Agastya
De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
Contenido
Agastya fue un rishi (sabio), autor de varios himnos védicos. Se dice que era hijo de los dioses Mitra y Váruna con la apsara Urvashi.
Contenido |
Etimología [editar]
Su nombre proviene de a-ga (‘no-móvil’, una montaña) y asti: (‘tirador, que arroja’).[1]
A veces se escribe Agasti.
En letra devánagari se escribe अगस्त्य y se pronuncia /ə 'gəs tyə/.
Agastia es otro nombre del dios Shivá.
Autor de los «Vedás» [editar]
Se cree que Agastia y su clan fueron autores de varios mantras del Rig Vedá, la escritura hindú más antigua y reverenciada. Los hindúes creen que el autor era un mero medio entre Dios y los seres humanos. Agastia también es autor del Agastia Samhita.[2]
Algunos consideran que fue el más grande de los Saptarshis (Siete Sabios).
Su esposa Lopāmudrā, creada por él, le ayudó en sus austeridades y también escribió algunos versos del Rig Vedá.
Estrella Canopus-Agastia [editar]
Agastia es también el nombre indio de la estrella Canopus. Se le llama el limpiador de las aguas, ya que su ascenso en el cielo coincide aproximadamente con la época en que se calman las aguas del océano Índico.
Leyendas sobre Agastia [editar]
Nació en una jarra de gui donde ellos eyacularon debido a los encantos de la ninfa. Se le llama Kuru Muni, que significa ‘de baja estatura’ (kuru) saint (muni). Era de muy corta estatura. Tragó el océano de agua salada. Obligó a las montañas Vindhia a postrarse ante él. Fue el ario que conquistó y civilizó el Sur de la India. Escribió acerca de medicina hindú.
En el «Sauptika Parva» del Majábharata dice que él fue el maestro de Drona Acharia, que le dio a Drona la más grande de las armas, el brahmastra (que usaron tanto Áryuna como Ashwatthama al final de la batalla de Kuru Kshetra).
Otro «Agastia» en Keralá [editar]
Una leyenda popular en Keralá atribuye a un rey local, Agastya, el desarrollo de la región y la invención de diversas ciencias y tecnologías. Actualmente algunos investigadores interpretan que Agastya sería una corrupción del latino Augusto. Es sabido que hubo en Keralá una importante colonia de mercaderes y soldados romanos, y los keralitas se jactaban antaño de poseer el único templo romano en el Asia meridional.
Referencias [editar]
- Dallapiccola, Anna: Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1)
- Monier-Williams, sir Monier: Sanskrit-English Dictionary. ISBN 0-19-864308-X.
- Vyāsa (traducido en verso por W. J. Johnson): The Sauptikaparvan of the “Mahābharata”.
- The Epic Tale of “Mahābharatam”.
- Dharma Bharathi. Karnataka (India), 2007. Carried a series of articles on Agastia Samhita and its contents.
Notas [editar]
- ↑ Según el Unadi Sutra 4.179
- ↑ Según Dharma Bharathi
Enlaces externos [editar]
- AgniSiksha.org
- Agasthiar.org
- Ias.Ac.in (folclor y astronomía: Agastia, un sabio y una estrella).
- puja.net (podcast sobre Agastia, con recitación de su Aditia Jridaiam y el Lalitha Trishati).
Categorías: Mitología hindú | Religiosos de la India | Escritores de la India | Escritores en sánscrito | Yoguis
Agastya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contenido
| Agathiyar | |
|---|---|
 Agathiyar as a bearded, pot-bellied Hindu sage. | |
| Tamil script | Agathiyar |
| Affiliation | Rishi (sage), Saptarshi (seven sages) |
| Consort | Lopamudra |
Agathiyar(அகத்தியர் in Tamil was a Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agastya and his clan are also credited[who?] to have "authored" many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman. Agastya is also the author of Agastya Samhita[ref: Dharma Bharathi]. In some reckonings, Agastya is the greatest of the Seven Sages or Saptarshis. The word is also written as Agasti. A-ga means a mountain, Asti, thrower. Also a name of Shiva. Agastya the Muni, was born of both Gods, Mitra and Varuna, from Urvashi.
Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of Canopus, is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising coincides with the calming of the waters of the Indian Ocean. Another reference is in the Mahabharata in Sauptikaparva as the teacher of Guru Drona, who gave Drona, the greatest of weapons, Brahmashirasa (used by both Arjuna and Ashwatthama at the end of the war).
 | This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. |
Contents |
[edit] Agastya and Lopāmudrā
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, Agastya 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, Agathitar 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 Agastya. Lopamudra and Agastya were duly married and lived a life of extraordinary felicity. It is believed that they had two sons - Bringi & Achuthan. In Mahabharata (Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva), there is mention of his penance at Gangadwara (Haridwar), with the help of his wife, Lopamudra (the princess of Vidharba) [1].
