the "Tiruarutpa". 

When the south tip had raised after all the Gods and Goddesses, Devas and Devis, Siddhas, Rishis, Munis, and many more deities and divinities gathered at Kailash to witness Lord Shiva's marriage to Goddess Parvathi, Agathiyar was sent to the south to bring about a balance. Pon. Govindaswamy, in his book, "Vallalarum Bramagnana Sangamum", Bharath Book Bureau, calls this event where the earth tilted a Mystical Occult Event. This event is mentioned by Tirumular in his Tirumanthiram.

Thavathiru Rengaraja Desigar, in his book, "Potrinal Unathu Vinai Agalum Appa", explains further the process through which Agathiyar attained the highest state, that of becoming one with Erai or God. I shall run through a translation of his writing, originally in Tamil, briefly. 

This state was granted to Agathiyar by his Guru Supramaniar (Lord Muruga) because Agathiyar had provided the space, shelter, and all comforts for Supramaniar to carry on with his penances (tapas) and austerities (tavam) in a past birth. Agathiyar was 60 years of age then when Supramaniar attained the body of Light through his tapas, thanks to Agathiyar looking after all of Supramaniar's needs. Supramaniar promised Agathiyar that they shall meet in a subsequent birth and that he shall return the favor. Agathiyar mentions that he learned the Siddha way from Supramaniar. Supramaniar granted Agathiyar the body of Light or Jhothi Nilai in a subsequent birth as an appreciation of Agathiyar's service rendered to him and for helping Supramaniar himself achieve his desire in attaining the Jhothi Nilai. In that birth, Agathiyar traveled in vain in search of his ideal guru. As foretold in the earlier birth, Agathiyar eventually met Supramaniar at Kodaikanal, where Supramaniar made him recall the past and, as promised in return for all his services in the past birth, blessed Agathiyar and taught him secrets of attaining the state of Erai. This reminds us of how Mahavatar Babaji came for Lahiri Mahasaya to redeem him, showing him his past belongings to trigger his memory of his forgotten past. 

Agathiyar began by performing puja to Supramaniar. By way of devotion to Supramaniar, he began to realize that he had had the greatest gift, which was the human birth, which comes by very rarely. Through Supramaniar, he came to know himself and the divinity that resided in the physical body. He understood the very Nature that brought him forth and resided within him. With Supramaniar's guidance and blessings, Agathiyar relished the ambrosia or nectar that came about through his tapas. This removed the seven veils to reveal the Jhothi in him, hence attaining the body of Light. With this came Bliss, Siddhis, and the state of Deathless-ness. Agathiyar attained the five natures or Tanmai of Erai, namely Creation, Sustenance, Destruction, Veiling, and Showering Grace. Supramaniar granted Agathiyar the title Gurumuni and Kumbamuni and sent him off to spread the Siddha way extensively all over the globe, bringing many into his fold. All the Siddhas soon looked upon Agathiyar as their Guru. 

We learn from Vashisht Vaid's blog https://holysageagathiyar.com/ that at the Tamil Sangam, Agathiyar presented before the assembly of Gods and Goddesses, the Sages, Siddhas, Rishis, and Munis, the Five Tenets that defined man's purpose in taking birth. 

There you have it, the many stories and versions of the origin and travels of Agathiyar according to ancient scrolls, masters, and scholars. 

Then, when curiosity took hold of us and we wanted to know from the horse's mouth, Suren placed the question before the grandmaster himself in 2017. Agathiyar has never spilled the beans about his origin to us, until that moment of "confrontation". Although he asked of what use was it to us, the most compassionate and loving father shared a tiny weeny bit with us. The story goes as follows.

Agathiyar, in his very first mortal birth, had the vision of Kailash at a very young age of 10. After having the vision, he took up extreme tapas (tavam), including breath control. With the holy feet of the Sadguru forever in his thought, he reached a state of Nirmala at Kailash. Upon receiving theecha from Lord Kailai Shiva, he was blessed to be born a Siddha. It was a mystical birth. Agathiyar adds that it was not necessary to delve into the source and the details (Rishimulam Nadhimulam Ariyalaagaathu).

