Lives of Ancient Indian Saints

1. Agastya :

Prayer : Salutations to the Great Sage Agastya the knower of Pranava, Panchakshari and the world of the Upanishads

Salutations to the mighty saint Agasstya The pitcher born prophet And the devourer of the demon Vatapi

Salutatiotns to the omnicient Agastya whose wrath threw down Nahusha From Heaven's throne to earth as serpent

Salutations to the glorious Agastya, the regent of The star Canopus on the firmament destroying the sins in men and the filth in water

Salutations to the Great Saint Agastya on whose forehead the white ashes Appear in three beautiful lines

Salutations to the Great Seer Agastya whose neck shines bright with The garland of Rudraksha beads

Salutations to the splendid sage Agastya whose approach subdued the Vindhyas which lay prostrate at his feet

Salutations to the Great Saint Agastya who drank up the vast ocean For his mercy aodn for his blessings.

The Legends

The word Agastya literally means the suppressor the mountain (Vindhya) or the pitcher-born. He is also called Agasti, havind the same derivative. Vindhyakhyam Agam Asyati or Agam Vindhyachalam Sthayati, stabhnati or Agah kumbhab tatra Styanah Samhatah(Apte).

In the remote past, the demons under the leadership of Taraka used to cause havoc to the gods of Heaven. The Gods requested their king Indra to save them from the horrors of the demons. He called for Agni, the God of fire and Vayu, the God of wind and entrusted them with the task of killing these demons. Both of them joined together and burnt some of the demons and their houses. Unable to withstand the fury of the two Gods, the demons made good their escape and hid themselved in the ocean. Taking it as a great defeat to the demons the Gods did not pursue them. But these demons played 'hide and seek' tactics with them - hiding in the ocean during the day, coming out and destroying whatever they found during the night.

The gods again went to their king to complain against the demons. Indra then asked Agni and Vayu to dry up the ocean and kill them. They replied; " The ocean is another world of living creatures. Their lives are as sweet to them as our lives to us. If we dry up the ocean the innocent sea world will perish. It is a great sin to do so. Please give us an alternate plan." Indra grew angry with them for their disobedience. He cursed them to take births on the earth from an inanimate objectt and undergo the sorrows of earthly life.

In those days lord Vishnu was born as twins Nara and Narayana to a saint Dharmi by name. Bothe of them went to the Gandhamadana mountain and began to do severe penance observing great austerities from early childhood. They became famous by possessing wonderful powers. Indra became Jealous of them. To disturb their penance, he sent Madana, the God of Love and Vasanta, the God of spring, followed by a number of young and pretty damsels. They went and tried their usual tactics : but they failed, failed miserably. To mock at them Narayana created a damsel of unparalleled beauty from his 'uru' (thigh) and called her " Urvasi". Before her beauty, the beauty of the damsels paled into insignificance. They were shocked, amazed and ashamed.

"This is my present to your Indra. Take her along with you and give her to your lord." said Narayana. They did so, but Indra's disgrace knew no bounds.

One day, Surya, the sun-God happened to look at her. He lost himself the ocean of her beauty. He wanted to mat ke her his own. He asked her to meet him at his abode. She accepted. He went away. While she was on the way to the abode of the Sun-God Varuna, the God of waters happened to see her. He also wanted to make her his own. He wanted her to meet him at his abode. She revealed her promise to the Sun-God and expressed her helplessness. " If so, please keep me in your mind", he said. She accepted. He went away. She reached the abode of the Sun-God, who was waiting for her. He could know whom she had in her mind. He grew angry "What a more severe wound can a lady inflict upon her lover than the wound of keeping another man in her mind at the time of union with the lover? I curse you to take the birth of a woman on earth and become the wife of King Pururavas, son of Budha and thus experience the sorrow of life on earth."