SIDDHA BOGAR

 

 “Consuming Elixir pill, I travelled eight sides,

I saw the range of mountains, and,

Saw the glittering plains of gold mines.

I saw mines abundant with copper ore,

And saw the green-mountain, and range of hills.

I saw wonders at the land of the Chinese.

I saw Mount Kailash and the reddish hills yonder.

I saw the great Meru and Siddha Roma Rishi too.

Acquainted with him, I learnt all secrets;

Then wishing to reveal the secrets of all arts, Consuming again another Elixir, I flew to China and settled there.”

Bogar Sapta Kandam-7000, Verse 1243 to 1244, by Siddha Bogar

 

There are many different stories about the nativity of Siddha Bogar. One story suggests he was of Chinese origin and travelled through Tamil Nadu. Another version claims he was the disciple of Siddha Kaalanginathar (the disciple of Siddha Thirumoolar) who later travelled to China for expansion of knowledge. The incidents in Siddha Bogar’s life written below have been taken from the ancient work Chathura Giri Sthala Puranam.

 

“In the ancient times a sage, his three disciples and a dog were walking through a deep forest in the Himalayan Mountains. Exhausted by their long journey on foot, they stopped. The sage took out an alchemical pill and handed it to one of the disciples. The disciple instantly fell unconscious. The sage gave one pill to the dog. He too dropped unconscious. Then he gave a pill each to the remaining two disciples. The two disciples having witnessed the effects of the pill were afraid. Fearing their Guru they pretended to swallow the pill but secretly threw it away. Then the sage consumed a pill himself and fell down unconscious. The two disciples were quick to assume their fellow disciple, the dog and their Guru to be dead by the pill. They decided to cremate the dead bodies after resting a while. After a few hours of rest their severe exhaustion was gone. They walked to a nearby village to arrange for the cremation. On their return, they couldn’t find the bodies. The disciple, the dog and the Guru, were nowhere to be seen. The two disciples stood there shocked and perplexed. Suddenly, something far into the distance caught their eye. Looking carefully they spotted three forms climbing another mountainous terrain. It was their Guru, the dog and the third disciple! They instantly realised the grave mistake of disbelieving the Guru and his rejuvenating alchemical pill.”

 

“Once while walking through a village, a sage saw a woman overcome with grief, crying beside her dead husband. The sage’s heart welled with compassion. From this compassion arose an intense urge to know the secret ways of resurrecting the dead. With this strong intention in his heart he went to the samadhi place of the Navanadha Siddhas and before their samadhi carried out intense tapas.

 

One day, They appeared before him and asked the reason for his tapas. He expressed his wish and asked for blessings. Gravely, they explained to the sage that his desire to help reduce the suffering of people by resurrecting the dead was against Divine Order. They remained unrelenting and adamant. The Navanadha Siddhas explained further, “These people who appear engulfed in grief at the death of their loved ones will not remain so for very long. They not only forget but also easily repeat the same mistake of being over indulgent in transitory things.” After explaining the nature of human beings, the Navanadha Siddhas said, “As you are being highly adamant and are unable to understand you will lose all the Siddhis that you have attained by intense tapas.” On hearing this, the sage replied, “Iif the desire for the well-being of fellow humans is a wrong and punishable offence then I take death in this moment!”

 

“No! You have already attained the knowledge of healing using valuable medicinal preparations. It must not be lost in vain. You are needed for the Siddha lineage to flourish.”

 

Thus spoken, the Navanadha Siddhas blessed the sage with the knowledge of KayaKalpa Yoga and the preparation of elixir and cautioned him to share it only with a deserving few.

 

“Soon after this, the sage travelled to southern India and lived in the Pothigai Hills of Tamil Nadu continuing his tapas. One day while walking through a village his throat felt dry and parched. He approached a hut. There he saw a group of Brahmins performing a Vedic Yagna outside. The sage requested for some water. Seeing his unkempt and beggar-like appearance the Brahmins instantly asked him stood before them and began reciting the Vedic chants. Realising their error in recognising a true sage the Brahmins instantly asked forgiveness for their foolish and blinding arrogance.”

 

This great Siddha, so flowing with compassion for the suffering of all people is Siddha Bogar.

