Episode 48
Sage Agastya - a great Rishi of par Excellence [i]
Agastya is a well known Maharshi
of ancient lore. He is the rishi who crossed Vindhya mountains and reached
South India and propagated vedic culture. Agastya is the foremost proponent of
Tamil grammar and we find many statues of Agastya across many temples of India.
In this story we find the supreme
sacrifices of sages like Dadhichi and Agastya. The story emphatically tells
about the importance of tapas, Yagnas etc for the benefit of the people at
large and not for sensual pleasures and self-aggrandizement.
In this story we find the dubious
plot designed by the demons to destroy a civilization and we are awestruck when
we find the same strategies being used by break India forces even by today.
This gripping narrative of Agastya
is very big with small in-built stories of Vindhyas, Vatapi-Ilvala, marriage with
Lopamudra, Agastya devouring Ocean waters etc.
The Story
In the last episode we have seen
Pandavas moving from one point of pilgrimage to other point and ultimately reached
the Ashrama of sage Agastya. Dharmaraja was inquisitive to hear the great deeds
of Agastya; and Lomasa Maharshi started telling the story of Agastya.
Dadhichi – a rishi known
for tyagam (great sacrifice)
In Krita Yuga, also known as Satya
Yuga, there was a herd of powerful demons called Kālakeyas who were very cruel and always on the
prowl to wage wars with gods. Vritrasura was their chief. They started creating
troubles to righteous acts in the world and they became a major hinderance to
the dharmic rhythm prevailing in the age.
The gods could not face the might
of demons and approached Lord Brahma. He advised them to obtain the backbone of
rishi Dadhichi and mould a weapon to destroy the demonic forces. Dadhichi was a rishi who stood steadfast for thousands of
years in penance and the backbone had become so powerful to attract the attention
of gods.
The gods bowed before him and
sought a boon for the benefit of humanity at large. ‘Loka Kalyanam’ (good for
the society) was the uppermost principle that encouraged the sages to indulge
in great sacrifices. Dadhichi, by his own volition, reduced
to ashes leaving aside his bones. Tvashtra Prajapati took the cervical bone and
moulded it into a great weapon called Vajrayudha. Indra took the Vajrayudha
and all other gods bestowed their strength to Lord Indra.
Under the leadership of Indra, a
great war was fought in which Indra could kill Vritrasura with his newly
acquired powerful weapon, Vajrayudha. The asuras (demons – here Kālakeyas) ran helter-skelter and took refuge in
ocean waters.
Agastya swallowing the
waters of the Ocean
Kālakeyas
started regrouping beneath the depths of ocean waters and started devising
strategies to destroy all the three worlds (earth, pātāḻa and swarga).
Ultimately, they came out with a plan.
ये सन्ति विद्या तपसोपपन्ना:
Those who are intellectuals
and dwell in tapas are to be destroyed first.
‘All the worlds sustain on the
power of tapas or meditation. Let us destroy their tapas. Let us capture the
sages and seers. If they are killed all the worlds are as good as killed’ (Vana
Parva 101. 21,22,23).
Kālakeyas
started implementing their plans immediately. In the nights, when the worlds are
slept, they used to come out and capture the sages. They used to eat out the
munis mercilessly. In a span of a few days, there were found half eaten sages,
debilitated sages and disillusioned sages thrown on the streets. The common people started running with fear to unknown
destinations.
The gods could not know what to do
and they approached Lord Vishnu for solace. Vishnu
consoled them and asked them to think of a plan for evaporating the waters of
the ocean since Kālakeyas
had hidden beneath the ocean waters. He suggested that they should approach
Agastya, a great sage who could help gods by devouring the ocean waters.
The gods headed by Indra reached
Agastya with all devotion and begged to help them in their endeavour to destroy
the Kālakeyas. Agastya agreed to help gods in the
interest of alleviating human suffering.
The growth of Vindhya- the
intervention of Agastya
Agastya wanted to reach the
southern part of Bharat for reaching ocean waters. But at that point of time, there
was a major hinderance. The sun god Surya was taking perambulations around the Meru
mountain[iii]
everyday as per the cosmic design of Lord Brahma. Vindhya mountain did not like
it. It started growing and growing and ultimately obstructed the passage of the
sun and the moon. When Vindhyas grew to greater heights no one could able to
cross from north to south. But Agastya had to cross the mountain to keep up his
pledge with gods. Vindhyas refused the advice of gods but could not say no to
sage Agastya due to his power of penance.
Agastya reached Vindhyas and told, ‘I am going towards southern direction for a dharmic cause.
