Om Prakash Swamigal’s Dream Initiation
A prominent Indian example of dreams foreshadowing or leading to the bestowing of special books as well as initiation is the case of Om Prakash Swamigal (Om Pirakāca Cuvāmikaḷ, 1872 1947), a noted author of yoga who was active near what is today Ooty in Tamil Nadu.[1] Because almost no secondary scholarship on Om Prakash Swamigal yet exists, the following account necessarily draws on a small body of primary and near-contemporary sources: a 1957 biographical account by Śrī Ti. Ku. Kōvintacāmi Piḷḷai[2], Om Prakash Swamigal’s own writings, writings by his teachers and students in which he is named, and pamphlets and other archival materials preserved in Ooty. He was born in a suburb of Chennai called “Varata Rājappēṭṭai” (likely Varadharajapuram) to one Rāyavēlūr Ve. Mu. Kōpālacuvāmi Piḷḷai and Cirōṉmaṇi Amarāvati. Om Prakash seems to have been especially fond of Ganesh (Gaṇapati, Vināyakar) as a child, and he apparently also enjoyed composing poems and hymns on the gods (Tam. teyvaṅkaḷ) and would visit the towns Thiruttani and Thiruporur out of devotion to Murugan (Murukaṉ).
Om Prakash was well-educated and had a strong interest in written texts. His account tells us, for example, that as a child in Madras he would frequent bookshops and ask for recommendations. One seller gave him a book entitled Civāṉantapōtam, “The Awakening of the Bliss of Śiva,”[3] which helped prepare him for his interest in Śaiva forms of yoga. After taking that home and reading it thoroughly, he was then given a book of the songs of one Kuṇaṅkuṭi Mastāṉ Cāyapu (also Cākipu),[4] a scholar from a Muslim family who appears to have been active in the Royapuram (Irāyapuram) area of Chennai in the early nineteenth century and composed songs relating to the Tamil Siddhas, among other topics. After his initial “schooling on the veranda” (Tam. tiṇṇaippaḷḷikkūṭa) or traditional primary education was complete, Om Prakash was sent to Wesley High School in Royapettah to learn English. The school, today Wesley Higher Secondary School, was founded in 1818 and boasts a considerable number of famous alumni, such as the politicians C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar (1879–1966) and M.C. Rajah (1883–1945). As a result, both religious and colonial forms of education informed Om Prakash Swamigal’s interest in texts.
In 1890, Om Prakash left Madras for Ooty in the Nilgiris to visit the home of his paternal uncle. Here he met one Sri Ekambaradesigar (Śrī Ēkāmparatēcikar) who had been roaming in the Nilgiris looking for a place to meditate and had settled in Kandal, then a village near Ooty Lake, where the British of the Madras Presidency retreated for some leisure during the summer heat. The account mentions that Om Prakash met both Sri Ekambaradesigar and a female ascetic named Srimati Ratnam Ammani (Śrīmati Irattiṉam Ammaṇi), and they are both pictured in Om Prakash’s book Śrī Śrīsatsampāṣiṇi, first published in 1915.[5] Sri Ekambaradesigar was someone who was “acquainted with the rituals of Haṭhayoga,” or the “yoga of force,” and undoubtedly inspired Om Prakash to take this practice up as well.
Om Prakash Swami only stayed with his uncle for about a year, however, leaving for Chennai in 1891 to take his academic examination for university placement before moving back to the Nilgiris with his parents. During this period he also studied literature and grammar with a student of the nineteenth-century scholar Sri Sabhapati Mudaliar (Śrī Capāpati Mutaliyār, not to be confused with Sri Sabhapati Swami) who was knowledgeable in “picture poems” (Skt. citrakavi), in which the visual arrangement of letters makes for different combinations of poetry.
