The Source of Knowledge
Brief Introduction to the Siddhars
This post is a humble attempt to direct some attention to a fascinating but neglected history of how our civilization acquired the knowledge it has. The topic is immense, and there are more qualified people than myself who have published on the Siddhars, but it is nevertheless time for me to take the risk and to deal with the repercussions of daring to explain and perhaps speculate on topics that are sometimes lacking links between the dots. This is like a deep dive into a ocean without any idea of what the water is like . . . bear with me.
According to accounts, everything that is created in time and space has cycles of manifestation separated by intervals of rest. As humans, our souls incarnate and then leave our bodies, only to return again as another person with a different identity. These events take place in the dimension with which we are familiar. They have been recurring with variations since the beginning of what we know as Time.
We have golden ages in which people are truthful and righteous, and then there cycles such as we are currently experiencing in which corruption is rampant and only 25% of incarnate humans are sincerely trying to uphold virtue.
The current cycle of degeneration began around 3102 BCE, but whether this was Dwapara Yuga or the beginning of Kali Yuga is not clear. There are many views, the most popular current one relates to the teachings of Sri Yukteswar, the mentor of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Prior to the Bronze Age, very advanced civilizations existed. Testimony to their existence can be found among archaeological treasures with occasional written records, artistic legacies, and architectural structures serving as evidence of illustrious human ancestors in places like Peru, Egypt, the Mediterranean civilizations, and India.
What happened more or less 5000 years ago is that the lust for wealth and power set in motion various forms of warfare and imperialism. Instead of reverence, rulers compared themselves to gods and elevated themselves above the masses who have been exploited ever since.
During these unholy times, Truth is manipulated, disease is rampant, and life expectancies are short. Anticipating such cycles, a small group of exceedingly wise beings archived their knowledge and taught their disciples what needed to be preserved. According to tradition, there were 18 Siddhars, each of whom had students. This subject is so vast that today I only want to talk about Bogarnathar, the particular Siddhar who has always fascinated me the most. He was Tamil and was initiated by Siddha Kālangi Nāthar who transmitted his knowledge to Bogar prior to entering samadhi for an intended 3000 years. This transfer included the knowledge of longevity.
However, before going too much further, we need a little more structure. The word “siddhi” refers to remarkable attainments, what modern researchers might call paranormal gifts. Under correct guidance, perfection is achieved through spiritual practices that open understanding of higher dimensional awareness. The person who has mastered himself becomes enlightened and nearly always shares his wisdom with students who carry on the traditions. In short, there is a succession; and the Bogarnathar lineage includes the Mahavatar Babaji who has been living in the Himalayas for hundreds of years as an immortal.
Bogarnathar was, among other accomplishments, the one who formulated the elixir of life, but I do not want to jump too far ahead. Over the years since I lived in India, I have had many discussions with friends and pundits about the Siddhars. There can be no question at all that they were historical beings who were prolific writers. Due to various calendrical issues, exact dates are hard to determine, but we can more or less establish the general era for Bogarnathar since he spent time in China where he revived a dead body and became known as Lao Tzu. When I first discussed this with an erudite Taoist colleague who had studied at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, he balked. After simmering down for a few days, he said, Lao Tzu basically appeared out of nowhere as an old sage with white hair so perhaps the story is true. It is widely asserted in Tamil literature as straight fact but seems less well known in China where he was sometimes known as Bo Yang.
Bogarnathar had many means of travel. On his initial journey to China, he sailed along the established trade routes; but he returned to India on foot over the Himalayas. He is also reported to have traveled to South America where he taught subjects related to astronomy, calendars, and astrology to the Muycas of Chile. There, he was known as Bocha to the local people. He traveled to many other places such as the Arabian Peninsula and what is now Italy. He seemed to have had both the capacity to teleport as well as to use some mechanical means of transport such as a prototype of a flying machine.
In reference to Taoism, the similarity between the understanding of the duality of yin and yang is very similar to Siddhar teachings surrounding the interaction between the feminine energy of Shakti and the masculine of Shiva. The secret of harmony and immortality is hidden in these forces.
Learning of Bogarnathar’s teachings on astrology and astronomy as well as his travels brought closure to a question I had had since childhood as to why so many divergent cultures came up with seven-day weeks named after the same deities or planets.
One of my Indian friends believes the Siddhars were aliens. My view is that there has been ongoing migration to Earth from other parts of the Universe ever since the conditions became hospitable here. This is not hard to believe if one considers how modern man is searching for ways to travel in space and perhaps to colonize other planets. Even on our Earth, we see humans migrating and colonizing so we might suggest these habits are in our DNA.
This said, the origin of the Siddhars is not actually crucial to our understanding of them. They were probably what we call Avatars in the spiritual meaning, not what this means in the world of the Internet. What is relevant is that the ancients were aware of the cycles from Golden Ages to decline so they gathered the sages and codified the most important knowledge so it would not be lost when humans descended into ignorance.