Born as a Siddha now and moving in the jungles, sustaining only on fruits, his thoughts were fixed on Erai. He soon had the vision and grace of Goddess Vana Kali. Continuing with his seeking and search for realization and further severe tavam, in Pothigai, Agathiyar came to know about the medicinal benefits of various herbs and plants. Lord Kailai Shiva showed himself in a vision and conferred on him the names Gurumuni, Kudamuni, and Kumbamuni. Though he had merged with Erai, Agathiyar stayed on at Pothigai upon Lord Kailai Shiva's directive. Time went by as Agathiyar went without food, remained in silence, stayed in the state of Vasi, adhered to the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga, and performed extreme tapas for the rest of the Yuga. He gained the Siddhi to travel through the air. Having achieved so much, yet Lord Kailai Shiva told Agathiyar that there was something that he had failed to accomplish and do. When Agathiyar asked for further clarification, Lord Kailai Shiva laughed and looked him in the eye, and said, "Although you are an embodiment of Jnana, and those who hold on to your feet shall never face any disappointments, Gurumuni, you do not have a companion as I do." Agathiyar was taken aback. He came to know that the Lord intended to get him engaged to the very representation of Mother Kaveri, and Kaberan's daughter, Lobamutrai. Hence, in this Kali Yuga, his energy that was of Shiv Sakthi came to reside at Kalyana Theertam with the intention of blessing all those who saw him and Lobha Ma as a personification of Shiv Sakthi.

If we have all these great stories to go by, Agathiyar went beyond paper and pen, scriptures and texts, and he went beyond speaking through Nadis, coming into our humble homes and into his devotees, living and dining with us as family, conversing with us, and enjoying the songs that we play. We are blessed to be personally touched by him. His touch has done wonders that words cannot describe. One has to travel his path to know him. Mere research and talk about him only inflates our ego and distances us. One has to take up his course for all of mankind alike, as he had revealed at the Tamil Sangam. 

1. Man has to first and foremost understand his purpose in taking birth. 

2. With his purpose known then, he should come to thank the divine creator or energy that brought forth his birth (through consultation with the lunar forefathers and their angelic hierarchies that co-exist with us down here). 

3. We then thank all the caretakers, both seen and unseen, in the present and the past. 

4. There arises then an obligation on our part to "dutifully aid and help, the ongoing evolution of all co-existing human beings." 

5. The final task is to extend this aid and help towards "the ongoing evolution of all co-existing beings and entities, existing upon the lower levels of the evolutionary ladder, dutifully supporting the manifested matrix or Prapanjam." 

(Summarized from Vashisht Vaid's post on his blog https://holysageagathiyar.com/ )

Rather than investigate his origins and delve into it, Agathiyar walks us on his path and mission instead. One has to course through his teachings, not in the classrooms or in present times online courses, but walk the talk and see his presence everywhere in the good, bad, and ugly too. These experiences bring us closer to knowing the man. 

Agathiyar asked that we let go, even him, to know him. We have to step out of Dvaita into Advaita to become one with him, the Yegan. 

He asks us to know the Tatvas to come to know the soul or JeevAtma or the Pasu that "currently operates within, and navigates the 24 Ashuddha Tattwas." 

One then has to carefully tread the path the Soul brings us to, just as Lord Muruga came to warn us, as "it is operating within the Guna field of Prakriti Maya."

He is then a Jeevan Mukta, a liberated soul. 

"This is what Saiva Siddhantam means when it speaks of liberation not as an escape from the world but as a transformation of one's relationship to it. The cosmos remains. Its order remains. Its instruments of karma — the Navagrahas, the Nakshatras, the turning of Dashas — remain. What does not remain is the misidentification of the soul with its Prarabdha. And in that dissolution, which is the work of Grace alone, the planets that once signified bondage become, as Sambandar sang without hesitation, pure good — Nanmayae." (Source: Siva Thondan)

Finally, "arriving at the summit — the five Suddha Tattwas, the level of Shiva's own nature," we shall know Sivam.

A NEW BEGINNING

Our parents play a great role in shaping our early lives, besides bringing us into being. The dream begins. We begin by being told, shown, and taught survival skills. A part of living is the many moments we connect with God. We are told that there is a God. We are given daily routine practices to follow and adhere to. Although these are initially mechanical in nature, growing up, we start to believe in them. The experiences that come our way build our faith in God. 