You come down to your normal size and allow me to cross over. Until I come
back, you be like that’. Vindhyas bowed before the spiritual power of
sage Agastya and Agastya crossed Vindhyas and he never went back.
Agastya reached the ocean. To
extricate Kālakeyas from the ocean bed,
he had to drink the waters. The task is stupendous but not so difficult for a
seer like Agastya. ‘अहं लोकहितार्थं वै पिबामि वरुणालयम्’
[iv].
‘I will drink the ocean waters for the good of the society’, Agastya
declared and then he devoured all waters in a single stretch.
When all the waters were wiped
out, the Kālakeyas were easily spotted
at. The gods at once pounced over them and destroyed all the demons. A few Kālakeyas who could escape the onslaught
virtually tore open the earth and reached pātāḻa.
Lomasa Maharshi was narrating the
story of Agastya to Dharmaraja and other Pandavas. Dharmaraja asked, ‘Hey Rishi!
What great deeds Agastya did? I want to listen his full story’. Lomasa started
telling:
Agastya marrying
Lopamudra and his search for wealth
For many years Agastya remained
unmarried and roaming in the forests performing great austerities and penance.
One day he saw his pitru devatas hung upside down from a tree. He realised that
they were in that pathetic state as he was not married and blessed with a son.
The pitru devatas advised him to marry and sustain the lineage.
Agastya was a rishi with
exceptional spiritual powers. He could not find any bride who could match his
spiritual prowess upon the earth. Agastya took the choicest
and the most beautiful parts of all living creatures and created a girl child. He
gifted the girl to the king of Vidarbha who was childless. The king was very
happy and named the girl, Lopamudra. Lopamudra soon grew into a beautiful lady
and shined like a streak of fire in the Yagnic flames.
Agastya approached the king and
asked him to give the teenage Lopamudra for a marriage to him. The king was
hesitant as the sage was old but he can curse if his request was not obliged.
Lopamudra understood the sensitivities of his parents. But she asked her father
firmly to get her married with sage Agastya.
Agastya married Lopamudra and came
to his hermitage. He asked his wife to remove all ornaments and costly cloths. Without any protest Lopamudra wore an old sari and removed
all her ornaments. Agastya was pleased by her sense of sacrifice and
started developing intimacy with her.
Days passed into months and months
rolled into years, yet Agastya never approached her for love making. One day he
saw Lopamudra shining with her spiritual aura after her normal bath and after
the regular periods.
स तस्या: परिचारेण सौचेन च दमेन च |
He was pleased by her
adoring nature, physical and mental cleanliness, control over senses, aura, and
beauty. He invited her for a romantic love.
Lopamudra was an intelligent lady.
She blushed and with modesty replied, ‘Hey Swamy! Husband reaching the wife for
progeny is our tradition. But I expect the same friendliness as I bestow upon
you. In my young age, I lived in the midst of luxury and upon your advice, I
discarded the luxury. Now my request is that you restore same luxury and enjoy
with me by wearing all ornaments and gold. I personally
do not like love making when you are in saintly robes. I fear that we
may be making the robes dirty.
But Agastya had no money or
wealth. Lopamudra suggested that he could obtain any amount of wealth by his
power of tapas. But Agasthya was not willing to waste his tapas for earning
wealth. ‘Oh, Lopamudra! You suggest some method so that I need not waste my
tapas and yet obtain wealth’.
Lopamudra told, ‘Oh sage! Only a
limited period of reproductive period is with me and I can sleep with you in
luxury only. I do not want to derail your dharmic way of life. You only think
of a solution that blends preserving your tapas and your dharma’.
Agastya thought for a while and
decided to approach some king for money. He went to a king Srutaparva and
asked, ‘Hey king! I have come to you seeking money. Please
give me as much as possible but ensure that it will not result in the suffering
of the people’. The king ordered his ministers to bring the balance
sheet and it was found that there was nothing extra to spare. Agastya saw the
balance sheet and he was not willing to take any money from the king’.
Agastya went to two more kings and
in all the places, he did not find surplus that he can take from the kings. Even though the kings were ready to donate, he was not
willing to take.
The three kings suggested, ‘Hey
sage! As far as our knowledge go, there is one asura (demon) by name Ilvala who
possess lot of wealth. We can approach him for wealth’. Agastya agreed and they
proceeded to the place of Ilvala. Who is Ilvala? Let us read his story.
Ilvala and Vātāpi- the demons who were destroyed
by Agastya
Ilvala and Vātāpi were
two brothers living in a town called Manimati nagaram. One day the elder
brother Ilvala approached a brahmin sage and requested him to bestow a boon
upon him so that he could have a child as powerful as Indra. When the sage
refused to oblige his request, Ilvala started disliking the Brahmins in general
and started destroying the brahmin community.
