31. AGASTYA MUNI :

THE brahmanas, who had been with
Yudhishthira in Indraprastha, had
followed him to the forest. It was difficult
to maintain such a large establishment.
Some time after Arjuna had gone on his
quest of Pasupata, a brahmana sage named
Lomasa came to the abode of the
Pandavas.

He advised Yudhishthira to minimize his
retinue before going on pilgrimage as it
would be difficult to move freely from
place to place with a large following.
Yudhishthira, who had long felt that
difficulty, announced to his followers that
such of them, as were unaccustomed to
hardship and to hard and scanty fare and
those who had followed merely in token
of loyalty, might return to Dhritarashtra
or, if they preferred it, go to Drupada, the
King of Panchala.

Later, with a greatly reduced retinue, the
Pandavas started on a pilgrimage to holy
places, acquainting themselves with the
stories and traditions relating to each. The
story of Agastya was one such.

Agastya, it is said, once saw some
ancestral spirits dangling head down and
asked them who they were and how they
had come to be in that unpleasant plight.

They replied: "Dear child, we are your
ancestors. If you discharge not your debt
to us by marrying and begetting progeny,
there will be no one after you to offer us
oblations. We have, therefore, resorted to
this austerity, in order to persuade you to
save us from this peril."
When Agastya heard this, he decided to
marry.

The king of the country of Vidarbha was
childless and, so, careworn. He repaired to
Agastya to get his blessing. In granting
him the boon, Agastya announced that the
king would be the father of a beautiful
girl, who, he stipulated should be given in
marriage to him.

Soon the queen gave birth to a girl who
was named Lopamudra. She grew with
years into a maiden of such rare beauty
and charm that she became celebrated in
the kshatriya world. But no prince dared
to woo her for fear of Agastya.

Later, the sage Agastya came to Vidarbha
and demanded the hand of the king's
daughter. The king was reluctant to give
the delicately nurtured princess in
marriage to a sage leading the primitive
life of a forester but he also feared the
anger of the sage if he said nay, and was
plunged in sorrow.

Lopamudra, greatly concerned, discovered
the cause of her parent's unhappiness and
expressed her readiness, nay her desire, to
marry the sage.

The king was relieved, and the marriage
of Agastya and Lopamudra was celebrated
in due course. When the princess set out
to accompany the sage, he bade her give
up her costly garments and valuable
jewels.

Unquestioningly Lopamudra distributed
her priceless jewels and garments amongst
her companions and attendants, and
covering herself in deerskin and garments
of bark, she joyfully accompanied the
sage.

During the time Lopamudra and Agastya
spent in tapas and meditation at
Gangadwara, a strong and abiding love
sprang up between them. For conjugal
life, Lopamudra's modesty shrank from
the lack of privacy in a forest hermitage.
And one day, with blushing and
humbleness she expressed her mind to her
husband.

She said: "My desire is that I may have
the royal bedding, the beautiful robes and
the valuable jewels I had when I was in
my father's place and that you too may
have splendid garments and ornaments.
And then we shall enjoy life to our heart's
content."

Agastya smilingly replied: "I have neither
the wealth nor the facilities to provide
what you want. Are we not beggars living
in the forest?"

But Lopamudra knew her lord's yogic
power, and said: "Lord, you are allpowerful
by the strength of your
austerities. You can get the wealth of the
whole world in a moment if you but will."

Agastya said that no doubt that was so,
but, if he spent his austerities in gaining
things of such little moment as riches,
they would soon dwindle to nothing.
She replied: "I do not wish that. What I
desire is that you should earn in the
ordinary way sufficient wealth for us to
live in ease and comfort."

Agastya consented and set out as an
ordinary brahmana to beg of various
kings. Agastya went to a king who was
reputed to be very wealthy. The sage told
the king: "I have come in quest of wealth.
Give me what I seek, without causing any
loss or injury to others."

The king presented a true picture of the
income and expenditure of the State and
told him he was free to take what he
deemed fit. The sage found from the
accounts that there was no balance left.
The expenditure of a State turns out
always to be at least equal to its income.
This seems to have been the case in
ancient times also.

Seeing this, Agastya said: "To accept any
gift from this king, will be a hardship to
the citizens. So, I shall seek elsewhere,"
and the sage was about to leave. The king
said that he would also accompany him
and both of them went to another State
where also they found the same state of
affairs.

Vyasa thus lays down and illustrates the
maxim that a king should not tax his
subjects more than necessary for rightful
public expenditure and that if one accepts
as gift anything from the public revenues,
one adds to the burden of the subjects to
that extent.

Agastya thought he had better go to the
wicked asura Ilvala and try his luck.
Ilvala and his brother Vatapi cherished an
implacable hatred towards brahmanas.
They had curious plan for killing them.
Ilvala would, with effective hospitality,
invite a brahmana to a feast.

By the power of his magic he would
transform his brother Vatapi into a goat
and he would kill this pseudo-goat for
food and serve its meat to the guest. In
those days, the brahmanas used to eat
meat. The feast over, Ilvala would invoke
his brother Vatapi to come out, for he had
the art of bringing back to life those
whom he had killed.

And Vatapi, who as food had entered the
vitals of the unlucky brahmana, would
spring up sound and whole and rend his
way out with fiendish laughter, of course
killing the guest in doing so.

In this manner, many brahmanas had died.
Ilvala was very happy when he learnt that
Agastya was in the neighborhood, since
he felt that here was a good brahmana
delivered into his hands.

So, he welcomed him and prepared the
usual feast. The sage ate heartily of Vatapi
transformed into a goat, and it only
remained for Ilvala to call out Vatapi for
the rending scene. And, as usual, Ilvala
repeated the magic formula and shouted:
"Vatapi come out!"

Agastya smiled and, gently rubbing his
stomach, said: "O Vatapi, be digested in
my stomach for the peace and good of the
world." Ilvala shouted again and again in
frantic fear: "O Vatapi, come forth."
There was no response and the sage
explained the reason. Vatapi had been
digested. The trick had been tried once too
often.

The asura bowed to Agastya and
surrendered to him the riches he sought.
Thus was the sage able to satisfy
Lopamudra's desire. Agastya asked her
what she would prefer whether ten
ordinarily good sons or one super-good
son with the strength of ten.

Lopamudra replied she would like to have
one exceptionally virtuous and learned
son. The story goes that she was blessed
with such a gifted son.

Once the Vindhyas became jealous of the
Meru Mountain and tried to grow in
stature, obstructing the sun, the moon and
the planets. Unable to prevent this danger,
the gods sought aid from Agastya. The
sage went to the Vindhya Mountain and
said:
"Best of mountains, stop you’re growing
till I cross you on my way to the south and
return north again. After my return, you
can grow, as you like. Wait till then."
Since the Vindhya Mountain respected
Agastya, it bowed to his request.

 

Agastya did not return north at all, but
settled in the south and so the Vindhyas
remain arrested in growth to this day.
Such is the story as narrated in the
Mahabharata.