Shortly after this Om Prakash joined a “Draftsman” (Tam. piḷāṉ eḻutum, lit. “plan-writing”) section of the Office of the Army Chief Engineer, but he left when the office transferred to Bangalore (today Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka) and his parents didn’t give him permission to move. Yet they allowed him to travel to Mysore (today Mysuru, also in Karnataka), where he joined the Maharaja’s Palace as a draftsman instead. While traveling to Chennai for some work as a draftsman, the account records that Om Prakash met one Sanga Siddha Sivalinga Nayanar (Cāṅku Citta Civaliṅka Nāyaṉār, d. 1900), a swami whose tumulus (jīva-samādhi) is still extant and active in the Guindy area of Chennai, northwest of Velachery. The story goes that Sanga Siddha Sivalinga Nayanar embraced him upon seeing him, initiated him, and gave Om Prakash Swamigal the name “Sadhu Swamigal” (Cātu Cuvāmikaḷ). A few days later he returned to the Nilgiris, reciting the mantras he received day and night.
Om Prakash Swamigal as an older swami. Scan by Keith Cantú of a poster found at Om Prakash’s ashram in Kandal, Ooty.
Om Prakash Swamigal as an older swami. Scan by Keith Cantú of a poster found at Om Prakash’s ashram in Kandal, Ooty.
Tapasviṉi Ir. Kaṅkātēvi (“Ganga Devi”), Om Prakash Swamigal’s student. Photograph by Keith Cantú from Ganga Devi’s book found at Om Prakash’s ashram in Kandal, Ooty.
While at the Palace of the Mysore Raja a friend gave him a book entitled Pirammañāṉa Anuṣṭāṉa (“Rites for the Gnosis of the Infinite Spirit”) by the “Madras Yogi” Sri Sabhapati Swami[6], and he was moved to send a poem in a reverent letter to Chennai.[7] The letter apparently also was requesting initiation, and Sabhapati Swami appeared to him in a dream on a full-moon night to confirm this initiation (see Dream One). Shortly after this, Om Prakash Swami had another dream in which it was told to him that a man named Subarna Swamigal would be traveling and be able to confer initiation (see Dream Two).
As the account goes, four days later Om Prakash Swamigal learned some news that one of Sabhapati Swami’s students had come to Ooty on the way to the Palace of the Maharaja of Mysore. After delivering his lectures there and returning to the mountains, Om Prakash Swamigal went out to meet him. It was, of course, the same person in his dream, and he embraced him with tears of joy. A few weeks later, they went together to “Tiger Hill Cave” (Pulikkukai), a still-extant cave temple site outside of Ooty. Here Sri Subarna Swamigal gave Om Prakash Swamigal his initiatory name of “Lord of Yoga” (Skt. Yogīndra). He also instructed him to read Vairākya Catakam(“Hundred Verses on Dispassion”) and Vairākya Tīpam(“Lamp of Dispassion”)[8], two works attributed to the seventeenth-century Vīraśaiva author Perur Santalinga Swamigal who was a teacher in Sabhapati’s own guru-lineage. At this point Om Prakash began to experience yogic ecstasy or composure (samādhi) as a renunciate (saṃnyāsin).
While Om Prakash Swamigal’s hagiography may have embellished certain details, it was first published only ten years after his death, meaning that many of his students and devotees who had heard these stories and accounts would have still been alive. The swami truly straddled the early modern and modern yoga worlds, and even lived to see the independence of India in 1947, although he died only four months later. He was born only nine years after Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) yet outlived him by forty-five years. He also published a few instructions, including his main aforementioned Tamil work which includes portions in Sanskrit[9], as well as an edition of a work by Sabhapati Swami’s guru Chidambara Periya Swamigal (Citampara Periya Cuvāmikaḷ) entitled Upatēca uṇmai[10].