By his demonic magic, he
could turn his brother Vātāpi as a goat and used to
cook the goat’s meet for brahmins. Once they eat, Ilvala used to call
out, ‘Hi, Vātāpi! Come here’. Then Vātāpi used to
come out of the stomachs of brahmins in his normal form, thus killing the
brahmins instantaneously.
When Ilvala heard the approach of
sage Agastya to his place, he received him and the three kings with all
courtesy. Then he cooked goat’s meat for offering to his guests. The kings knew
the trick played by Ilvala and they were awestruck.
Agastya smiled and ate all the goat’s
meat alone. Ilvala started calling, ‘Vātāpi!, Vātāpi!’. Agastya pronounced, ‘Vātāpi! īrṇo bhava’. Vātāpi was fully digested in
the stomach of Agastya. Ilvala was disappointed. He pretended as if he was
not worrying, and he asked Agastya as to what he can offer to him.
Agastya sought huge wealth for the
kings and for himself. Ilvala arranged money and they left in a chariot. Ilvala
could not tolerate the acts of Agastya and ran after the chariot to kill him.
Agastya just turned and with a hiss of a sound, he turned Ilvala into ashes. He
freed the country from the evil designs of the demons.
Agastya was blessed with
a son
Agastya reached his place and
fulfilled the desire of Lopamudra. He met her at the right time and bestowed ‘garbhādānaṃ’ (the act of impregnating). The embryo took
seven long years and Lopamudra delivered a boy by name Dhrudasyu. The pitru
devatas of Agastya were pleased and reached the higher worlds.
Lomasa concluded the story of
Agastya and asked the Pandavas to take bath in the Agastya tirtha.
Analysis of the story
The story of Agastya is very
famous for many reasons. Apart from the gripping narrative imbedded in the
story, there are many points which need intellectual analysis.
The foremost point directly connected
to the story is the sense of sacrifice displayed by
Rishis for the well being of the society. When dharma is getting
destroyed by the demonic forces, there is a necessity of great sacrifices or
the very descendance of God upon earth. In Gita Krishna tells,
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति
भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं
सृजाम्यहम् ॥ Gita 4.7
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय
च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि
युगे युगे ॥ Gita 4.8
In this story we find the
supreme sacrifices of Dadhichi and Agastya for the sake ‘Lok Sangraha’ (welfare
of society). Dadhichi died on his own so that his bone can be moulded as a
weapon to destroy demonic forces. Agastya swallowed the ocean to help the gods
in destroying Asuras (demons).
One may question why the gods
should be protected and why asuras or demons are to be destroyed. Let see the definitions of devas (gods) and asuras
(rakshasas).
- The commentators on scriptures define devas as ‘देवाः शास्त्रोद्भासित इन्द्रिय वृत्तय: असुराः तद्विपरीताः’ (‘devāḥ śāstrodbhāsita iṃdriya vṛttaya: asurāḥ tadviparītāḥ’) which means our thoughts purified by scriptures are gods; and the cruel, devilish, ugly and unrefined thoughts represent asuras.
- ‘असुषु रमन्ते इति असुराः’ (‘asuṣu ramante iti asurāḥ’)-which
means those who dwell in sensual pleasures are demons.
- Our
mind is compared to ocean where good and bad thoughts always fight. This
is ‘मंथनं’- manthanam or clash
of ideas or churning of ideas. One should support the good thoughts
(devas) and deny support to bad thoughts (asuras).
Thus, to notify a person as deva,
he should have control over senses. To call a person a demon, he must be
indulging in sensual pleasures. Anyone stands for dharmic rhythm in the society
is deva and anyone who stands for self-aggrandisement is asura. Asuras are not
sudras as a few people misinterpret. There are many brahmins who are demons. If
dharma is destroyed, it signifies the tearing of the ethical fabric of the
society. Hence Agastya and Dadhichi protected and
supported the cause of gods in the interest of the society.
Second important point is that the
same Agastya who sacrificed his tapas for devouring the ocean did not want to
waste his tapas to satisfy his sensual pleasures. Tapas
is for the general good and not for personal wellbeing. This fact can
also be seen when Munis and Rishis prefer to suffer physical assaults in the
hands of Kālakeyas though they were
capable enough to destroy the Kalakeyas by cursing them. They did not want to
waste their tapas for destructive activities.
The third important
point in the story is how one should use one’s judicious judgemental values in
accepting gifts or donations. Agastya did not want to accept charity from
kings since that would amount to the suffering of people.