My friend and reader Siva Thondan writes,

It begins with faith and belief — Shraddha — not certainty, but the willingness to keep showing up before the altar even when the heart feels dry. 

If we figure and think that we are in charge of our lives, there come moments when we realize that we are not in control and cannot dictate the manner in which we wish things to turn out. We become helpless. We begin to turn to and look out for assistance, guidance, and solutions. Faith and believe begins to erode fast. We head to the temple and surrender all our troubles and problems to the divine, whom we have come to believe resides in these statues and temples. This is the moment God comes in a physical form, taking one of his numerous creations. We must be vigilant in his presence and heed the signs. For instance, a guru might come by taking the burden off our shoulders. We surrender unto him or her, laying all the baggage at his feet and return relieved of the weight that we had shouldered earlier. 

Siva Thondan writes,

The Guru in the Saiva Siddhanta tradition is not merely a teacher — he is the very form through which Pati, the Lord, extends His grace downward toward the bound soul. And yet even the Guru does not walk for us. 

In surrendering to a higher force, we begin to see changes take place. These changes could be as in things beginning to work in our favor. Or the change takes place within us, where we begin to accept it as the will of God and live with it. We could remain as pampered children wanting everything in life, or change and accept the will of God as ours. In the latter instance, in surrendering to God, he then begins his work on us, having given the clearance to do so. A new beginning takes place. We go with the flow. God then becomes personal. The path too becomes personal. The journey, too, is redefined to fulfill the desires, needs, and purpose of the soul in coming here. 

Siva Thondan writes,

Saiva Siddhantam reminds us that the soul — the Pasu — is not uniform in its bondage or its readiness. Each soul carries its own weight of Anava — that primal sense of smallness and separateness — wound tightly around it across countless lifetimes. The loosening of that knot is not a single event. It is a long, patient unraveling, unique to each soul, overseen by Shiva alone in His infinite compassion.

My unraveling is taking crores of human years, says Agathiyar, for he tells me that we have known each other for that number of years. And I am still not there yet. He is still working on me to reach the state of "Suddha Avastha — the state of purified soul-consciousness."

We are all on our way — the layman, the seeker, the guru — each carrying our particular weight of Malam, each receiving our particular measure of grace, each being worked upon by the same silent, tireless, infinitely patient Pati.

Saiva Siddhantam speaks of the soul moving through Kevala Avastha — bound and unaware, shrouded in Anava Malam — into Sakala Avastha, where the soul engages with the world and its experiences become the very classroom of liberation. Most of us live here, in the Sakala — and that is not a failure. It is where the work happens. It is where Charya, Kriya, Yoga, and Jnana — the four-fold path — slowly, faithfully, do their purifying work upon us.

.......practice prepares the vessel. It thins the walls. It makes us more permeable to what is always already pouring toward us.

Meykandar in the Sivagnana Botham reminds us that the soul cannot know itself or Shiva through intellect alone — it must be touched, turned, and transformed from within.

The soul that persists will find, one day, that the silence it once found empty has become full. That the God it once sought outside has been recognized within. That which began as effort has become effortless love — Anbu — which Thirumoolar in the Tirumantiram calls the very substance of the path.

PRACTICAL (& OFTEN BITTER) LESSONS IN LIFE

Speaking to a friend over the phone last night, he mentioned the story of a lady who faced so many problems share them with his friend. His friend, who knew a bit of astrology, asked her to see an astrologer. She then went missing for some three months. Finally catching up with her, she told him that she was sent by the astrologer to do remedies throughout India, but nothing good came from it. On the contrary, she lost more money in following his direction and instructions. His friend, in shifting the blame, asked her why she did them. I told my friend that his friend was to blame because he should have zipped up. I learned the hard way too, when the counselling, my wife and I gave to strangers who stood at our door after Agathiyar claimed that he would send them over, turned unfavorable to them. Calling up Tavayogi on the phone, he asked me why I interfered. I should have shown them to Agathiyar. Indeed, during the times I sat with him as he listened to the problems of many who came to see him when he was in Malaysia back then, he would listen patiently, explain that all their problems were because of Vinai or past karma, and have them worship the Siddhas. He would not say anything else. Neither would he dish out amulets, talismen, mantras, or remedies. He stayed away from taking on others' karma. So my wife and I, after learning the hard way, backed off asking Agathiyar to end all those visits. He listened and stopped sending people around. Then one day, as I stood before his bronze statue in my prayer room, I heard him ask me where I would go if he were to shut his ears. I was stunned. He wanted me to listen to others just as he would listen to all my outpourings to him. The moment we consented to his wish, he started sending them again. But we zip up these days, just listening and providing a shoulder to cry on. 

