Taking me by the hand, Agathiyar charted my journey and summarized it for me to share with those gathered on my 66th wedding day. In asking us who Agathiyan is, he explains the journey of transformation into him, or rather, to rediscover him in us. He poses the questions to us and answers them, too.
"Who is Agathiyan? You are. I am. True. We are all Agathiyan. The Jothi or flame in us is Agathiyan. He resides as the fire, flame, heat, and warmth in us. He is Esan. He is the Esan who resides within. Why is it that we do not realize or feel him? It is because we have not attained the state of preparedness or readiness to realize him. Once our soul attains this state, we shall begin to realize him. How can we attain this state of preparedness? First, we have to travel this path. We need to travel to the places and abodes of the Siddhas, witness their miracles, enter the states of bliss, and bring back these feelings and work on them, nurturing them. The Siddha shall come down. When we follow their directives, they shall walk with us, holding our hands. This travel then shall not be that of an external but of an internal journey. Yoga is the key to this travel within. From Sariyai arriving at Kriyai, now they shall teach Yogam. The journey within shall begin. You shall witness happenings. You shall see many things. It would be puzzling to you. It would be new to you, too. Continuing this internal journey, you shall arrive at each Chakra and eventually see the cosmic dance of Thillai in Sahasrara. A 1000-petaled flower will keep on opening up continuously. Arutjothi will come to reside here. Then its effulgence enters within, and just as the Kundalini upon awakening traverses each Chakra purifying them, this effulgence brings on the shine and luminosity in them. Jothi Darisanam takes place where one sees the light or effulgence. The body takes on the same. Vibrations begin to emit within and around us and are felt by those tuned to receive and feel us. They shall follow you. You become a Jeevamukta, having attained Mukti while living in the flesh. Henceforth, you are no different from Agathiyan, and Agathiyan is no different from you. You are me, and I am you."
I am grateful to Agathiyar for bringing me this far. It can be deemed as sailing effortlessly over the waters, with him taking care of the tide and times, the rapids ahead, and the whirlpools too. Just as a devotee had dreamt after Tavayogi's demise, seeing him with several others taken towards an island and hill where Siddhas and Rishis were going about their work, with Lord Siva at the oars of the boat, and the same was mentioned by Ramalinga Adigal in his song, Supramania Swami too shared a vision he had of me on the hill slopes of the Holy mountain Arunachalam, with Siddhas and Rishis going about their work. Agathiyar told us that as Tavayogi was doing his work in his realm, Agathiyar had to come and assist us to further this journey. I am truly blessed.
Agathiyar presented the 5 tenets to mankind at the Tamil Sangam, so that mankind shall gain salvation. According to ancient literary records of the Tamils, the Sangam was an organization of 4449 poets in total: of whom Gods (Siva, Kumaran, Kubera), immortals (Agathiyar, Mudinaagaraayar), and mortals (kings, poets, and prominent people) were 549 in number, and the rest of them were members of their literary assembly. The common law that Agathiyar gave mankind, presenting it before the gathered assembly, was five dictates or tenets that mankind had to follow. The Siddhas strove to elevate the human species to the nature and status of the Gods.
Pon. Govindaswamy in his book "The Occult Hierarchy and Spiritual Dynasty - The Inner Government of the World" or "திருச்சிற்றம்பலம் என்ற சிற்சபையும் பொற்சபையும்", Bharath Book Bureau, Chennai, 1970, writes, Spirit or Pasu is one. When seen as matter, it is called an atom; when subtle, it is known as the soul. Souls evolve from the elemental kingdom to the mineral kingdom. From the mineral kingdom, it evolves to that of the vegetable kingdom. It further evolves into the animal kingdom. Then it stands at the threshold of the human kingdom. The man then evolves into Jeevamukta. The Jeevanmukta proceeds to become Devas. The Devas eventually reach the state of the Divine. The souls evolve accordingly to the law of evolution.
This is true of the Siddhas, for till this day they have never given up on us, although we tend to give up on them in the face of adversities. Agathiyar is said to have initiated human societies of that era into the age-old cultural order known as the Siddhar Neri. He imparted wisdom to his people and passed on the knowledge of medicine to many.
P. Karthigayan, in his book "The History of Medical and Spiritual Sciences of Siddhas of Tamil Nadu", Notion Press, 2016, points out that the Siddhas could achieve much during their time as they were bestowed with the gift of "performing spiritual, medical, and scientific marvels". "They claimed their presence in all locations, interacting with people over various periods of time", made possible due to their long life spans, and a result of attaining immortality. He says that the Gods, immortals, long-lived kings, and scholars "had chiseled and shaped the society then." We now understand Agathiyar's disappointment on seeing the present society and lamenting to us that no one follows the Siddha way of living.
