On my very first meeting with Tavayogi Thangarasan Adigal in 2005, I fell at the feet of Tavayogi as I was about to leave. Tavayogi stepped back and told me I should only fall at the feet of Agathiyar and no one else. I asked Tavayogi to pardon me for doing so since I was ignorant to which Tavayogi, replied, “Ignorance has left you. Body of Grace (Arul degam) has replaced your Delusive body (Marul degam)”. Tavayogi did not add anything further. Neither did I ask for an explanation. I came to realized later that Tavayogi is a man of few words, unless he takes the stage to address the public, where he can go on for hours.
When Tavayogi mentioned those bodies, I went back to my collections of books for more information as to what he meant. I knew Ramalinga Adigal had sang on the various bodies and the changes that take place in them but his Arutpa songs were incomprehensible. I looked towards translations of them.
When I was in Vadalur in 2003, browsing at the books laid on a makeshift tabletop just adjacent to the Sathya Gnana Sabai, the salesperson, an old man reached for a nearby cabinet. He handed me a soiled book and asked if I wanted it. I flipped through the book and immediately grabbed it, not the least bothered about its appearance. Swami Saravanananda in this book, an English translation of Ramalinga Adigal’s ARUTPERUNJHOTI AGAVAL published by Ramalinga Mission, Madras, says when one gains illumination of effulgence (Arutperunjhothi) his body becomes a pure or golden body.
At whatever age the aspirant gains illumination or the effulgence enters in him or emanates from within, some remarkable changes take place in the body-frame. The Divine Light seems to change the very cell of the body, with the result, that they seem to function in the opposite direction. Consequently, the old body becomes middle aged, then to youth of eighteen years, to twelve years (pure body), to eight years and finally five years (Pranava body). After five years the body grows to the size of the universe to become casual body or a body of gnosis (Gnana deham) which is the natural abode of the soul.
With the descent of sufficient Divine Light the psychic head begins to emerge. According to Vallalar, this psychic head (a crown or diadem of light) is made up of a special and highly refined type of brain called Omkar brain. As soon as it emerges, it draws more cosmic light; the more the light the greater the growth of the psychic head.
With the advent of psychic head, more and more changes take place in the already purified body. The cells and thence the whole body begins to transcend the limits imposed on them by impure Maya (the grosser principle of nature) and try to break one more of its veils. The cells undergo alternate condensation and expansion for an unspecified period and the body slowly emerges out of its bondage and begins to grow. This expanding and ever prospering body, is called the subtle body or the body of Omkar or Pranava body.
Swami Saravanananda adds,
With this perfection comes perfect knowledge. He (Vallalar) also seemed to have been bestowed with the third eye, after his body had attained perfection. This third eye enabled him to gain knowledge of the whole universe and all the individual beings contained in it. He assets that his knowledge penetrated and pervaded layer upon layer of the varied types of universes. With the functioning of the third eye, the transformation of the Pranava body is completed and the next and final stage of transformation into the Gnostic body (Gnana deham) starts. As explained by Vallalar, the person whose third eye is active is verily God Himself because he can raise the dead into life and perform the five fold primordial functions.
Swami Saravanananda explains further.
According to Vallalar, it takes a long time to perfect the Pranava body; the minimum period required is twelve years and the maximum is 108 years. The transformation of the Pranava body into a Gnostic body begins with the functioning of the third eye. With the advent of this eye, the body sheds whatever subtle impurities it possesses; consequently, it becomes nearly invisible. The third eye enabled Vallalar to have tier upon tier of divine experiences.
Slowly his body through the intensity of concentration of the mind begins to generate the flame of lapses, popularly known as psychic heat. Slowly the quantity of psychic heat is increased due to intense meditation and concentration on the universal effulgence. The extreme heat generated in the body produces smoke at first; this smoke gathers up in volume and escapes through the junction of the parietal bones of the skull (Brahma Randhra). During this period, the body and mind undergoes untold stress. Vallalar often mentions about the sufferings that he had undergone since he was twelve years old. The psychic smoke clears off and enhanced illumination results. This light (Tegas) is also called as the aura or nimbus.’