Then, when a family who had similarly seen the worst of times and did the same as in traveling places that included India for solutions, but to no avail, contacted me to see Agathiyar recently, Agathiyar told them to place all their troubles into the fire pit or Homam that he had them lit in my home, and never look back. Today, they keep coming to thank him because their life has changed for the better. I understood the greatness of carrying out the fire ritual only then. Tavayogi, seeing the onslaught of nature during the Tsunami in 2004, began lighting the Yagam on his ashram grounds the following year to appease Mother Nature, and asked me to do it too, coinciding with the Agathiyar Jayanthi Vizha. 

In subsequent years, he had families sit in on individual and personalized fire pits around the main pit that Tavayogi administered, calling it Sarva Dosa Nivarana Maha Yagam. I understand now that he had gotten them to personally take charge of their karma and practically dispose of it in the fire that they lit. 

Agathiyar too told us that the Siddhas had sat doing this ritual, asking that Tavayogi's life be extended so that he could settle the affairs of the ashram and hand it over to Mataji in 2017. Given an extension, Tavayogi went into Samadhi the following year.

In bringing a halt to all rituals and charity in 2019, Agathiyar told us that we could take them up if necessary. At the height of the pandemic, Lord Shiva gave us a memo asking that we conduct it to assist Mother Nature and Prapanjam in combating the dreaded virus. Fearing a recurrence, Prapanjam herself, coming through a devotee, asked us to do it again.

I am glad that many in our circle have taken up this simple ritual in times of their needs. 

LESSONS LEARNED

In coming through a dream in 1988, Lord Siva had me put on hold for some 14 years, my question as to whether God was indeed loving, compassionate, and kind after seeing many around me suffer. 

In revealing karma in my Nadi reading in 2002, Agathiyar answered my doubts regarding the above and put them to rest for good. In revealing my past karma, I understood the reasons for the sufferings of others, too.  

I understood why he told me that, besides the karma I brought on myself, too, he had pushed me to do things so that I could have those experiences. 

In asking me to come to the worship of the Siddhas in 2002, he sent me to Tavayogi in 2005, who, on the very onset, had me drop my hold on him even before it germinated and had me hold on to Agathiyar instead. Tavayogi had me drop my hold on the many "accessories" I had on me, like the nine gem-studded gold ring on my finger, the mercury bead or Rasamani, and finally the Rudraksa bead, even before the desire arose in me. He had me believe solely in Agathiyar instead.

Both he and Agathiyar then brought me from Sariyai to Kriyai, giving me the ways, the means, and the methods in carrying out rituals, and officially brought me to Yoga by having Tavayogi give me practices, and having me carry out acts of Dharma, as in doing charity, which began to have a hold on me and my home that came to be known as Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) since 2013. He finally had me put down these tools, too, asking me to go within, beginning in 2019. 

In having Mahindren sit with pencil and paper, he revealed the nature of the Body or Udal, Breath or Uyir, and the Soul or Atma, clearing the air and confusion arising from the term Soul and Spirit, which I saw was often used interchangeably.

I came to understand the effort he has put in on molding and making me into one of his kind when he took the cane to remind me that his hard work should not go to waste. 

If Tavayogi spoke about Maya at the onset, Lord Muruga came to warn me about it a couple of years back.

In having me send his bronze statue that was commissioned and made in Swamimalai in 2009, away to the home of another devotee post-pandemic, he had me drop my hold to his form too. This, coupled with his asking me to even drop my hold on him later, brought me out of Dvaita or external worship to Advaita, with him telling me that we were one. He then asked that I know my soul or Atma and know the source, Sivam. 

In questioning how it is said that there is no Adharma under God's governance, when we see Adharma taking place all around us, a friend and a reader in expounding on the Saiva Siddhantam cleared the air. He spelled the states of Pati, Pasu, and Pasam clearly as follows.

