Lives of Ancient Indian Saints

Agastya - Curbing the Vindhyas

Jealousy and anger are qualities very dangerous to anybody in the world. Once upon a time, the Vindhya mountain grew jealous of the Meru mountain for the simple reason that the Sun-God every day turns round the former and never the latter. So, the Vindhya mountain grew to the maximum height and became a hindrance to the regular course of the Sun, the Moon, other planets and stars. Everything came to a standstill. On one side of the mountain, it wass always day due to the fact that the Sun-God was stopped there; on the other side it was always night due to the absence of the Sun. It was not possible to distinguish day from night and night from the day. The gods requested the Vindhya mountain to be kind towards them and go back to the old position. The request was repeated and repeated ; but it was of no avail. They approached the lord of creation for protection. He advised them to approach Saint Agastya, who alone can save them and none else. He was doing penance in Avimukta Kshetra, a holy place in Anandavana, the woods of bliss. The gods came down to the earth, approached the holy Banaras and began a search with all devotion for the holy saint.

Whose mind was always the abode

For the repetition of Panchakshari

Whose stomach was the burning place

To the demons Vatapi and Ilvala

For whose birth the pitcher full of water

was the safe nursing home

Whose happy bed was the soft breasts

Of the beautiful LopaMudra

Whose roaring curse made the turbulent

Nahusha fall from Heaven

And whose efulgence defeats

The light of the Sun.

Hearing from the neighbouring saints the holy saint's dwelling place, they went slowly to the hermitage of Agastya. They wondered at the sanctity and glory of the place. The lady-elephant giving milk to the lion-cub, the fierce tiger taming the deer, the wolf playing with the goats, the mongoose being friendly with the forest cats, the serpents extending their hoods to protect the mongoose from the heat of the sun, the rats playing with the cats, the monkeys playing joyfully with the hill sheep-a number of such other wonders revealed with thousand tongues the influence of the Holy Sage. Peace and tranquility, fondness and friendliness, trust begetting trust wer found there.

A few miles away from Banaras by the side of the Holy Ganges lay the hermitage of Agastya. There they saw sage Agastya and Lopamudra. Agastya was in a super-conscious state repeating aloud the sacred name of Lord Siva when the whole forest echoed the sound with due devotion. After a while he attained peace and showed signs of welcome to the gods. In one voice they cried aloud " Victory to Sage Agastya, Victory to Sage Agastya " and approached him with salutations and praised him thus: " Oh, Holy Saint! You are Pranava, the Omkar; she is the Veda. You are penance ; She is peace : You are the fruit ; she is good action ; you are the Sun; she is the light. The halo of Holiness around you and the halo of chastity around her shine resplendent. May you both be pleased with our devotion and confer the boon prayed for, upon us."

Saint Agastya reciprocated their praises showered upon him and showed utter humility. They narrated the circumstances that led them to reach him and requested him to save them from the peril. He promised to do the needful in the matter. Satisfied with his kind promise they departed after taking leave of him.

The next day Agastya asked his wife to be ready for a short journey and said " Lady joy and sorrow will not fall upon men without reason. It is a matter of great sorrow for us to leave this happy place. What we did for this course, we do not know. Our going away is of course for a noble cause. That is a solace to some extent. The availability of Kumkum in Kashmir is due to the glory of the country. The lotus and the lily blossom during the day and night due to the glory of time. Happiness for the virtuous and sorrow for the wicked are due to goodness and sin. Everything happens as per His will. It is our Karma, previous action that gives us happiness or sorrow. God instigates Karma. He makes the good do good deeds and the bad, bad deeds. He favours the one and hates the other. The five sorrows are the results of ignorance. They are responsible for Karma. The fruits of these actions should be borne by the jivas here as well as hereafter. As long as the five sorrows exist we cannot avoid birth, happiness, sorrow and actions for future births. "

Somehow Agastya went with his wife to the Vindhya Mountains. Seeing him from a long distance and dreading his curse, the Vindhya mountains voluntarily suppressed themselves. Taking a human form, the Vindhyas approached the sage, and lay prostrate at his feet for his grace and blessing. The sage was pleased with the humility of the Vindhyas. He said " Kinf of the mountains ! Both of us have become old. We are going to the south to visit the holy places. It is difficult for us to climb up and get down. Please be level with the ground. " The mountain obeyed. After crossing the mountains, the sage said " Remain so till we return." Unable to say the contrary, the Vindhya mountains lay on a par with the ground. The saintly couple went away never to return. The Vindhya mountains lost their original glory also due to pride, jealousy and arrogance. The same is the fate of the proud, the jealous, and the arrogant. (tobe continued)