Om Prakash’s time of death or samādhi is still annually celebrated at the ashram or hermitage bearing his name in Kandal at the former site of Dakshinamurthy Madalayam. Today,the hermitage is run by a swami in the line of the aforementioned Perur Santalinga Swamigal who is active in Perur near Coimbatore. Om Prakash’s hermitage contains hundreds of books that he himself had collected, including numerous rare Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English books, among other languages. His legacy still lives on in his students, such as his female student Tapaswini Gangadevi (Tapasviṉi Ir. Kaṅkātēvi, 1915–1982) whose ideas were compiled after her death into a book entitled Ñāṉōtayam (“Arising of Gnosis")[11] that also includes instruction on mantra and yoga.
Source
Drawn from , Śrī Ti. Ku. Kōvintacāmi Piḷḷai’s. Ompirakāsa cuvāmikaḷ carittirac curukkam.[12] Translated by Keith Cantú.
Dream One[13]:
While at the Palace of the Mysore Raja he read the sacred writing Pirammañāṉa Anuṣṭāṉa, which he had obtained from a friend, and which was composed by the Guru of Gnosis Yogi Sri Adi Sabhapati Swamigal (Ñāṉakuru Yōki Śrī Āti Capāpati Cuvāmikaḷ), who is of the guru-lineage of the great sage Holy Agastya, that great Siddha of the Pothigai Mountain. He wanted intensely to come forth in a state of steadfastness in the gnosis of Brahman, and he sent a poem in a letter to Chennai with reverence toward this great man. That great man, consenting to his wish, bestowed the favor of initiation in the direction of Ooty on a full-moon night. A wise man of mature age appeared in Sadhu Swamigal’s dream. He paid him respect with an abundance of devotion (bhakti) and overflowing tears. His soul, being satisfied, was taken away to his caves. The great man, abundant with compassion, there gave him instruction in gnosis and then, after blessing him, he vanished. When he woke up and looked around, he saw that his bed had been soaked with tears, and his bliss was fulfilled. He did not sleep and was reflecting again and again on the holy guru’s instruction until the break of dawn. The night had passed in a dream, and that day he told everything to his dear mother. The mother, her heart being so very delighted, recorded the language of that instruction. She said that it was mysterious that such a method of practicing the rites had not been explained by anyone. Three days later he received via mail the book Pirammañāṉa Anuṣṭāṉa, along with a sacred portrait (Tam. tiruvuruvappaṭam) of the yogin who is the guru of gnosis, some offering of ashes, and a letter. He became filled with great joy as he read the letter written by the Gurunātha, and he realized that he had received the initiation in a dream into the instruction of gnosis as well as some practices on the yoga of gnosis and words of blessing. He was astonished and filled with an ecstasy of bliss. He performed the practice according to his holy guru’s command. After some time passed, he went to Elk Hill, then Pajē Swami Cave, and then he reached the mountains to the south of the Maharaja’s Palace in Mysore, all the while singing praises to the groups of Siddhas (cittar kaṇaṅkaḷ) with his eyes tearful from devotion and his thoughts full of tenderness. He returned to his little room in the Palace and would perform a practice until it became a habit.
Dream Two[14]:
He had steadfast devotion and love even while working, and therefore would meditate on these men who were Siddhas (= Skt. siddhapuruṣa) and would be praising them. One time at night, and moreover in a dream, a great man who was a Siddha appeared. The swami worshipped him with reverence and devotion, and rejoiced at the divine speech: “The instruction of gnosis was previously given to you. Henceforth a name of initiation will be consecrated for you by a great man named Sri Subarna Swamigal (Śrī Cuparṇa Cuvāmikaḷ), and you will receive from him the mystery of “om acalapīṭhakīlakam” [lit. “Om, the linchpin of the unmovable seat,” or “Om, the fastener of the mountain throne”]. After saying this, he blessed him and vanished.
Notes
[1] Portions of the text that follows are adapted from a section that appears in Cantú 2023a, reframed so as to focus on the importance of texts in Om Pirakāca Cuvāmikaḷ’s practice.
[2] Śrī Ti. Ku. Kōvintacāmi Piḷḷai, Ompirakāsa Cuvāmikaḷ Carittirac Curukkam (n.p., 1957).