"Not that Adharma does not exist in the experience of the Pasu. It does — painfully and consequentially. But in the governance of Andavan — in Shiva's own administration from the level of the Suddha Tattwas — there is no Adharma, because there is nothing that falls outside His grace. There is no soul He has abandoned. There is no action whose consequence He has not already incorporated into the redemptive curriculum of Niyati and Kaala. There is no darkness that His light has not already surrounded."

"That even their own failures — their own moments of Adharma, their own darkest hours — were held all along within Shiva’s love, and were never, not for a single moment, outside His grace."

I have come to accept it all as God's will and doing, as his play and Lila. I am at peace with myself and the world around me, knowing that not for once are we not loved by him. It is love that drives him to come to our aid and help, nurture and mold us. 

As I was about to wind up this piece and post it, this reader and friend, Siva Thondan, passed me another enlightening piece. The saints we come to know never refuted what was accepted by mankind, but tend to see them from a different perspective, as we come to learn  from "The Kolaru Pathigam."

"First, the hymn operates from an acknowledgement of planetary reality. Sambandar does not compose a hymn saying 'planets are imaginary' or 'astrology is false.' .... Sambandar's response was not to deny the reality of the planetary configuration. It was to compose a hymn that recontextualized its significance entirely....He takes the Jyotisha diagnosis seriously. This is not the dismissal of planetary influence; it is its theological reframing." 

We come to learn the reason why we are asked to take the hands of the divine in trying times. We understand why Tavayogi brushes the sufferings, pain, and misery aside, telling us that "Agathiyar is there." If Lord Muruga asked for complete surrender, Tavayogi, too, like Thirugnana Sambandar, taught us "the mechanism of Sharanagati — complete surrender."

"What it promises is that the devotee who is anchored in Shiva-bhakti — whose soul is oriented toward Pati rather than contracted around its own Prarabdha — will not be bound by what the planets deliver. The experience may still occur. Its binding power will not."

My friend in clearly defining what Saiva Siddhantam teaches: 

"that Karma is real, that planetary influence is real, that they must be engaged and not bypassed — but that Arul operates from a level that neither Karma nor planets can constrain." Like Sambandar and Tavayogi console us, my friend in writing, "Instead, the devotee brings the planetary situation into the field of Bhakti — into Shiva's presence — and there the cosmic arithmetic is reconstituted," 

brings us hope of a change. I understand now why Tavayogi told my daughter there was no need to do the remedies that Agathiyar had listed in her Nadi reading. She had come under their custody and care. Agathiyar, till this day, speaks to her privately, helping chart her life.

Transcending Karma, Not Denying Planets

Kolaru Pathigam

An Analysis of Cosmology, Astrology, and Spiritual Liberation within the Saiva Siddhantam Tradition

The Kolaru Pathigam as a Living Example

Historical Context and the Child-Saint

No text in the Tamil Shaiva canon demonstrates the philosophy articulated above with greater literary vividness and theological clarity than the Kolaru Pathigam — 'The Decade That Destroys Planetary Afflictions' — composed by Thirugnana Sambandar, who stands among the most revered of the sixty-three Nayanmars and whose Tevaram verses form the opening of the Thirumurai, the sacred canon of Tamil Shaiva hymnody.

Sambandar's biography, as preserved in Sekkizhar's twelfth-century Periyapuranam — the hagiographic masterwork of the tradition — presents him as a child who received divine initiation directly from Shiva and Parvati in his infancy. According to the narrative, when his father Sivapadahridayar left the infant Sambandar unattended at the Sirkazhi temple tank and returned to find the child with milk on his lips and divine knowledge shining in his eyes, the miracle of Gnana-pal — the Milk of Wisdom given by the Divine Mother — had already occurred. Sambandar composed thousands of verses from this state of awakened devotion, beginning in early childhood.

The Kolaru Pathigam was composed in a specific circumstance that makes its message all the more striking. Sambandar arrived at the sacred town of Sirkazhi (Saykali/Brahmapuri) during a period that Jyotisha identified as deeply inauspicious — a severe planetary configuration that would, according to classical astrological reckoning, portend misfortune, disease, or calamity for the region and its inhabitants. The people of the town, following standard astrological counsel, were in a state of anxiety and apprehension. Sambandar's response was not to deny the reality of the planetary configuration. It was to compose a hymn that recontextualized its significance entirely.

