The extraordinary powers attributed to advanced Siddhars is due largely to knowledge and intelligent use of this energy stored-up in Kundalini (Serpent power). It should be borne in mind that every function of the bodily organs is dependent on nerve-force which is supplied by Prana emanating from the Sun and circulating in space. Without this nerve-force, the heart cannot beat, the lungs cannot breath the blood cannot circulate and the various organs cannot perform their respective normal functions. This Prana not only supplies electric force to the nerves, but it also magnetises the iron in the system and produces the aura as a natural emanation. It is the first step in the development of Personal Magnetism which is easily acquired by the practice of Pranayama which is fully explained under Yoga and its Philosophy. This Personal Magnetism, the subtle force by which people are influenced and nations are controlled is due to the strength or Prana. History abounds instances of the successes of remarkable personages naturally endowed with this power. Great men in all ages, orators, patriots, statesmen and dictators-admired and worshipped by millions were naturally endowed with this gift and they were but Natural Magnetists. Napoleon was the very thunder-bolt or Europe as also Abraham Lincoln of America, Maramede Steel and Mira Beau (the lion of the French Revolution) were leaders among men. Great men of our own day like Gandhi on moral sphere, Mussolini, Hitler, etc. on the material sphere, owe their influence to this magnetism. A person who has practised absorbing and storing an increased supply of Prana in his system, often radiates vitality and strength which are felt by those coming in contact with him. This power though latent in every man, requires cultivation and development for practical purposes more than perhaps those physical and other ordinary functions.
The Science of Pulse
The Science of pulse forma a very important branch of the Indian system of Medicine; and hence an elaborate description of it has been attempted here. The origin and development of this science is a subject of very remote antiquity. It is not Vedic in origin; and no trace of it could be found in any of the authentic works of Ayurveda such as Charaka or Sushruta. It is a science peculiar to the Siddhars’ system, of Medicine; and as such it was translated in the Tantric literature in which alone a proper delineature of this subject is to be found. It is in the age of Tantric literature i.e., the period during which several innovations were introduced by the Aryans in Southern India, that a large body of Ayurvedic physicians came to know of it and its secret and used in to diagnose all kinds of diseases. Subsequently, it went over to Arabia, Persia, Greece and other places in Europe. Praxogoras of Leos was the first who gained distinction in the West by adopting this method of diagnosis and the last person was Galen.
This Subject is no doubt as interesting as it is intricate; and a careful study of Tamil Siddhars’ science is bound to enlighten the minds of the people, as to the excellence, accuracy and profundity of this science of pulse. It was only in Siddhars’ time that this science had reached perfection. There are innumerable works on this subject written by different authors in Tamil among the following may be mentioned viz., Agastiya, Tirumular, Siva Vakkiyar, Yugimuni, Terayar, Punnakisr, Sudamuni, Mechamuni, Pulippani, Sattamuni, Bogar, Vara Rishi, Ramadevar, Idaikkadar, Konganava etc. The medical treatises by these sages contain so many honestly recorded factors simple, short and perspicuous that they have been justly estimated as the most practically useful and valuable acquisitions to medical science.
In ancient times, there were no appliances like the modern stethoscope, sphygmograph, endoscope etc., for extending sensual perceptions into the interior of the body; nor were there apparatuses and contrivances for the test of urine, faeces, sputum (phlegm) etc., to enable the physicians to observe, record and compare the phenomena of health and disease to such a degree as to bring medicine neared and neared to perfection, to deserve the name of what is now called ‘science’, the physicians in those days had to depend almost entirely on pulse in the matter of diagnosing diseases; and in this, they were pre-eminently successful.
The word pulse means the beating of an artery felt with the tip of the finger or fingers at the wrist; its rate and character go to indicate a person’s condition of health. It is also understood as the beating, throbbing or the rythmical dilation of the arteries as the blood is propelled along them by the contraction of the heart in the living body. The term pulse in medical practice is usually applied to the beat or throb felt in the radial artery at the wrist, though it may be felt over the temporal, carotid, lunar, bracial, femoral and other arteries. The Science of Pulse is no doubt based on the theory of Tridosha ; and so it cannot be easily understood unless one thoroughly acquainted with the working of the three humours in the human system. There are innumerable arteries spread out from head to foot in the human body, and amongst them pulse is felt in twenty-four; and out of these, the one in the right hard and other in the right foot are considered consequential, reliable and important.