[3] The most likely edition of this is Civāṉantapōtam, with Ko. Māṇikka Mutaliyār (Manoṉmaṇivilācam Accukkūṭam, 1897).
[4] Unfortunately no further information about this publication is provided, but it was likely a popular collection of songs circulating at that time.
[5] Ōm Pirakāca Cuvāmikaḷ, Śrīsatsampāṣiṇi (Śrī Carasvati Ācramam, 1915). The book was reprinted in 1939 and also in a subsequent paperback edition.
[6] Keith Edward Cantú, Like a Tree Universally Spread: Sri Sabhapati Swami and Śivarājayoga. Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism (Oxford University Press, 2023).
[7] Based on the title of the book, it was likely Sabhapati’s two-volume book published in 1884 and 1890: The Mahathma Brumha Gnyana Mavuna Guru Sabhapathy Swamy Yogiswer, Om. The Cosmic Psychological Spiritual Philosophy and Science of Communion with and Absorption in the Infinite Spirit, or Vedhantha Siva Raja Yoga Samadhi Brumha Gnyana Anubuthi, First Book (The Hindu Press, 1884 and Karnatak Press, 1890). A book with a similar name was published in Tamil (1889) and Hindi (1892)
[8] Several editions of these texts exist. Two printed versions include the following: Śrī Cānta Liṅka Cuvāmikaḷ et al., Pakti (vairākya) cataka mūlamum poḻip puraiyum pata uraiyum (Maturai intustān piriṇṭiṅ āpīs, 1953); and Śrī Cānta Liṅka Cuvāmikaḷ, Vairākkiya tīpam (Pāla cupramaṇya svāmi piras, 1922).
[9] Cuvāmikaḷ, Śrī Satsampāṣiṇi.
[10] Cuvāmikaḷ, Vētacirēṇi Citampara. Upatēcavuṇmaiyum upatēcavuṇmaikkaṭṭaḷaiyum tōttiramālaiyum aṭaṅkiyirukkiṉṟatu. Edited by Tirumayilai Vaitiliṅkatēcikar (Cakalakalānilaiyaccukkūṭam, 1881). This work has been reprinted several times, including as recently as 2014.
[11] Kaṅkātēvi, Tapasviṉi Ir., and Ñāṉayōki Iraththiṉa Caṟkuru. Ñāṉōtayam (Ālavāy Piriṇṭars, 1982); the word “gnosis” is etymologically cognate with Sanskrit jñāna and has been chosen as an appropriate translation from the original Tamil since it indicates an experiential knowledge that goes beyond ordinary rational or intellectual knowledge.
[12] Śrī Ti. Ku. Kōvintacāmi Piḷḷai, Ompirakāsa Cuvāmikaḷ Carittirac Curukkam, with a foreword by Śrīmat Citpavānanta Cuvāmikaḷ (1957).
[13] Ibid., 13.
[14] Ibid., 15..
Bibliography
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Yogiswer, The Mahathma Brumha Gnyana Mavuna Guru Sabhapathy Swamy. Om. The Cosmic Psychological Spiritual Philosophy and Science of Communion with and Absorption in the Infinite Spirit, or Vedhantha Siva Raja Yoga Samadhi Brumha Gnyana Anubuthi, First Book. The Hindu Press, 1884.
Yogiswer, The Mahathma Brumha Gnyana Mavuna Guru Sabhapathy Swamy. Om. The Cosmic Psychological Spiritual Philosophy and Science of Communion with and Absorption in the Infinite Spirit, or Vedhantha Siva Raja Yoga Samadhi Brumha Gnyana Anubuthi, Second Book. Bombay: Karnatak Press, 1890.
Keith Edward Cantú
Keith Edward Cantú is a Research Fellow at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia and a former Research Affiliate at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School. His research focuses on South Asian religions, yoga, tantra, vernacular religious traditions, and the global histories of esotericism. He is the author of Like a Tree Universally Spread: Sri Sabhapati Swami and Śivarājayoga (2023).
