Though India is endowed with a great diversity and heritage, the soul of Indian culture is the same across its geographies, albeit with its manifestations in varied forms. It is this spirit of culture which binds together India’s different regions to make it a unique cultural state. Therefore, terms like North India and South India are misnomers as these denote the two regions as different countries. Such usages also heighten the artificially perceived north-south divide. Kashi (Varanasi) and Tamil Nadu have been the hubs of ancient culture and learning; we need to explore deeper and appreciate the cultural oneness that has existed for centuries between these two regions. One way to accomplish this may be to explore the life and work of Sage Agastya, one of the seven Sapt Rishis of ancient India.
Agastya was a much-revered sage famous for Vedic scholarship. He and his wife, Lopamudra, are the celebrated authors of hymns in the Rigveda and other Vedic literature. He is prominently mentioned in the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata. He is known to have made unsurpassable contributions in the fields of literature, medicine, astrology, yoga, arts, science, and agriculture.
A legend has it that Sage Agastya, considered as one of the mind-born sons (Manas Putra) of Lord Brahma, was born from a mud pitcher after Gods Mitra and Varuna ejaculated inside it owing to attractive appearance of Apsara Urvashi. After spending early years in northern India, he ventured to southern India on the advice of Lord Shiva. According to Skanda Purana, people from all-around gathered at the Himalayas to become privy to the sacred marriage ceremony of Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, making the earth tilted towards the north. Lord Shiva then advised Sage Agastya to venture to the south to restore the equilibrium. He encountered the tall Vindhya Mountain on his way blocking the movement of the Sun and other celestial bodies. Vindhya then angrily posed a question to the Sage, demanding an explanation for why Himalaya was crowned with the title ‘the King of Mountains’, whereas Vindhya is much older than the Himalayas. Realising the gravity of the situation, the Sage sat down. Consequently, Vindhya bowed down in respect to lower its heights to allow a safe passage. The Sage asked Vindhya not to rise again until he returns from the south. The Sage never returned and the Vindhya is still waiting. This generosity of Sage Agastya ensured uninterrupted passage between the northern and the southern regions of India leading to seamless cultural connect and economic activities. It was Sage Agastya who contained Karthikeya’s (elder son of Lord Shiva and Parvati Maa), anger into a source of enlightenment, when the former moved to the south angrily leaving his parents.
Sage Agastya is a cultural icon in Tamil Nadu and finds reference in numerous Tamil texts. He is revered as the originator of the Tamil language and the compiler of the first Tamil grammar text, called Agattiyam. While in Northern India he is respected for spreading the Vedic tradition, in Southern India, he is associated with promoting Tamil, and spreading the science of medicine, arts, agriculture and irrigation. He is considered as the father of traditional medicine. Sage Agastya is considered to be the first Siddhar; the one to accomplish and succeed, both in the philosophical and practical domains. It is believed that he learnt Siddha medicine system from Lord Karthikeya. Sage Agastya is also considered the propagator of Varmam, an ancient and alternate science of healing various diseases. The Nadar community of Tamil Nadu believes that Varma Kalai was passed on to them by Agastya himself.
Humanity should be grateful to Agastya for his first-ever description, in Agastya Samhita, of the principle of electricity generation, which requires an earthen pitcher, copper-plate, copper sulphate, wet sawdust, and mercury amalgamated zinc sheet. Later on, scientists used this principle to produce electricity. Sage Agastya is also considered as one of the foremost exponents of the martial art form Kalaripayattu and Silambam (a weapon-based martial art) of Kerala, which are widely regarded as the mother of most of the oriental martial art forms. Presently, Kalaripayattu is taught as a holistic science with description of human anatomy and physiology.
Agastya authored several ancient texts and scriptures, including Agastya Gita mentioned in Varaha Purana, Agastya Samhita, a treatise on traditional medicine embedded in Skanda Purana, and Dvaidha-Nirnaya Tantra text. He also wrote extensively on Astrology and Nadi Jyotisyam. Agastimata, authored by him, is a pre-10th century treatise about origins, qualities, testing, and lapidary of gems and diamond. One of his epic works ‘Punaroolu Kaavyam’, besides being a philosophical treatise, elaborates the geography of ancient history of Akhand Bharat.
Sage Agastya is also one of the most venerated figures in the Jatakas and in several medieval Southeast Asian inscriptions, temple reliefs, and arts, especially in Java, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam. Eleventh-century Javanese language text Agastya-parva, attributed to Sage Agastya, is an exceptional blend of philosophy, mythology, and genealogy. He also played a vital role in the development of Tampraparniyam medicine and spirituality in Southern India and Sri Lanka.
Several Agastya shrines and ashrams found in southern India are the telling tales of his contribution to social-cultural landscape of southern India. Prominent among these are Sri Agasthiyar Temple in Papanasam, Tirunelveli and the Sri Lobamudra Samedha Agasthiyar Temple in Madurai and at Pothigai Hill. The Nattatreeshwarar temple, built at the navel of Cauvery River Island, is exactly halfway along the river course. It is believed that the Shiva Linga at this temple was consecrated by Sage Agastya over 6000 years ago. It is also believed that he left his mental body or manomayakosha at Chaturagiri Hills near Madurai, and Lord Kartikeya helped him to take his physical body to Mount Kailash. Tradition also holds that his final resting place is at Agastyakoodam in Thiruvananthapuram.
In the Tamil poetic work of Tirumantiram, Agastya is described as the Sage who came from the North and settled in the Southern Pothigain mountains. Sage Agastya mastered Sanskrit and Tamil languages, and amassed knowledge and wisdom in the literature of both the languages, equally. He is the real ambassador for cultural integration of northern and southern India ensuring enduring peace and harmony between the people of these two regions and also in learning various aspects of science and spirituality.
Thus, Sage Agastya is a great icon of cultural Unity of India and is one of the greatest connects between north and south. His contributions have the potential to become a robust counter to the destructive propaganda launched by the British and like-minded people that the Northern Aryans were different from the Southern Dravidians, and also against the invasion theory. There are ample proofs in our ancient scriptures that Aryans were the inhabitants of India which, earlier covered a huge track of land including Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The decision of the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India to recognise Sage Agastya’s contribution in the third version of Kashi-Tamil Sangmam is praiseworthy.
The author is Vice Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