 

“After Siddha Bogar attained true knowledge of the KayaKalpa alchemical elixir, he decided to prepare it for the coming Siddhas down the lineage as well as for the benefit of suffering people. For this, he needed high quality mercury. Consuming a specially formulated bead called ‘Gagan Guliga’ (Sky pill), Siddha Bogar travelled by air all the way to Rome - to the ‘well of mercury’. Reaching there, he saw it was surrounded and guarded by invisible demons. He approached the well but when he tried to take some mercury it at once pulled away from him. He tried a few more times and each time the mercury would strangely slip away. Finally, Siddha Bogar offered a prayer to his Guru’s Guru, Siddha Thirumoolar. He tried once again and this time he was successful in taking the mercury he needed.

 

As He turned to leave, the invisible demons appeared and stopped him, preventing him from leaving with the mercury. Siddha Bogar spoke to the demons about himself. He explained that he belonged to the lineage of the great Siddha Thirumoolar and that his intention behind taking the mercury was to use it for a beneficial purpose. Even then the doubtful demons wanted Bogar to prove himself as a great Siddha. Very calmly, Siddha Bogar went to a nearby ocean and tossed in a magical pill. The pill began to drink the water of the ocean and grow in size. Fearing the ocean would go dry and they would be held answerable to their Lord, the demons pleaded to Siddha Bogar to bring the ocean water back. The great Siddha obliged.”

 

There are innumerable incidents describing and glorifying Siddha Bogar’s mystical prowess and Siddhahood.

 

He even had the skill of binding the Navapashana (nine poisonous metals) into a solid mass which shows mastery over alchemy. Siddha Pulippani is said to be Siddha Bogar’s student. Siddha Bogar’s contribution to pharmacology is also very great. Most of his treatises are in this branch of Siddha medicine. A few books written in the later ages have also been attributed to him. In the Southernmost part of India, nearly 250 kilometres from Madurai city, there is a tiger forest called Mundanthurai. It is situated in the Mahendragiri Mountain ranges. In the depths of this forest there is an altar called Bogar Bidam. It is where he had darshan of Lord Murugan in the form of light in his meditations. Various secret herbs are collected from this place for the preparation of the Navapashana statue. Even to this day, this place is not easily accessible to ordinary people and remains a clandestine mystical spot. On and around this spot and altar, we can find the sacred footprints of Siddhar Bogar.

 

I would like to share that from my own practical experience, the medicinal formulations revealed by Siddhar Bogar have been the most successful in curing ailments even to this date.

 

“The pranic current through the left; the fire of moon;

The pranic current through the right; the fire of sun;

The current in the middle is the fire of Kundalini.

Coalition of these three fires that is Salvation!”

Bogar Gnana Sagaram -100, Verse 36

 

Some of His books are:

• Bogar - 7000
• Bogar Karpam - 30
• Bogar sarakkuvaipu - 800
• Bogar vasiyokam
• Bogar Ponnuci
• Bogar gnana Sagaram
• Bogar Varma sutram
• Bogar pancha patchi sastram
• Bogar Vaidhiya Thirattu -700
• Bogar Janana Sagaram Bogar - 12000

The use of synthetic drugs was not unknown to Siddhars. Of these books: Bogar Sarakku Vaipu deals with the manufacture of synthetic drugs, in the absence of natural products to prepare medicine.

 

Bogar Karpam deals at length with means of preserving the body and the science of elixir. Bogar Vasi Yogam deals with primordial breathing and inner alchemical practices. Siddha Bogar has written extensively on the pharmacological and therapeutic aspects of metals and minerals. His text, Bogar 7000 contains the above stated information. In this, Siddha Bogar talks of the different methods of preparing Navapashana and mentions other various types of distillation processes in this ancient classic. This text consists of seven volumes. Bogar Karpam 300 discusses the rejuvenating properties of herbs and minerals. Siddha Bogar also reveals methods of producing a black-coloured variety of the desired herb from the normal variety, in the process of growing Kalpa plants. Bogar Nigantu 1700 enlists a number of names attributed to the drugs of herbal plants. It lists around 570 herbal plants; animal drugs and minerals, which in different parts of Tamil Nadu are known by around 5000 different names.

 

Bogar Karpam is about longevity and the preparation of medicines for it (Kaya Kalpa). Bogar Gnana Sagaram is about Creation. Bogar Gnanam 100 speaks of Wisdom through Yogic practices. Bogar Vaidhyam 700 is about Siddha medicines for diseases. Bogar 12,000 includes all dimensions of the Siddha Tradition (This is not available in the market). Bogar Pancha Patchi is on astrology and occultism. Siddha Bogar’s Maha Samadhi shrine is in Palani Hill, behind the Navapashana (Nava means Nine and Pashana means poison) statue of Lord Murugan.

 

From: "Siddhas - Masters of Nature" by Palpandian, with kind approval.