The fourth aspect relates to the
character Lopamudra. पति शुश्रूषया लोपे अमुद्रा लोपामुद्रा (pati śuśrūṣayā lope amudrā lopāmudrā) which means in doing service to
husband, one who has no blot is Lopamudra. She is a devotee of her husband and
discarded all her valuable ornaments for pleasing him. Lopamudra appears to
have yielded to the sensitivities of her husband but the toughness of her
character comes to light when she won over her husband and insisted to have
romance in luxury. Initially she lost the battle, but in the end won the game. Psychologically the frailty of a man’s mind before a woman and
the fortitude of a woman when the man is weak are well depicted in this story.
The fifth important point is the
historical significance of Agastya which no one can deny. In all Indian History books, Agastya is depicted as the sage
who was the first to enter the southern part of Vindhyas (South India) and thus
responsible for the spread of vedic culture in South India. The crossing
of Vindhyas is thus a story of symbolic significance.
The sixth aspect is Brahmins
eating meat in early vedic ages. In this story we see sage Agastya eating the
meat cooked by Ilvala. Meat eating by Brahmins was not
thus a taboo in those days. According to historians, majority of the
Brahmins started discarding meat from 3rd century BC onwards due to
the influence of Buddhism and Jainism.
The seventh aspect of the story is
about the other great deeds of Agastya not narrated by Lomasa Maharshi in Maha
Bharata.
- Agastya
is the sage who initially wrote Tamil Grammar and thus he was one of the greatest
contributors to Tamil literature. In Tamil Nadu, we come across statues of
Agastya in many temples.
- Agastya
is known for Agastya Nadi Jyotishya (for details refer Google) which was
originated in vaitheeswaran koil in Tamil Nadu.
- Agastya
is credited with negating the ego of the king Nahusha.
- In Ramayana when Sri Rama was desperate when he could
not conquer Ravana, Agastya approaches Rama and initiated the famous ‘ADITYA
HRUDAYAM’. On reciting this stotram Rama got physical and mental rejuvenation
and he could kill Ravana. All traditional Hindus recite Aditya Hrudayam with
all devotion.
The most important
aspect of the story which no one should ignore is to understand the strategies
for destruction of a civilization[vi]. We find
in this story Kālakeyas
discussing the strategies to destroy the three worlds. The passages of Ved
Vyasa are now being invoked by ‘Breaking of India’ forces insidiously and meticulously
to break India into pieces. In order to destroy a
civilization, you need not kill all civilians. It is sufficient if the
knowledge class (in this story, the sages and seers who were known for tapas)
is systematically degraded and their religious symbols are destroyed; their
national pride is degraded and create dissensions in the society by inciting
conflicts (Aryan- Dravidian theory, Brahmin vis-à-vis Sudra theory, South
vis-à-vis north, BCs vis-à-vis OCs and the like). This is precisely what the
demonic Kālakeyas did in Satya Yuga. In
present day society one should be vigilant and ward off such evil break India
forces.
Tradition and the Story
In all Hindu traditional families,
we keep hearing a sloka used as a lullaby for making children sleep. This
lullaby is recited particularly when the small kids keep crying unable to
express indigestion. Agastya is famous for devouring and digesting an
ocean-full of water. The lullaby is invoking Agastya and other great digesters
like Sani, Agni and Bhima. The sloka is:
अगस्त्यं कुम्भकर्णं च
शनिं च वडवानलम् ।
आहारपरिपाकाय स्मरेद्
भीमं च पञ्चकम् ।।
Hindu tradition believes in
reciting this sloka for proper digestion of food after every meal.
Points to Ponder
- How is the plot dubiously designed by Kālakeyas to destroy the civilization is relevant even by today? Who are modern asuras or demons?
- What is dharmic love? How is it different from animal romance?
- Does
Hinduism advocate only vegetarianism? Is there any wrong with meat eaters?
- Who
are asuras or demons? How are they different from gods?
- Do
you feel that breaking India forces are systematically on the prowl to
denigrate our religious symbols and elite intellectuals? What is the remedy?
Footnotes
[i] The Story
is taken from the Vana Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Ved Vyasa.
[iii] Mount Meru (Sanskrit: मेरु), also recognized as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred
five-peaked mountain in
Hindu
cosmology and is
considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. As per
Hindu mythology, it is a
golden mountain that stands in the centre of the universe and is the axis of
the world. It is the abode of gods, and its foothills are the
Himalayas, to the south of which extends Bhāratavarṣa (“Land of the Sons
of Bharata”)
śriyā
rūpeṇa ca prīto maithunāyājuhāva tām || -Vana Parva
97. 14
[vi] For
understanding as to how destruction of a civilization happens, you may read the
small write up published in Washington Times by clicking the following link:
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