These cycles are very long, and there are arguments about where to put the decimal points, but the ancient texts say that destruction will occur when we are the most ignorant. Then, after a period of rest, a new cycle will begin. This goes on for over four billion years. We are around the midpoint now of this larger cycle, meaning there are millions of years ahead before the Earth itself goes through a rest cycle.
By polemics, the threshold will close without opening for years to come.
Cycles of Consciousness
As noted, when life was descending into ignorance, an effort was made to preserve as much understanding of the divine as possible. Realizing how serious the situation was, substitutes for realization were developed as alternative paths, temporary paths that would appeal to our nobler instincts and love. These relied principally on charitable instincts and devotion. By service to others, we limit the erosion of some of our virtues. Likewise, love for what is holy is a form of worship that protects us from pursuing reckless paths.
If, since the Renaissance, some people have moved in a more humanitarian direction, we might posit that between common sense and fear of annihilation, the end of war may be in sight, perhaps not in my lifetime, but hopefully very soon. Likewise, as we cease from attempting to satisfy our cravings by coveting what belongs to others, a shift away from colonialism and exploitation of both labor and Nature will shift towards trusteeship. When we see this as the main thrust, we will know with certainty that Kali Yuga is no longer casting a shadow on our potential to function at a much higher level of consciousness and responsibility for life.
Bogarnathar is said to have lived for 300 years and 18 days. Then, he entered samadhi. His primary disciple, Pulippani, moved a stone to block the entrance to the room where his teacher would remain in deep meditation, perhaps for thousands of years. The cave is near the base of the Murugan Temple in Tamil Nadu. It has been closely protected by disciples for centuries.
So, how did Bogarnathar and the other Siddhars manage to live so long. First, we might speculate that they actually belonged to another yuga in which there was both more harmony and longevity. This, however, is not a totally satisfactory explanation. It is far more believable that through arduous pursuit of personal perfection, they overcame some of the factors that lead to the degeneration of bodies and life force. They also practiced yogic breathing techniques and sometimes spent long periods of time in seclusion, like the Mahavatar Babaji. However, Bogarnathar was unique in his mastery of alchemy. He created tablets containing 35 herbs that induced a coma that resembled death. Upon revival, the body was rejuvenated. Not only did he do this for himself, but he shared these tablets with a disciple and his dog when returning to India after his life as Lao Tzu. This is called kaya kalpa, and it confers longevity when properly formulated and administered.
Bogar was a master alchemist who combined herbs and metals. He developed remedies that would cure every disease known. This knowledge forms the foundation of Siddha Medicine. The many poems and mantras are to be used in a ritualistic manner to maintain contact with the divine. With Bogarnathar in particular, special emphasis is put on Wednesdays. This time of struggle was anticipated so the teachings left by this Siddhar were to help us to remain connected to Source while the world is overwhelmed by greed and materialism. He anticipated drug abuse and felt the poems he left would substitute for dangerous chemicals. Very pious people, especially those with past life connections to the Bogar, sometimes connect with him in his astral body. He is not “dead”. He is in samadhi, a state of very deep meditation in which he can still continue to guide others.
By breathing, my energy will be roused, spreading over all the petals and opening them like flowers.
The Yoga of Siddha Boganathar by T.N. Ganapathy
Copyright by Dr. Ingrid Naiman || All Rights Reserved
For permission to quote, please contact the author. Sharing via e-mail and posting links are welcome so long as the author and source are properly cited. Reprinting is strictly prohibited.
Image Credits:
¹ Ingo Kappler
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yugas-Ages-based-on-Sri-Yukteswar.png
² Bogar: http://palani.org/bhogar-biography.htm
³ https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2016/02/palani-murugan-temple-temple_5.html
Calculation of Kali Yuga:
There is no consensus around the date of Kali Yuga, a subject for another time (perhaps). According to Tamil astrologers, we are still in Kali Yuga. This will end when Lord Vishnu intervenes.
The story of Mahabharat needs to be seen in a certain context. In 3140 BCE, the Kurukshetra War ended, and in 3102 BCE, Krishna left his body. Three to four months after the war, the Kali Yuga began. As of 2012 AD, Krishna’s era ended 5,114 years ago. If you subtract 2592, which is the cumulative number of years of the two Kali Yugas that are at the bottom of the ellipse which describes the axial precession, you arrive at 2522 years. That means we have already completed 2522 years of Dwapara Yuga, and since its total duration is 2592 years, we still have 70 years until its completion. In the year 2082, we will complete Dwapara Yuga and move on to Treta Yuga. The world will go through another upheaval, not necessarily in terms of war but probably in terms of population explosion and natural calamities, before moving on to this new era of wellbeing and upward movement of human consciousness.
https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/article/kali-yuga-end-lies-ahead
Inconsistencies in spelling are typical of transliterations from languages. We can find Bhogar, Bogar, Bhogarnathar, Boganathar, and probably several more variations. Likewise, his disciple, Pulipani might be spelled Pullippani or Pulippani, the “puli” refers to tiger because, as a youth, he used to ride a tiger.