GuruMuni Agathiyar (also
transliterated as Agathiar, Agasthiar, Agastyar, Agasti, Agastiar) is a
legendary Vedic Rishi (sage). It is believed that sage Agathiyar was
instrumental in spreading the Vedic religion in southern India. Agastya is also
recognized as one of Seven Great Sages (Saptarishis). Sage Agathiyar has also
contributed immensely to the four Vedas. These mantras were revealed to Sage Agathiyar
by the Brahman (Supreme Being) itself.
Agathiyar is also the
leader of all Siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni, meaning short (kuru) saint
(muni). His contributions are manily n the fields of Medicine (Siddha) and
Astrology - especially Nadi Jodhidam (Jos(i)yam or Jothisyam). He is said to
have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations,
Boopathi Kuligai, is so powerful that it can even bring the dead back to life.
Two of his students and disciples were Therayar and Tholkappiar. He is also
considered to be the guru of many other Siddhars.
The Lalitha sahasranama,
which describes the 1000 names of the mother Goddess (Known commonly as Gowri,
Parvati or Durga), was first revealed to the world when Hayagriva, an Avatar of
Vishnu, taught the same to Agathiyar. Agathiyar is said to have composed the
Aditya Hridayam, a hymn on Sun God (Surya), and taught the same to Rama just
before the war between Rama and Ravana.
Humbling the Vindhya
mountains.
Legend says 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. This was accompanied by increasing vanity on the part of that mountain
range, which demanded that Surya, the sun-God, should circum-ambulate the Vindhyas
in the same way as he does Mount Meru (identified by some as being the north
pole). The need arose to subdue, by guile, the Vindhyas, and Agathiyar was
chosen to do that. Agathiyar journeyed from north to south, and on the way
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 Agathiyar, 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 Agathiyar and his family returned to the north.
Agathiyar settled permanently in the south, and the Vindhya range, true to its
word, never grew further. Thus, Agastya accomplished by guile something that
would have been impossible to accomplish by force.
Agathiyar and
Lopamudra
As with all other Hindus,
it was necessary for Agastya to marry and sire a son, in order to fulfill his
duties to the Manus. Once he resolved upon doing this, Agathiyar pursued an
unusual course of action: by his yogic powers, he created a female infant who
possessed all the special qualities of character and personality that would be
appropriate in the wife of a renunciate. At this time, the noble and virtuous
king of Vidarbha (an area in south-central India, just south of the Vindhya
mountains), was childless and was undergoing penances and prayers for the gift
of a child. Agastya arranged for the child he had created to be born the
daughter of that noble king of Vidarbha. The child was named
"Lopamudra" by her parents. Upon her coming of age, Agastya
approached the king and sought the hand of his daughter. The king was initially
chagrined to hear such a suggestion from a renunciate, but found that his
daughter, who had early exhibited extraordinary standards of mind and
character, was insistent that he should accept the proposal. She was utterly
intent upon exchanging the palace of her father the king for the
forest-hermitage of Agathiyar. Lopamudra and Agathiyar were duly married and
lived a life of extraordinary felicity. Legends say that you could find them in
the deep forests of Podhigai Hills even today.
Other Legends about Agathiyar
One story about Agathiyar
goes that once the demons had taken refuge in the ocean and it was difficult
for the gods to vanquish them, so they went to Sage Agathiyar for help. Then,
after hearing the gods, the sage drank the entire ocean water and held it
within him until the demons were destroyed.
Agathiyar is said to have
"dedicated" all the forest animals to the deity Rudra (later called
as Shiva), hence making them fit for eating if killed while hunting. Another
story has it that two demon brothers, Ilvala and Vatapi, decided to kill Agathiyar.
One of them was good at changing form and the other knew the Sanjivani mantra
which, when invoked can bring back a dead person to life. They hatched a plan
that the one who could change form would turn into a goat and be killed and fed
to Agathiyar. After Agathiyar had eaten the goat, the other would invoke the
Sanjivani mantra to bring back his brother to life, who in turn would rend Agathiyar's
stomach and come out thereby killing him. By the plan, one changed into a goat
and the other disguised himself as a Brahmachari who invited Agathiyar for a
meal. Agastya knew beforehand about the plan due to his immense Vedic powers,
but he resolved to teach both a lesson. After the meal, Agastya simply rubbed
his stomach saying "Jeernam Jeernam Vathaapi Jeernam", literally
meaning "digested, digested vathaapi is digested" to digest the meal,
while the other demon tried to bring his brother to life in vain. Agathiyar
plainly informed the demon that his brother has been digested. Agathiyar,
realising that his liking for meat had nearly gotten him killed (had it not
been for his vedic powers), forbade the consumption of meat for all people.
At a
Saivite temple named Kutralam, formerly a Vishnu temple, in Tamil Nadu, Agathiyar,
in one legend, was refused entry. He then appeared as a Vaishnavite devotee and
is said to have miraculously converted the image to a Shiva linga. A symbolic
meaning of this conversion, in one interpretation, is to show that Vishnu and
Shiva are different aspects of the one and same God.
Agathiyar was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. After Agathiyar reached the south,
in answer to his prayer for revelation on the classical language of South
India, Lord Shiva himself taught the classical Tamil language to Agathiyar. Agathiyar
is said to have attended Tamil Sangam (convention) and staged his work the
Agattiyam or Agastyam, reputedly one of the earliest treatise on Tamil grammar.
In the 2500-year old Tamil Sangam, Agastyakoodam contains the history of being
home to Siddha medicine and it is said to be the home of Agastya.