[edit] Legends about Agastya
One story about Agastya 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 Agastya for help. Then, after hearing the gods, the sage drank the entire ocean water and held it within him until the demons were destroyed. After the demons were destroyed, Devtas requested him to save the sea animals who were dying because of lack of water. At Devtas request Agathiya munivar released all the water as urine and that is why the sea water became salty.[citation needed]
Agastya is said[Please name specific person or group] to have "dedicated" all the forest animals to the deity Rudra hence making them fit for eating if killed while hunting. Agastya is famous for being the first siddhar in the siddhars tradition. He created many medicines, and jadhakam, mandhrikam and he said all of them.
In his book, he gives description of, and instructions for the creation of medicines for fever(it may be of any type), cancer, treatments for impotence, abdominal problems, brain and eye problems, bone problems, etc. Reputedly, his medicines give quick results without any side effects.
Another legend is about how Sage Agastya saved the earth from imbalance. Mount Meru, a mountain in the Vindhya Range, felt that the Sun should not go from East to West without its permission, so it grew and grew and grew, till the sun could not pass. The devas were worried and approached Sage Agastya to help them. Sage Agastya, and his family traveled to South India, via mount Meru. On their way, Sage Agastya requested the mountain not to grow any further, until his return. Mount Meru humbly agreed. After passing through the mountain, sage Agastya told his wife that they will never go back north of mount Meru.
And it is believed that till date Sage Agastya has never left South India. It is believed that he was the only sage excused from attending the wedding of Lord Shiva, and other events that consisted of the Seven Siddhar(Seven Sages), so that the earth would not be imbalanced.
[edit] Vathapi legend
Another story has it that two demon brothers, Ilvala and Vathapi, used to kill people who were passing by the forest in a special manner. Vathapi was good at changing to other life forms and the other, Ilvala knew the supernatural slogan Sanjivani mantra which, when invoked can bring back a dead person to life. They hatched a plan against Agastya that Vathapi would turn into a goat and be killed and fed to Agastya. After Agastya had eaten the meat, Ilvala would invoke the Sanjivani mantra to bring back his brother Vathapi to life, who in turn would rend Agastya'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 Agastya to 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 Vathapi JeerNo bhava; literally may Vathapi be digested, while the other demon tried to bring his brother to life in vain. Agastya plainly informed the demon that his brother has been digested and could no longer be brought back to life.
[edit] Other facets of Agastya
He is considered as the first and foremost Siddha. He is considered the guru of many other Siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni, meaning short (kuru) saint (muni). He made contributions to the field of Medicine and Astrology - especially Nadi astrology. He is said[Tamil sidhhars] 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. Another story about him is that once when the great sage accompanied by his beloved royal wife were wandering through forests, she fainted due to the humidity and hot conditions prevailing in the south. She was royal, hence not exposed to hard conditions. By seeing this the great sage became angry and prepared to punish the Sun God with his bow and arrows. Upon seeing this the sun god feared and appeared before Agastya and presented him with umbrella and chappals (foot wear).
[edit] Unity of Vishnu and Shiva
At a Saivite temple named Kutralam, formerly a Vishnu temple, in Tamil Nadu, Agastya, 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.[2] A symbolic meaning of this conversion is to show that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the one and same God.
[edit] In Akilam
According to Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of Ayyavazhi, Agastya was created from the mind of lord Siva inorder to offer boons to Kaliyan (See:Boons offered to Kaliyan). As per the order of Siva, Agastya offered many boons including all worldly knowledge to him.
So as per Ayyavazhi, in Kali_Yug all the knowledge, including the basic formulae and forms of modern scientific technologies came from Agastya.
[edit] Certain important Stotrams
- The Lalita sahasranama, which describes the 1000 names of the Goddess Lalita (known commonly as Dākshāyani, Pārvatī or Durgā), was first revealed to the world when Hayagrīva, a manifestation of Viṣṇu, taught the same to Agastya.
- Agastya is progenitor of the Āditya Hṛdayam, a hymn to Sūrya taught to Rāma just before Rāma's battle against Rāvaṇa.
- Agastya also composed Saraswati Stotram.
[edit] See also
- Siddhars
- Thirumoolar
- Bogar
- Avaiyar
- Abithana Chintamani - Encyclopedia of Tamil Literature
[edit] References
- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
- Sanskrit-English Dictionary (ISBN 0-19-864308-X) by Sir Monier Monier-Williams
- The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata A new verse translation by W.J. Johnson
- The Epic Tale of Mahabharatam
- Dharma Bharathi, 2007, Karnataka, India - Carried a series of articles on Agastya Samhita and its contents.
- Agastya, Amar Chitra Katha
[edit] Notes
- ^ Lopamudra The Mahabharata, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883 -1896), Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section XCVII.
- ^ http://www.celextel.org/storiesandanecdotes/agasthya.html
[edit] External links
- Home of God Natarajar
- Agasthiar.org
- Agathiar.org
- Agnisiksha.org
- Folklore and Astronomy: Agastya a sage and a star
- Podcast on Agastya with recitation of his Aditya Hridayam and Lalitha Trishati
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Categories: Hindu sages | Tamil mythical figures | Indian Hindu missionaries
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