Agastya

Agastya was a famous Sage or Rishi of the Vedic period and is considered the greatest of the Seven Sages or Saptarshis. It is believed that he was the first Rishi who brought and popularized the Vedic religion to the southern part of India. We mentioned in the previous issue that Agastya was born of twin Gods, Mitra and Varuna, from Urvashi, along with Vasishtha. Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of Canopus, said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising (February) precedes the calming of the waters of Indian Ocean. This corresponds with the story of Agastya drinking up the ocean. The story goes like this:

Indra ruthlessly killed Vritrasura, a demon who constantly harassed the gods, with the help of Kalakeyas (a group of 60,000 demons working under the leadership of Vritrasura). After the death of their leader, the Kalakeyas got into the oceans and hid themselves at the bottom. At night they came out to kill the Brahmins. It was very difficult to kill the Kalakeyas because of their staying at the bottom of the ocean. With the permission of Lord Vishnu the gods requested Rishi Agastya who brought the ocean into his palm and drank it up, thereby killing the Kalakeyas.

Agastya was the teacher of Agnivesha who taught Drona the art of archery. It shows how proficient Agastya must have been in the art of weaponry. He was a rigorous tapasvi (one practicing austerities) who had brought all passions under control. Once while walking along in the forest he saw his forefathers in a canyon hanging with their heads down. Agastya wanted to know the reason and his forefathers replied to him by saying that they would be freed and allowed to enter into the heaven only if he has sons born to him. Then Agastya decided to get married. But who could marry a dwarf sage with a long beard and matted hair? In this situation Agastya, by the power of his austerity, collected the quintessence of all living beings and created a female baby. He gave the name Lopamudra to her and made an offering of her to the king of Vidarbha who was aspiring for a child. The king of Vidarbha took good care for the proper growth of the child, who turned out to become an extremely beautiful woman. When she became fit for marriage, Agastya came to the king and asked the hands of Lopamudra in marriage. The king was in a dilemma, but Lopamudra was happy to have Agastya as her husband. After a few years of married life, Lopamudra gave birth to a son. The name given to the child was Dridhasyu. It is said that he chanted the entire Veda immediately on his birth.
In another legend it is said that the Vindhya Mountains that separate north and south India from each other once showed a tendency to grow so high as to obstruct the usual trajectory of the sun. It was Rishi Agastya who during his tour from northern solstice to southern solstice, encountered the now impassable Vindhya Mountains. He asked the mountain range to facilitate his passage across to the South. In reverence for so eminent a sage as Agastya, the Vindhya Mountains bent low enough to enable the sage and his family to cross over and enter South India. The Vindhya range also promised not to increase in height until Agastya and his family returned to the northern solstice. Agastya settled permanently in the South, and the Vindhya range, true to its word, never grew further.
Another story has it that two demon brothers, Ilvala and Vatapi, decided to kill Agastya. One of them was good at changing form and the other knew the Sanjivani mantra which, when invoked can revive a dead person. They hatched a plan that the one who could change form would turn into a goat and be killed and fed to Agastya. After Agastya had eaten the goat, the other would invoke the Sanjivani mantra to bring back his brother to life, who in turn would rend Agastya's stomach and come out thereby killing him. Agastya knew the plan beforehand, but he resolved to teach both a lesson. After the meal, Agastya simply rubbed his stomach saying ‘jeerno bhava vataapi jeerno bhava’, literally get digested, O Vatapi, get digested! This is how Vatapi was killed by Agastya.
In addition to having many verses in the Rig Veda to his credit, Agastya is said to have composed the Aditya Hridayam, a hymn to Surya, and taught the same to Rama just before the war between Rama and Ravana. Agastyagita of Varahapurana, Agastyasamhita, Dvaidhanirnayatantra amongst others compositions have been attributed to Agastya. He was one of the narrators of the Brahmapurana and also a writer on medicine. The name of Agastya holds a great place also in Tamil literature, and he is venerated as the first teacher of science and literature to the people of South India.
Indeed, Agastya was a great integrator and a venerable sage whose contribution in many fields of knowledge will always be inspiring for the world.