Lives of Ancient Indian Saints

Agastya The Birth

But Surya and Varuna could never forget the beautiful face of Urvasi, the lovely nymph. They became love-lorn. On account of their excessive passion for her their semen (seed) was about to fall. They looked inward and could understand Indra's curse to the two Gods and heir desire to take their births on the earth. Agni entered the Sun-God and Vayu entered the god of waters. Surya and Varuna never wanted to obstruct their birth through their semen (seed). Therefore, unseen by each other, the two Gods left their semen in a pitcher - a jar of water and went away. In course of time from that pitcher two great saints were born. One was Agastya, the other was Vasistha. They were "Kalasijas or Kumbha Sambhavas" meaning " the Pitcher - born." They got the epithet "Mitra Varuna Putras: sons of the Sun-God and the water - God and also " Vahni Maruta Sambhavas," the sons of fire and wind. From this parentage Agastya is also called " Mitra Varuni" " Aourvaseya". This sotry is found in the Rigveda in the Padma Purana, in the chapter on creation and in the Vanaparva of the Mahabharata. This is the story of Agastya's birth.

Childhood

Every man born in India in ancient times had only one problem to solve - how to get rid of the sorrows of birth, growth and death. It was not a political or economic problem. Before that eternal problem, these political and economic problems are no problems at all. Men of worldly intelligence could not solve it. Any amount of their worldly knowledge was of no avail. As long as this problem is not solved and peace of mind obtained there is no happiness worth the name. No one can evade the problem. Sooner or later every one must solve it to himself. Penance is the only means by which one can arrive at a correct solution to this grave problem. To do penance and utter the sacred words "Pranava" "Ohm" and Panchakshari "Ohm Namassivaya" one has to undergo an initiation ceremony called "the Upanayana" meaning an additional eye, the inner eye which alone is capable of unfolding the mysteries of the universe and God. The Gods came down from Heaven to earth to do this job. How lucky is the child : Repeating the sacred words, keeping up the vow of celibacy, controlling other senses, limiting to the bare minimum of eating and drinking, destroying the sins of the body and the mind, Agastya did panance for over a number of years. Day by day, he became lustrous, strong in body and mind, and became a Maha Yogi - the great controller of the body, mind and senses.

Marriage

A peculiar thing happened before he thought of marriage. What is marriage ? It is nothing but marring age, destroying the youthful exuberance and glory. Agastya never wanted to mar his age. So he never thought of marriage. One day while he was passing through the forest, he saw some saints hanging down the branch of a sallaki tree. They were in great agony. He enquired the cause of their woe. "You are the cause of our sorrow ", They said. "How is it ?" He was too anxious to know. They said : " We are your pitruganas the line of fore-fathers. You are our progeny. We will be happy if you continue the process of continuing our tribe. Marry and beget sons; otherwise, woe is our lot . Pray marry for our sake, though you do not like it, and bring forth children. Marriage with detachmentt, just to fulfil the injunction of the forefathers, gives the gloryof celibacy. So, do not hesitate. Marry and continue the line of progeny ", they said. Agastya found himself between the devil and the deep sea. What to do ? To marry and fall a prey to the consequent - miseries or to disobey them and keep them constantly in utter woe ? He thought " If marriage is for quenching thirst for lust and for personal ends, it is ignoble. If it is for the deliverenced from woe of his forefathers and for the benefit of mankind, it is noble ", He decided to marry. He promised to his forefathers to do their bidding. They were much pleased. Taking their blessings, Agastya went to his hermitage.

" Whom to marry ? " He gave a thought to it. He cannot marry a worldly girl and fall down to the abyss of wretchedness. Meanwhile, the king of Vidarbha came along with his wife and worshipped Agastya with a desire to have a daughter. He blessed them to have their desire fulfilled. (to be continued)