Structure and the Core Theological Statement

The hymn consists of eleven verses (Pathigam format — decade with one additional mangala verse), each addressed to Shiva at a specific sacred site in Sirkazhi, and each naming one or more of the troublesome planetary configurations before declaring their transformation through devotion to Shiva.

The Kolaru Pathigam's refrain, which appears in each verse with structural variations, states the central theological proposition with directness: the planets — all of them, in whatever configuration — become 'pure good' (Nanmayae Aavaarkal, நன்மையே ஆவார்கள்) for one who has taken refuge in Shiva at Sirkazhi. This is not a promise of astrological correction — a better chart, an improved Dasha. It is a statement about the ontological transformation of the soul's relationship to cosmic forces.

வேய்ந்த வெண்பொடியர் மேவிய சீர்காழி ஆய்ந்த நாவலர்கோன் அருளால் — நல்லதோர் தீயிலா வினைகள் சேரா, கோளுமே நோயிலா வருவார்க்கு நன்மையே.

The Tamil tradition's textual transmission of the Kolaru Pathigam has numerous verse forms across manuscripts, and specific lines vary between recensions. The theological substance across all versions, however, is consistent: Shiva's glory at Sirkazhi, received through the devotion of a true Bhakta, transforms the planets from afflicting forces into benefic ones. It is important to flag, in scholarly precision, that the exact manuscript history of individual verses within the Kolaru Pathigam is complex, and individual lines should be verified through the Thirumurai critical editions rather than cited as fixed in any single rendering.

Theological Analysis: What the Hymn Actually Claims

Three precise theological claims are encoded in the structure of the Kolaru Pathigam, and each one maps directly onto the philosophical framework examined in preceding sections.

First, the hymn operates from an acknowledgement of planetary reality. Sambandar does not compose a hymn saying 'planets are imaginary' or 'astrology is false.' He names specific planets in specific adverse configurations — Shani in difficult positions, Rahu and Ketu at sensitive junctions, the Moon in inauspicious Nakshatras. He takes the Jyotisha diagnosis seriously. This is not the dismissal of planetary influence; it is its theological reframing.

Second, the transformation the hymn promises is not primarily material — it is soteriological. When the text says the planets become 'pure good' for the devotee, it does not promise that Saturn will suddenly cease to deliver its characteristic difficulties, or that Rahu's nodes will produce unexpected windfalls. What it promises is that the devotee who is anchored in Shiva-bhakti — whose soul is oriented toward Pati rather than contracted around its own Prarabdha — will not be bound by what the planets deliver. The experience may still occur. Its binding power will not.

Third, the hymn is implicitly a teaching on the mechanism of Sharanagati — complete surrender. Sambandar's own bhakti is the operating factor in the hymn's promise. He does not address an administrative appeal to the Navagrahas, asking them to relent. He addresses Shiva directly and declares the consequence of devotion. This reflects the Siddhantam's precise theological priority: the devotee's relationship is with Pati, and Pati's Grace operates at a level that encompasses and transcends the Pasa order of which the planets are a part.

The Kolaru Pathigam in Living Practice

The hymn continues to be chanted in Tamil Shaiva temples across Tamil Nadu and the Tamil diaspora — particularly during periods of Shani Sade Sati (Saturn's seven-and-a-half year transit over the natal Moon), Ashtama Shani, or any planetary period identified as Krura (harsh) by the Jyotishi. The practice of its recitation is itself a living enactment of the philosophical principle: the devotee does not ignore the astrological warning, nor does the devotee capitulate to fatalism. Instead, the devotee brings the planetary situation into the field of Bhakti — into Shiva's presence — and there the cosmic arithmetic is reconstituted.

Traditional Shaiva Acharyas have consistently interpreted this practice as expressing what the Siddhantam teaches: that Karma is real, that planetary influence is real, that they must be engaged and not bypassed — but that Arul operates from a level that neither Karma nor planets can constrain. The Kolaru Pathigam is not magic. It is sadhana — it reorients the soul's fundamental posture from anxiety about cosmic forces to trust in the sovereignty of Shiva. And in that reorientation, the planetary machinery — still running, still delivering its consequences — ceases to be the defining reality of the soul's experience.

