Agastya (or Agathiyar) 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. The 8th-century Tamil commentary Iraiyanar Akapporul names Agathiyar as the head of the First Tamil Sangam in Then Madurai, which was submerged by the sea in ancient times. It also states that his work, Agattiyam, served as the Tamil grammatical authority for that entire era. 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.
Agathiyar is considered to be the father of Siddha medicine. Agathiyar 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.
Agathiyar is traditionally attributed to be the author of many Tamil and Sanskrit texts such as Sirragathiyam, Agathiyar Gunavagadam, Agathiyar 12000, 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".Edwin Bryant and Laurie Patton (2005), The Indo-Aryan Controversy, Routledge, , pages 252–253 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
Agathiyar is a Tamil Brahmin (Maraiyar) who leads an ascetic life, educates himself, becoming a celebrated sage. He is from the Pothigai Hills of Southern Tamil Nadu, and there is a waterfall there called Agathiyar Falls.
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 Vasistha in some mythologies. This mythology gives him the name kumbhayoni, which literally means "he whose womb was a mud pot".
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.Lopamudra The Mahabharata, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883 -1896), Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section XCVII. 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.
Agathiyar ashram In Southern sources and the North Indian Devi-Bhagavata Purana, his ashram is based in Tamil Nadu, variously placed in Tirunelveli, the Pothigai Hills, or Thanjavur. Facing east, he penanced upon a rock at Kanyakumari immediately after the beginning of Kali Yuga. It is also considered that his final resting place is in Agastyarkoodam in Thiruvananthapuram. Agastya had a hermitage (ashram), but the ancient and medieval era Indian texts provide inconsistent stories and location for this ashram. Two legends place it in Northwest Maharashtra, on the banks of the river Godavari, near Nashik in small towns named Agastyapuri and Akole. Other putative sites mentioned in Northern and Eastern Indian sources are near Sangli in Ainwadi (Agastinagar) (Tal-khanapur) village (Western Ghats at Maharashtra), or near Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh), or in Agastyamuni village near Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), or Satpura Range (Madhya Pradesh).
Textual sources
Tamil texts
In Tamil traditions, Agathiyar is considered as the father of the Tamil language and the compiler of the first Tamil grammar, called Agattiyam or Akattiyam.Klaus Klostermaier (2003), A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, , page 17Iravatham Mahadevan (1986) Agastya Legend and the Indus Civilization by கட்டுரையாளர் : ஐராவதம் மகாதேவன் கட்டுரையாளர் பணி : Retired I.A.S, his studies pertaining to the Indus Civilization கட்டுரைப் பிரிவு : Indus Valley Signs - சிந்துவெளி குறியீடுகள் ஆய்விதழ் எண் : 030 - December 1986 பக்கங்கள் pages 29 (see 24-37 for context), Journal of Tamil studies Agathiyar has been a culture hero in Tamil traditions and appears in numerous Tamil texts. Agathiyar learnt the Tamil language from god Murugan.
There are similarities and differences between the Northern and Southern (Tamil) traditions about Agathiyar. In the northern legends, Agastya's role in spreading Vedic tradition and Sanskrit is emphasized, while in southern traditions his role in spreading irrigation, agriculture and augmenting the Tamil language is emphasized. In the north, his ancestry is unknown with mythical legends limiting themselves to saying that Agastya was born from a mud pitcher.
The northern traditional stories, states Mahadevan, are "nothing more than a collection of incredible fables and myths", while the southern versions "ring much truer and appear to be a down-to-earth account of a historical event". The earliest mention of the role of Agathiyar in the Tamil language, according to Richard Weiss, can be traced to the Iraiyanar Akapporul by the 8th-century author Nakkirar. However, in medieval-era stories of the Tamil tradition, Agathiyar pioneered the first Sangam period, which lasted 4,440 years, and took part in the second Sangam period, which lasted another 3,700 years.
The Tirumantiram describes Agathiyar as an ascetic sage, who lived in the Pothigai mountains because Shiva asked him to. He is described as the one who perfected and loved both Sanskrit and Tamil languages, amassing knowledge in both, thus becoming a symbol of integration, harmony and learning, instead of being opposed to either. According to the Skanda Purana, the whole world visited the Himalayas when Shiva was about to wed Parvati. This caused the earth to tip to one side. Shiva then requested Agastya to go to the southern region to restore the equilibrium. Thus, Agastya migrated south at Shiva's behest.
Siddhar
Agathiyar, in Tamil Hindu traditions, is considered as the first and foremost Siddhar (Tamil: cittar, Sanskrit: siddha). As the first Siddhar, Agasthiyar is deemed as the first master, accomplished, the sage who perfected his knowledge of the natural and spiritual worlds. This Tamil concept has parallels to Tibetan mahasiddhas, Sri Lankan Buddhist, and Nath Hindu yogi traditions of north India.
Agathiyar, along with Tirumular, is considered a siddhar in both philosophical and practical domains, unlike most other siddhar who are revered for their special domain of knowledge. Agastya is also unique for the reverence he has received in historic texts all over the Indian subcontinent.
According to Venkatraman, the Siddhar-related literature about Agastya is late medieval to early modern era. In particular, all medicine and health-related Tamil text, that include Agasthiyar as the Siddhar, have been composed in and after the 15th century. According to Hartmut Scharfe, the oldest medicine siddhar Tamil text mentioning Agathiyar were composed no earlier than the 16th century.
His name is spelled as Agathiyar or Agasthiyar in some Tamil texts, and some consider the writer of the medical texts to be a different person.
According to Kamil Zvelebil, the sage Agathiyar, Akattiyan the Siddhar, and Akatthiyar, the author of Akattiyam, were three or possibly four different persons of different eras, who over time became fused into one single person in the Tamil tradition.
Vedas Agastya is mentioned in all the four Vedas of Hinduism, and is a character in the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads, epics, and many Puranas. He is the author of hymns 1.165 to 1.191 of the Rigveda (~1200 BCE). He ran a Vedic school (gurukul), as evidenced by hymn 1.179 of the Rigveda which credits its author to be his wife Lopamudra and his students. He was a respected sage in the Vedic era, as many other hymns of the Rigveda composed by other sages refer to Agastya. The hymns composed by Agastya are known for verbal play and similes, puzzles and puns, and striking imagery embedded within his spiritual message.
His Vedic poetry is particularly notable for two themes. In one set of hymns, Agastya describes a conflict between two armies led by gods Indra and Maruts, which scholars such as G. S. Ghurye have interpreted as an allegory of a conflict between Arya (Indra) and Dasa (Rudra). Agastya successfully reconciles their conflict, makes an offering wherein he prays for understanding and loving-kindness between the two. Twenty one out of the twenty seven hymns he composed in Mandala 1 of the Rigveda have his signature ending, wherein he appeals, "may each community know refreshment (food) and lively waters". These ideas have led him to be considered as a protector of both the Arya and the Dasa. However, some scholars interpret the same hymns to be an allegory for any two conflicting ideologies or lifestyles, because Agastya never uses the words Arya or Dasa, and only uses the phrase ubhau varnav (literally, "both colors"). The theme and idea of "mutual understanding" as a means for lasting reconciliation, along with Agastya's name, reappears in section 1.2.2 of the Aitareya Aranyaka of Hinduism.Max Muller, Aitareya Aranyaka, The Upanishads: Part I, Oxford University Press, page 170