Agastya

Agastya was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He is regarded in some traditions to be a Chiranjivi. He and his wife Lopamudra are the celebrated authors of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 in the Sanskrit text ''Rigveda'' and other Vedic literature.

Agastya is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agastya appears in numerous itihasas and Puranas including the major ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts, and is revered as one of the Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, who invented an early grammar of the Old Tamil language, Agattiyam, playing a pioneering role in the development of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in proto-era Sri Lanka and South India. He is also revered in the Puranic literature of Shaktism and Vaishnavism. He is one of the Indian sages found in ancient sculpture and reliefs in Hindu temples of South Asia, and Southeast Asia such as in the early medieval era Shaiva temples on Java Indonesia. He is the principal figure and Guru in the ancient Javanese language text ''Agastyaparva'', whose 11th-century version survives.

Agastya is traditionally attributed to be the author of many Sanskrit texts such as the ''Agastya Gita'' found in '' Varaha Purana'', '' Agastya Samhita'' found embedded in ''Skanda Purana'', and the ''Dvaidha-Nirnaya Tantra'' text. He is also referred to as Mana, Kalasaja, Kumbhaja, Kumbhayoni and Maitravaruni after his mythical origins.

Etymology and nomenclature

Several different etymologies have been suggested for "Agastya". One theory states that the root is ''Aj'' or ''Anj'', which connotes "brighten, effulgent one" and links Agastya to "one who brightens" in darkness, and Agastya is traditionally the Indian name for Canopus, the second most brilliantly shining star found in skies in the Indian sub-continent, next to Sirius.
A third theory links it to Indo-European origins, through the Iranian word ''gasta'' which means "sin, foul", and ''a-gasta'' would mean "not sin, not foul". The fourth theory, based on folk etymology in verse 2.11 of the ''Ramayana'' states that Agastya is from ''aga'' (unmoving or mountain) and ''gam'' (move), and together these roots connote "one who is mover-of-mountains", or "mover-of-the-unmoving". The word is also written as Agasti and Agathiyar.

Biography

Agastya is the named author of several hymns of the ''Rigveda''. These hymns do not provide his biography. The origins of Agastya - Pulastya, one of the Rig Vedic Saptarishis is his father. His miraculous rebirth follows a yajna being done by gods Varuna and Mitra, where the celestial apsara Urvashi appears. They are overwhelmed by her extraordinary sexuality and ejaculate. Their semen falls into a mud pitcher, which is the womb in which the fetus of Agastya grows. He is born from this jar, along with his twin sage Vashistha in some mythologies. This mythology gives him the name ''kumbhayoni'', which literally means "he whose womb was a mud pot".

Agastya is a Tamil Brahmin (Maraiyar) who leads an ascetic life, educates himself, becoming a celebrated sage. His unknown origins have led to speculative proposals that the Vedic-era Agastya may have been a migrant whose ideas influenced the south.

According to inconsistent legends in the Puranic and the epics, the ascetic sage Agastya proposed to Lopamudra, a princess born in the kingdom of Vidarbha. Her parents were unwilling to bless the engagement, concerned that she would be unable to live the austere lifestyle of Agastya in the forest. However, the legends state that Lopamudra accepted him as her husband, saying that Agastya has the wealth of ascetic living, her own youth will fade with seasons, and it is his virtue that makes him the right person. Therewith, Lopamudra becomes the wife of Agastya. In other versions, Lopamudra marries Agastya, but after the wedding, she demands that Agastya provide her with basic comforts before she will consummate the marriage, a demand that ends up forcing Agastya to return to society and earn wealth.

Agastya and Lopamudra have a son named Drdhasyu, sometimes called Idhmavaha. He is described in the ''Mahabharata'' as a boy who learns the Vedas by listening to his parents while he is in the womb, and is born into the world reciting the hymns.

Agastya ashram

Agastya had a hermitage (''ashram

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