The answers of Agastya Muni to the generic questions posted by devotees can be found here.
The readers are requested to send their spiritual experiences related to the Siddhas to GnanaBoomi at Gmail dot com. Though the experiences are unique and personal to them, it can shower some light or guidance to those who read them. Thanks!
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[From the 199th episode of the Tamil series]
An Englishman from England had come to Kollimalai (Kolli Hills) to take rest in summer. He didn’t like the life in London. As he got a higher position, he came to India with his family, roamed around a number of places and chose Kollimalai.
The nature of his work made him stay in different places but he constructed a bungalow in Kollimalai for vacation purposes during summer and spends a good time in Kollimalai to return to work refreshed. He is naturally a kind hearted person, wanting to help others. Some of his higher officials who had a very low opinion about Indians, particularly Tamils, where all the plans he brought forth for the welfare of Tamils were opposed by them.
This Englishman being a believer of God, did not like the partial attitude displayed and was losing his peace of mind.
Once, one of the officials insisted that a certain Indian must be punished with a capital punishment of hanging, our Englishman knew that the Indian was not guilty. It was true that he had done minor crimes, but they did not call for such a death sentence. He explained his point of view and sent it to his higher ups, causing his boss irritation.
“Though born as an Englishman, you don’t have any gratitude. I suspend you from your post.” – ordered the boss. Our Englishman was not startled by all these. He went to Kollimalai with his family. A great surprise awaited him.
As he stood, forgetting himself in the beauty of Kollimalai’s natural abundance, Vaduga Siddha appeared before the Englishman! Though he heard about Siddhas a bit, he hasn’t seen one before. He did not know that Vaduga Siddha was standing in front of him, even to say, a Siddha, the Englishman initiated conversation.
“Who are you?”
“I am just a passerby. As you stood here alone, I thought I shall see what’s the matter.” – said Vaduga Siddha, in English. The Englishman was taken by surprise with the fluency of English with the accent that the natives speak from a hermit.
“You do not worry. The suspension order of yours has been canceled. Not just that, your name is recommended for a very high post as well.” – said the Siddha!
Our Englishman is now shocked than surprised, “How do you know that I am being suspended?”
“Just a guess, I wouldn’t say so! You are devoted to the Almighty. You had served me here in the same Kollimalai in your previous birth. As you fight for the right, such tests will always be there for you. But just see now, a surprising news will reach you.” – saying this, Vaduga Siddha began to float in the thin air as that of a cloud downslope.
The Englishman was stunned. He could not understand what has just happened. Who is this person? How did he know all these about me? He spoke to me about my previous birth! Who is he? Is he God? A Yatchini? Or a Siddha? He spoke as if he was there right next to me when things happened. What a surprise this is? He stood there for about ten minutes thinking and wondering. The place he stood was on top of a rock on the top of the mountain. As he hadn’t taken any breakfast and was taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of the Siddha and what he mentioned, the Englishman fell unconscious, thankfully to the nearby bush. Had he moved a little bit forward, he would have fallen down thousands of feet.
As he fell down, he felt someone is helping him lie down. When he woke up, he found himself in the shade of a tree, in a grass bed. He found Vaduga Siddha sitting in front of him.
“What have you done O Durai! (it was a practice to call the Englishman as Durai in those days) You could have fallen down from the hill.” – said Vaduga Siddha.
“Thanks to you and the Almighty.” – said the Englishman. Something sure is happening, I won’t know if it is for good or bad, he thought and tried to get up slowly.
“You can’t get up now. Just lie down and take some rest. Then you could climb up.” – said the Siddha, gently running his hand on the Englishman and went his way. He was not to be seen afterwards! The touch of the Siddha made the Englishman feel like fresh blood started flowing in his body. In the next fifth minute, he climbed up the hill swiftly.
His family had been worrying on his whereabouts, started searching for him and had reached there. They even thought that he might have tried committing suicide because of the suspension order. His wife knew that he was not that type of a person. She believed in the Almighty and was praying to Jesus Christ. They eventually found him and felt happy. He explained all that happened to his family and relatives. Half of them did not believe it, the rest thought that he is speaking out of his imagination.
Some even said that he migth have gone mad by the impact of his suspension. A local even said that the ghosts who roam around the place might have done something. The Englishman did not pay any heed to these. His hands were folded, praying to Vaduga Siddha.
Around 11 in the morning…
A Government vehicle came to his bungalow. A higher official got down. Our Englishman was surprised to see such a person of that caliber coming to visit him. He welcomed the official.
“Congratulations my friend! You are proven to be right. You have saved an innocent from the death sentence. Your boss, who reports to me had done this as a mistake. We have asked him to return to London. We decided that you should be promoted. We canceled your suspension order. We request you to take charge of your new position today itself. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience.” – he shook the Englishman’s hand and handed over the official orders for suspension and the promotion.
His joy knew no bounds. He was so surprised that Vaduga Siddha had mentioned all these precisely already. As he had served Vaduga Siddha in his previous birth, He appeared before me when I needed, helped me and performed miracles. The post is not great, my Atma (soul) is! Even bigger is the love of Vaduga Siddha, he thought and decided to dedicate his whole life to Vaduga Siddha.
He sought many people’s help and made a stone idol of Vaduga Siddha as possible as he could remember from his memory and performed many a pooja to the Siddha in his Kollimalai bungalow. Vaduga Siddha appeared before him frequently, advised him on many a thing and even gave him Kaya Kalpa to live for a hundred and forty years.
The Englishman changed his name eventually to Vaduga Siddha Adipodi, did a lot of dhana-dharma, helped people in healthcare and dedicated his life helping people and to Vaduga Siddha. His bungalow was moved to a different place once he passed away but Vaduga Siddha still visits there!
~ to be continued…!
Featured image courtesy: Maragadham