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AGASTYA SARAS

22) Agastya cursing Dufpanya. Duspanya was the last (6) Agastya gave Sri an arrow, which, when son of the King of Pataliputra. The wicked Duspanya shot at an asura (demon) would pierce his heart, pass had slain a large number of babies, and the King on to the other side, fly to the sea and bathe in the therefore expelled him from the palace. Duspanya sea-water and return to the quiver, it is said. (Uttara went into the forest, where he caught hold of the ). child of and killed it it Once visited the of Ugraravas by putting under ( 7) Agastya hermitage Apastamba. water. Ugraravas cursed him and accordingly he fell He asked Agastya, who, of , Visnu and Siva, into water and died and his spirit became a ghost was the Supreme deity. Agastya replied: "These three and wandered about tormented with pain and are only three different manifestations of the one anguish. At last the spirit approached Agastya, who supreme Being". (Brahmapurana). called his disciple Sutisna and asked him to go and (8) For the story of how Agastya cursed the sons of bathe in the Agni tirtha (a bath) in the Gandhama- Manibhadra and transformed them to seven palms, dana mountain and bring some water from the tirtha see the word 'Saptasala'. and sprinkle it on the spirit of Duspanya. Sutisna (9) There was a hermit called Sutisna, to whom Sri acted accordingly and immediately the spirit of Dus- Rama and Laksmana paid a visit when they were panya received divine figure and entered heaven. (Setu wandering in the forest. This Sutisna is the young- Mahatmya). er brother of Agastya. (See the word Sutisna). 23) How Agastya got golden Bangle. Once Agastya (10) Agastya cursed Suka and deformed him into a

entered a forest . of about a hundred yojanas wide. The Raksasa. (See the word Suka ii.) forest was devoid of life. When he had walked a few 25) Conclusion. It is believed that the great hermit more steps some Gandharvas (semi-gods) and celestial Agastya, who had performed such wonderful deeds by maids came there singing and dancing. From among the merits of his penance, is still doing penance in the them a noble male being came forward to the bank of Agastya Kuta hills. Agastya who had travelled through- a lake in the forest and ate without any hesitation, the out the length and breadth of had several corpse of a man that was lying there. After that he hermitages. In the Ramayana, Aranyakanda, walked round Agastya and made obeisance to him. Sarga 11, a description is given, of a beautiful hermit- Agastya asked him why he had eaten the corpse of a age of Agastya, and the peaceful atmosphere that it. man. The noble man told Agastya thus : "In treta prevailed in and around Agastya had presented to yuga (the third age) there lived a King named Vidarbha. Sri Rama a bow got from Visnu, when the brothers I am his son and my name is Sveta. After having ruled, visited his hermitage. Agastya had accompanied Sri over my kingdom for a long time, I came to the bank Rama and his followers on his return journey to of this lake and began to do penance. After that dis- from , with Slta after killing . carding my body I entered heaven. Though I attained There is a legend in the Tamilnad that Agastya was a heaven my hunger was not appeased. I asked Brahma member of the first two 'Saiighas' (groups) of the how, I, a dweller of heaven, got this hunger. Brahma "three Sanghas", mentioned in . As said that when I was King I had given nothing to any- Agastya was dwarfish he is mentioned as Kurumuni, body and so I got this hunger even after entering (short hermit) in Tamil works. He has written a Tamil heaven. As a remedy Brahma suggested that I should grammar on music, literature and drama. But this come here everyday and eat corpse and when I had work is not available now. The Tamil Grammar completed ten thousand days the hermit Agastya 'Tolkapyam', which is considered to be the oldest gram- would come here and that when I offered him a golden mar, was written by Tolkapyar, one of the twelve sin in bangle my would be washed away." Saying thus disciples of Agastya< Even today certain temples in Sveta offered to Agastya the golden bangle given by the Tamilnad, Agastya-worship is carried on. Kambar, Brahma and then he vanished and the corpse also dis- has mentioned about Agastya in his Ramayana. A great appeared. Sveta went to heaven. (Uttara Ra.ma.yana). Tamil author Villiputturan says that the Tamil langu- 24) Other informations concerning Agastya. age is the beautiful maiden presented by Agastya. (1) Agastya had a brother called Sutisna. (Agni- It is believed that the following works have been com- purana, Chapter 7) . posed by Agastya: Sutisna was s too. Glta in the (2) Agastya' disciple (Setu Maha- 1) Agastya ; Varahapurana, Pasupalopakh- tmya ) . yana. (3) Ilvala and Vatapi were the sons of the giantess 2) Agastya Sarhhita; in Paiicaratra. the Ajarnukhi. In valley of a mountain Ajamukhi pray- 3) Agastya Sarhhita, in the Skandapurana. ed to Durvasas for love and thus Ilvala and Vatapi 4) Siva Sarhhita, in Bhaskara Sarhhita. were born from Durvasas. These two sons demanded 5) Dvaidha-nirnaya Tantra. that Durvasas should impart to them all his merits of AGASTYA KUTA. This is the sacred mount where penance. Getting angry Durvasas cursed them that the sage, Agastya, sat and did penance during his so- they would meet with death at the hands of Agastya. journ in the southern parts of India. In the Kiskindha (Skandapurana, Asura Kanda). Kanda of Valmiki Ramayana we find King Sugrlva (4) Agastya had been the priest of the King Khela. commanding that all his soldiers going in search of (Rgveda, 112th Sukta). Slta should pay homage to the sage Agastya. (5) When Sri Rama returned to Ayodhya, with Slta AGASTYA PARVATA. This is a mountain in South from Larika, hermits from various parts visited him, India believed to belong to the Kalanjara mountain among whom, Dattatreya, Namuci, Pramuci, Sri range. Agastya Kuta is in this mountain. Valmiki, Soma, Kandu, Agastya and their disciples AGASTYA SARAS. This is another name for Agastya were from the South. (Uttara Ramayana) . tirtha.