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by Jayaram V
Agasthya is the name of a vedic seer who played an important
role in the spread
of vedic religion south of the Vindhayas, a
mountain range located in central India. According to the Puranas, he
was born in a pitcher from the semen of Mitra and Varuna (vedic
gods). When they saw Urvashi, the celestial nymph, they lost control and
their semen fell into a pitcher. From it were born two great rishis, Vashista
and Agasthya. Since he was born from a pitcher he was given the
name Agasthya, pitcher born. One Rigvedic hymn dedicated to
Mitra mentions the name of Agasthi, another name of Agasthya.
Agasthya is credited with the composition of some Rigvedic
hymns and also many miracles. He is also considered as the father of
Tamil literature. His knowledge and wisdom was greater than
the combined knowledge and wisdom of all the sages in the world.
According to legends, he married Lopamudra, whom he created himself
combining all the beautiful aspects of the being of the forest, and
lived with her in a hermitage south of the Vindhyas. When
all the sages went to attend the wedding of Lord Siva in the Himalayas,
Agasthya stayed in the south and kept the equilibrium between the north
and the south.
According to the Puranas, once the Vindhya mountains grew so high that they
obstructed the light of the sun and were on the verge of entering the heavens. The
gods grew worried at this development and approached Agasthya for help.
Agasthya went and stood before the mountains. The mountains prostrated
in reverence to him. Agasthya blessed the mountains and asked them to
remain prostrated forever. The mountains obeyed his command and remained
prostrated from then on, thus saving the world and the heavens. This
incident earned him the epithet Vindhyakuta or the subduer of the
Vindhyas. According to some historians, his encounter with the
mountains is an allegorical reference to his crossing the mountains and
traveling south which is considered an important event in the history of
Hinduism as it led to the integration of many southern traditions into
vedic religion and its eventual flowering into the present form.
On another occasion he helped the gods who were fighting with the
demons. During the fight, as part of a strategy, the demons went and hid
themselves in an ocean. The gods went to Agasthya for help. Agasthya
drank the waters of the ocean and exposed the hiding demons. This
incident earned him the epithet Samudrachuluka.
Sage Agasthya is mentioned in the epic Ramayana with great respect.
According to the epic, the region of Dandka forest in south central
India was known in those days as the region of Agasthya. According to a
story in the epic narrated by Sage Visvamitra to Lord Rama, there used
to live in the Dandaka forest a Yaksha (ethereal being) named Sunda and
his wife Tataka. Mareecha was their son. Once Sunda incurred the curse
of Sage Agasthya and died. Angered by his sudden death, both Tataka and
Mareecha attacked Agasthya, who cursed them to become corpse eating
monsters. Because of the curse they became a menace in the region and
began harassing the rishis during their sacrificial ceremonies. It fell
upon Rama and his brother Laskhmana to kill these demented Yaskhas and
free the region from their atrocities.
In another story Agasthya put an end to the wicked deeds of two demon
brothers, Vatapi and Ilvala. Vatapi received a boon from gods which gave
him a special ability to regroup himself by bringing together the
disjointed parts of his body when they were severed and become normal
again. Both brothers took advantage of this supernatural power of Vatapi
and hatched a plan to kill rishis. As per the plan, Ilava would approach
the rishis with feigned reverence and invite them for meals. It was a
tradition in ancient India among the rishis not to refuse any invitation
given to them or reject any food that was served to them by the host.
Ilava used to cook food by cutting Vatapi into several pieces and
serve the meat to the unsuspecting rishis. When the rishis completed
their meals, he would give a signal to Vatapi to come out of their
bodies tearing their bowels. Vatapi would come out of their bowels
killing the rishis and reunite himself into one piece. After killing
several rishis in this fashion, they tried to play the same trick on
Agasthya. But Agasthya knew their intent. So when Vatapi entered his
body in the form of food, the sage simply digested him. When Vatapi
failed to come out, Ilava became angry and attacked the sage, who
reduced him to ashes with a mere thought. After this incident no demon
dared to harm the sage.
Agasthya is frequently mentioned in the Ramayana with due respect.
When Lord Rama was in exile living in the forests according to the
wishes of his father, he went to see Agasthya in his ashram. Agasthya
received him with love and affection. At the end of his stay, Lord Rama
received three gifts from him, a bow made by Visvakarma for Vishnu, an
inexhaustible quiver and a sword. Being a knower of three times, the
sage told him to use these weapons effectively in slaying the demons. He
also advised Rama to spend the rest of his exile at Panchavati a place
where Ravana abducted Sita and from where Rama began his epic journey to
Lanka to rescue her.
Historians believe that Agasthya might be one of the early Vedic
seers who traveled to south and introduced the vedic religion there.
According to Tamil tradition Agasthya was instrumental in the creation
of Tamil language and literature. He is believed to be still dwelling on
the mountain Agasthyamalai. Agasthya is also identified with the star
Canopus which is the brightest star in the south Indian sky. He is
worshipped as a deity in some temples of south India.
Suggested Further Reading
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