Conclusion

What emerges from this analysis is a picture of unusual philosophical sophistication — one that refuses the false binary between fatalism and denial. Saiva Siddhantam takes karma seriously enough to have built a precise and systematic account of it. It takes planetary influence seriously enough to situate the Navagrahas within a coherent cosmological hierarchy. And it takes liberation seriously enough to insist that neither karma nor cosmic alignment constitutes the soul's final condition.

The tradition's genius is its insistence on precise ontological address. The planets belong to Maya Mala — the domain of cosmic materiality. Karma belongs to Karma Mala — the domain of accumulated volitional residue. Both are real. Both are powerful within their domain. And both are, in the most fundamental sense, subordinate to the third and deepest Mala — Anava Mala, the primal contraction of self — which is itself the target of Shiva's Grace through the Guru's transmission. When Anava Mala loosens, the soul does not escape the cosmic order; it transcends its bondage to that order. The planets continue their rounds. Karma continues its delivery. But the soul that has been touched by Arul no longer inhabits its fate from the inside of a contracted self.

Thirugnana Sambandar's Kolaru Pathigam is the devotional crystallization of this philosophy. Composed in the face of genuine astrological apprehension, addressed to Shiva at a specific sacred site, naming the planets by name before declaring their powerlessness over the devoted soul — it is at once an act of cosmic theology and an act of Bhakti. It does not argue its case abstractly. It demonstrates it through the fact of its own composition: a child saint, established in Shiva-consciousness, looks at the most adverse planetary configuration and sees, through that consciousness, that the planets have no case against a soul that has surrendered to the one who holds the planets in their courses.

This is what Saiva Siddhantam means when it speaks of liberation not as an escape from the world but as a transformation of one's relationship to it. The cosmos remains. Its order remains. Its instruments of karma — the Navagrahas, the Nakshatras, the turning of Dashas — remain. What does not remain is the misidentification of the soul with its Prarabdha. And in that dissolution, which is the work of Grace alone, the planets that once signified bondage become, as Sambandar sang without hesitation, pure good — Nanmayae.

சிவமயம் — Sivamayam

MY GURU 3

Just as there are moments of satisfaction in achieving one's goal or on completing a task, be it building a bridge as with engineers, discovering a vaccine as with a scientist, saving a life as with doctors, completing an art piece as with an artist, or watching the final cut of one's movie make it to the theaters for film directors, one on the spiritual path reaches this same moment of satisfaction in discovering the truth. He then settles in the knowing. He is at peace with himself and everything else. He settles in bliss. This is indeed the state of Sat Chit Ananda.

If there is a profession that we still address as 'teacher' and not by name, even in our adulthood after many years, it is that of a teacher. I came across the following proverb in an online news article. " 一日為師，終身為父 / yī rì wéi shī, zhōng shēn wèi fù, which means, “A teacher for one day is a father for a lifetime.” The spiritual guru too comes to be a father for all. Agathiyar asked Tavayogi's daughter, who was saddened that her father wanted to leave the family to become a mendicant, if she wanted him to be only a father to her or to all. 

And so Agathiyar and my gurus in physical form came as spiritual teachers, and went beyond their roles as teachers, walking us along the path that they had taken, helping us cross the rapids, and giving us a hand when the world and its sorrows swallowed us. They became the beacon and the light that led us to where we stand today, amongst them. But at times, just as a teacher, they do take the cane to discipline us, too. But know that it is for our own good and that it is because they love us. Agathiyar too did the same, for he did not want all the time and effort he put into me to go to waste. 

The spiritual guru is not a walking library as many make out to be. They are empty and tap into the Prapanjam as and when required. I have noticed that after he emptied me over the years, I cannot retain much of what I have come to understand. It is good that I made a note of the many understandings he gave me, right from simple things, such as a conversation, to abstract understandings that dawned from beyond, and shared them on my blog, for it is no longer retained as a store of knowledge in me anymore. Agathiyar too told me to connect to Prapanjam from whence all the answers are made available. And so he and Ramalinga Adigal came to help us reach out to her, after Tavayogi had previously "plugged" us into her, giving us the Pranayama techniques that connected us to the Prana in her. Agathiyar came later to lift the door at Svadishtana and have her energy that was awakened in Muladhara, but soon began to stagnate and pond, race up the other chakras and take on a reverse path, or a return journey, moving inwards, from the body towards the soul. In having me know that we are one, he asked that I know the soul or JeevAtma or Pasu and the greater soul, or source or Sivam or ParamAtma or Pati, which I came to know too, through a friend and Siva Thondan, who shared his understanding of Saiva Siddhantam with me, which I had carried in the previous few posts.

