Pulasthya used to wander among the clouds for some time

All the Siddhas including sage Agasthya had taught people about the medicinal properties of the various herbs that were used in treating different diseases. But, Pulasthya, a Siddha differed from others in the sense that he never taught anybody about the medicinal herbs, he would himself go to the sick man’s house and treat him. The prayer of anyone praying to God for relief from any disease would reach Pulsthya immediately. The next minute, he would be there at the doorstep of the one who prayed. He would come as a doctor or as a soothsayer or as a Siddha doctor. He would wait sitting on the resting mound. He would enter the house the minute the door was opened. He would sit before the sick person, unmindful of the queries and words of others. And, he would chant some mantras with his eyes closed. He would materialize a particular herbal medicine and would give it to the sick telling him that Bogar (or Agasthya) asked him to give it to him. If anybody asked him for his identity, he wouldn’t reply directly, but would tell that he could be taken for Pulasthya and would simply laugh like a mad cap. But his laughs would contain many underlying meanings. If the patient took the medicine with honey or sindur, he would become totally all right within minutes and would sit up!

Pulasthya had shown consideration and kindness to the downtrodden and the poor and had relieved many from their poverty. Stories are afloat about his background and how he became a Siddha. But those stories would be unbelievable in this computer age. Pulasthya had a bad trait – he would curse anyone and everyone who created interruption to his meditation. His curse would become true. Many women had incurred his wrath and had been cursed by him. People were afraid even to pass by his abode. But once, Pulasthya had to marry his teacher’s daughter Havirbhoo due to his own curse. Pulasthya, the grandson of sage Kamalmuni was believed to have been wandering in between the clouds in the sky for sometime, without touching the earth. In his later years, he wrote Pulasthya vaidhya vadam, Pulasthya vadhasutra, Pulasthya gnanasutra, Pulasthya vazhalaisurukkam and Pulasthya garbhasutra with the aim of disseminating his knowledge in ‘Vaidhyasastra’.

A palm-leaf naadi says that Pulasthya was born in Sri Lanka. Though he stayed in the mountains in Tamilnadu for about sixty years and saved many people treating them with herbs, he was believed to have performed miracles in China with his rare knowledge about the uses of herbs. Pulasthya was a contemporary of Therai Siddha. Both had together performed miracles in Tamilnadu. There are 7,000 songs on these miracles. Pulasthya will redeem people from all their sufferings and miseries – be it poverty, debts, family problem, business problem, relatives problem or any other problem. If we pray to him, he would immediately rush to our rescue. Though he attained ‘jeevasamadhi’, he is believed to be among us for our sake even today.

Whatever is the problem, no need to worry – pray to Pulasthya, leave things to him and rest assured. Pulasthya would save us from all our sufferings.