As it progresses, the soul's consciousness expands, taking in its experiences at each juncture of the evolution. This was clearly stated by Saint Manickavasagar in his Sivapuranam. So the idea is to merge the individual spirit or Pasu with the Pati or the divine spirit, the individual soul or Jeevatma with the Paramatma. The soul gains this knowledge as it achieves the state of a Jeevanmukta.
From https://www.thehindu.com/society/faith/siva-the-supreme-lord/article34320911.ece, we learn,
In Samsara, the awareness of Atma is restricted, but it attains fullness in the Mukti state. Ignorance is caused by the sorrow of birth, and Jnana can remove this. This is gained by Vedanta knowledge that points out Siva as the goal to be attained.
From the "Metaphysics of Saiva Siddhantam - Sivagnana Boodham" by Thiruvilankar Canagarayar, l96l, we learn further,
Jivanmukta is one who has attained Pati Jnanam, the Divine Knowledge. In order to achieve complete purity, the Jivanmukta should become one with the Lord, just as He is one with him. Jivanmukta is one with Siva. Further, he should do all acts in obedience to His orders, and whatever he does should be reckoned as the acts of God, and not of his own. This is called “Erai Pany” (Service to God).
It states the means the Jeevamukta merges with the Paramatma.
If the Jeevanmukta meditates on these five letters for a long time, Kundalini will be stimulated and will pass through the Atharas, the centers in the nervous system, and reach Sahasrara in the forehead. By this meditation, all the Malams will be destroyed by the Sakti of Siva, and Siva will appear to him in the form of a light. The soul becomes united with Siva. Then he recognises that “Siva is He".
This was what was decreed to Arjuna on the battlefield by Lord Krishna, too. The discourse was between the individual soul and that of Paramatma. From https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Arjuna, we are given an insight into the relationship between Arjuna and Lord Krishna.
Together, the inseparable friendship between Krishna and Arjuna represents the cosmic inseparability of Brahman and atman, or the essence of the universe and the soul, one of the fundamental ideas of Hinduism.
Of the seven stages of evolution as revealed by Pon. Govindaswamy, before the soul attains the divine state, the Jeevamukta evolves further, progressing along Margas or paths and attaining a further seven advanced states or portfolios. Of the seven, one of them is membership in the Occult Hierarchy and Spiritual Dynasty. Joining this lineage of spiritual masters, while still remaining on the face of the earth, the Jeevanmukta takes up the post and the task of bringing others to their fold. This is what the Siddhas do, trying their very best to bring us into their fold, their path, and the way, helping to erase past Karma through numerous means, escaping from its clutches, so that we break the cycle of birth and death, and permanently join these spiritual masters in carrying out the divine will. For one who carries out the divine will, no Karma attaches. He is freed. And so, as we progress on this path of evolution, it is expected of us and our responsibility too to help those souls in the lower stages of evolution to attain the higher states too, as clearly mentioned in the Tenets for Mankind presented by Agathiyar at the Tamil Sangam of the past era.
Would sharing the details of my spiritual journey amount to inflating my ego? Would writing about myself and my journey be tantamount to blowing one's horn? I pray that it is not so. Just as Agathiyar and Tavayogi encouraged me to write and upload videos, respectively, Agathiyar later asked that I share the internal changes and transformation I was seeing and going through with readers so that they, too, would get an idea of what was in store on this journey.
P. Karthigayan writes that the immortals guided the kings in uplifting their subjects. He says,
The immortals formed the folklore, while the long-lived preserved them in the form of stones, clay tablets, papyrus, palm leaves, and these were later rewritten in modern scripts by bards and priests, as literature and epics, that became a history of the respective civilizations. The Gods, immortals, and long-lived were, in due course, included in the religions of their respective societies.
This tradition of documentation seems to have been continued by the Chola king who reigned from 985–1014 CE, where he had numerous sacred texts collected and compiled, and kept them away, save for generations to come.
Just as Agathiyar, the Siddhas, and my gurus, being the Jeevanmukta that they were, showed me the way and the means, I guess I, too, have to bring others along, or at least leave behind my tracks for them to follow later. But this journey is not over yet. Just as Tavayogi, a soul who lived in the times of Agathiyar, told me, he has to come back again; Ramalinga Adigal, standing on the 15th rung of the ladder, in charting his journey, mentioned 23 stages or rungs, and that there was more that words could not describe; Buddha mentioned seeing a thousand heads before and another thousand births waiting to be taken, after his enlightenment, and as in the Puranas it is said that both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu could not fathom Lord Siva, I have to track solo and alone and explore the rest of the journey. Ramalinga Adigal and Agathiyar and who helped us reach out and gave us a taste of the Prapanjam, respectively, say that I now need to know, realize, and feel Sivam. We cannot possibly save ourselves from drowning, much less save the ship, without assistance. This hand is that of God. I sought the Divine's hand in traveling further into the uncharted territories.