WORSHIP

A friend and devotee once asked me why we should worship. I told him that it brings us to a heightened state of joy. A dawning came when I was on the phone with a devotee last night. She had a father who was aged and nearing his last days. She was preparing him and his soul to leave peacefully, following what her guru had taught them when her mother passed away. Rather than do the obvious ritual of bathing and anointing oil on her forehead, the guru had them place a Siva Lingam at her head, bathe it, and anoint it with oil instead. Now she had her father worship a Siva Lingam. When he leaves, the Siva Lingam shall be worshipped by the family. Tavayogi used to say that the soul or Atma is in the shape of a Siva Lingam. After Tavayogi's samadhi, Mataji had installed a Siva Lingam above his samadhi structure where libation or abhisegam and puja are carried out. 

Agathiyar had told me earlier that it was only the things, methods, ways, practices, and rituals that they had done back then that they had also given us. Agathiyar, when traveling, would shape a Sivalingam and worship it. For instance, it is said that he brought the river sand from the banks of the River Kaveri together and made a lingam out of it that is worshipped until now at the Natadreeswarar Temple in Erode. Now I know why Agathiyar left behind a Siva Lingam wherever he went. He left behind his soul for us to worship. Coming in the Nadi a day after his arrival as the bronze statue, a replica of his granite statue at Agasthiyampalli, Agathiyar told me to give it life by chanting his name 100,000 times. He also said that my soul would enter the statue while he walked the ground in me. 

I have come to realize the reason we have statues and paintings at our home altar and worship them personally, and build temples and install statues and worship them publicly. We are taught  for starters to worship the Soul, the Self, Atma, and Pasu, which had brought together and supervised all the tatvas necessary for us to take a form, and that went into hiding later, externally in our homes and temples. Starting with Sariyai, shown by our parents, and the worship of the soul externally, we then walk through the phases of Kriyai, shown and guided by a guru is an extension of our Soul in the physical form. We bridge the worlds and have the Siddhas and deities frequent our homes and reside in these statues and paintings. Coming to the practice of Yoga, as we connect with the Prana and Prapanjam, Kundalini, the creative force that gave life and energy to an otherwise inert form, and which went into hibernation in the Muladhara, is awakened with the opening of the chakra. As it makes its way up through the other chakras by the grace of the gurus and the Siddhas, reaching Sahasrara and bringing on the flowering and blooming of this chakra, we step into knowing the last phase of the journey, Gnanam. The journey now takes on a reverse path, or a return journey, moving inwards, from the body towards the soul, which is termed as the true renunciation, contrary to the common belief and understanding of renouncing the world, as Iyengar writes in his "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali", HarperCollins Publishers India, 1993.

We come to know the Pati or God essence, Pasu or the soul, and Pasam or the many forms of attachments. We come to know the soul, the Self, and the JeevAtma within us. We begin to worship it now within us. I guess this is what I saw while sitting before Agathiyar in my prayer room many years back. Coming out of it, I pondered if I had dozed off while sitting, or if it was a dream? I shared the vision I had of the bathing ritual, libation, or abhisegam done for a Siva Lingam with the friend on the phone yesterday She pointed out that I had indeed seen the Soul and worshipped it. 

We come to know that we are one with the guru. We leave Dvaita and come into Advaita when we come to know that we are one with Sivam, the ParamAtma or Pati. "In Kaivalya pada we lose our identities and merge in the soul (emancipation)," says Iyengar. 

Hence, external worship is a tool to connect us with our souls. Once connected, we can opt to drop it. I understand now why Supramania Swami, being a Gnani, was asked to drop his 40-year-old desire to build a temple. I understand why Tavayogi, whom Agathiyar stopped from going into Samadhi, had him start an ashram and build a temple instead, told me that it was not for him but for the people. Hence, we understand why there are numerous Siva Lingams installed and worshipped throughout the length and breadth of India. This practice was brought to other continents when the kings of the past conquered other lands or their subjects migrated later.