Agastya: Maharshis of Ancient India

By Dr. T.V. Satyanarayana

Agasthya was one of the greatest Maharshis and was born with Mahavishnu's blessings. He was a great devotee of Lord Sankara and Lord Shanmukha. He installed a number of Shivalingas and was the first sage to visit the southern part of India.  Lord Brahma asked Vasishta to return to the world to resume the good work. Thus, two Maharshis were born through Mithra and Varuna, Agasthya being the first and Vasishta following him. Agasthya knew the secrets of the Vedas at birth and was an expert in the use of weapons.  Two demons, Ilvala and Vatapi, were the scourge of several Brahmins. Agasthya saw through Ilvala's devilish plans and simply put an end to Vatapi by digesting him! Seeing his pithrus hanging head downwards from a big tree because he was not still a gruhastha, he agreed to get married so that they could reach heaven. Agasthya was able to swallow the water of an entire sea so that Kaleyas, the demons who hid at the bottom of the sea, could be got rid of. He could convince the Vindhyas to stop growing, something which no one could even believe, let alone achieve. It is because of Agasthya that Nahusha turned into a huge python, thus saving Sachi Devi from marrying him even while her husband was alive. Agasthya was so powerful that he alone was able to stop the tilt of the Himalayan Mountain Range. All the guests had assembled at the southern part of the range making it heavy on one side – this was when they came to witness Lord Siva's marriage to Parvathi. Lord Siva himself asked Agasthya to go to the south and stop the tilt. In fact, as the sage was disappointed, the Lord bestowed on him the divine power to witness the celestial marriage from his position in the south.  On the advice of Agasthya, Lord Rama chanted the hymn,'Adithya Hridaya' in order to kill Ravana and then performed Aswamedha yaga for the welfare of the world. Agasthya's curse was so powerful that he did not spare Kubera, the Lord of Wealth. Kubera had ignored when his friend, Mahiman, had spat on the sage's head from the sky. Again, king Indradyumna was able to reach the lotus feet of Lord Narayana because of the sage's curse. The sage was known to assume Devendra's role for the sake of protecting people on earth.  Agasthya's contribution to Tamil is invaluable. He is worshipped in many temples in Tamil Nadu. Sri Lalitha Sahasranamam is a gift to us from the sage in addition to a number of scholars whom the sage gave to the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana
• Release date: May 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9789389020205

Book preview

MAHARSHIS OF ANCIENT INDIA

Agastya

Written by

Dr. T.V. Satyanarayana

Translated by

Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya

© Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana, Bengaluru. All rights reserved.

Published by:

Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana

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Sri Ranga Sadguruve Namah

Bharatha Samskruti Prakashana, which has the major objective of acquainting our children with Bharathiya culture in its true form has brought out a number of books based on two of our great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha. The chief among them are the Epic Characters of the Mahabharatha and the Ramayana. These beautiful books have come out in a number of languages and have been welcomed by educational institutions, the government and the public wholeheartedly. We are delighted to learn that the Bharatha Samskruti Prakashana has brought out another set of ten books on Great Maharshis of Bharatha.

These books acquaint the society with the great sages who built our great culture. They are great souls who have found out truth and devoted their life, energy and experience for the welfare of the people of this planet. They were extraordinary human beings having great wisdom, vast experience and character worthy of imitation. They gifted everything to the world without seeking fame or any kind of gain. Welfare of the world was their sole object. (Lokassamastah Sukhino Bhavantu). A few among such great men are introduced to us through these books. By a study of these books let our young boys and girls develop qualities such as faith in truth and good character and become vibrant individuals and useful citizens of this great land of Bharatha.

Let Bharatha Samskrithi Prakashana bring out many such useful books and help people become better citizens and make our country great among the nations of the world. May God bless the scholars who have written these books and those who edited them and brought them out in attractive forms. We pray to God for the good of all.

Ashtanga Yoga Vijnana Mandiram

Shravana Sukla Dwitiya

With Narayanasmaranas

Sri Sri Srirangapriya Sripadasrisrih

Bangalore

Dated 22-07-2001

AGASTYA

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Agastya is one among the great Maharshis of this great country. He was born with the blessings of Lord Mahavishnu. We get very important information about Agastya in our history and epics. We can construct Agastya’s life history based on these details.

Birth of Agastya

Ikshhwaku was a famous king in the solar line of kings. His son was Nimi. After he became king he wanted to perform a yaga. Sage Vasishta was the royal priest and the king approached him and asked him to help him in performing