Marshall Govindan in his book BABAJI AND THE 18 SIDDHARS KRIYA YOGA TRADITION (Govindan, Marshall, Babaji and the Eighteen Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition, 1991, KRIYA YOGA PUBLICATIONS (REG), 196 Mountain Road, P.O.Box 90, Eastman, Quebec, Canada, JOE 1PO, reproduced with permission via e-mail), says,
Ramalinga described several successive transformations: The transformation of the mortal human body into the perfect body (Suddha deham), achieved by universal spiritual communion and devotion to god; The transformation of perfect body (Sudha deham) into the body of grace and light (Pranava deham); In addition, the transformation into the body of wisdom (Gnana deham) and into the body of God supreme.
In many verse [in the Thiru Arutpa] Ramalinga sings of how his ‘impure body’ of ‘impure elements’ was transformed into a pure body of pure elements, called a golden body of immeasurable carats (Swarna deham). He sings that one has to think incessantly, until he feels and melts with love for God. In such a melting mood one bursts into tears and sings praise of god and soothing warmth is produced in the aspirant. When this universal love and sacred warmth develops, the body as well as the soul became prepared for the descent of the grace, in the form of light.
When this occurs, the material body of impure elements is transformed into a ‘body of pure light’, emitting a golden hue. This ‘golden body’ appears to be about twelve years of age. The body of grace (Pranava deham) according to him can be seen visually but it cannot be touched. It appears to be a heavenly child of about five to eight years of age.
The ultimate and greatest transformation in human evolution: a transmutation into the Godhead, which he referred to as merging with the body of supreme wisdom - the body of God supreme (Gnana deham).’
In the foreword to Kumara Devar in Marshall Govindan’s BABAJI AND THE 18 SIDDHARS KRIYA YOGA TRADITION (Govindan, Marshall, Babaji and the Eighteen Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition, 1991, KRIYA YOGA PUBLICATIONS (REG), 196 Mountain Road, P.O.Box 90, Eastman, Quebec, Canada, JOE 1PO, http://www.babaji.ca, reproduced with permission via e-mail), it was stated again,
This saint, Kumara Devar, [the author of Sudha Sadhagam], has sung of the progressive transformation of the darkness abounding human body (Irul deham) into delusive body (Marul deham) then into the Pranava Deham which could be seen and felt. In an advanced state it is transformed into body off grace (Arul deham), which could only be seen as a mirage or a rainbow, but with his grace, it merges with Shiva and enjoys eternal bliss in shivadvaita union.’
Dr C Srinivasan, in his foreword to Ramalingam Swami, in the same book says,
Accordingly, the impure human body, susceptible to disease and death, can, by the grace of God, be transformed into a pure and perfect body of love, then into a celestial body of grace and ultimately into an invisible body of bliss and merge with God supreme.’
Rao Saheb K. Kothandapani Pillai BA in the foreword to Dr C Srinivasan's AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF SAINT RAMALINGAM, writes,
These transformations occur in the body of the aspirant according to the intensity of spiritual warmth produced in him. The body is deprived of all its dross or impurities and made pure, fit for divine absorption (Sudha deham). These are the practical transformation, which came over the body of the Swami stage by stage on the way to union with the absolute. Not only did he preach this science of deathlessness (Sudha Sanmarga) but actually attained this deathless state.
None of the four saints, [Appar, Sundarar, Thirugnanasambanthar, and Manickavasagar] dropped their bodies on the earth nor was buried or burnt. They bodily vanished into the ether or into the lord divine. Conquest of death by imbibing supreme grace is the quintessence of his (Ramalinga Adigal) philosophy. The more he ascended in his holy pursuit the more was the descent of divinity in him.
| Types Of Bodies (Equivalent In) |
Experiences Gain Through This Body |
English
(Body Of) |
Tamil |
Also Known As |
| Love |
Sudha Deham |
Anbu Uru |
Uyir Anubhavam |
| Grace |
Pranava
Deham |
Arul Uru |
Arul Anubhavam |
| Bliss |
Gnana Deham |
Enba Uru |
Siva Anubhavam |
