1 The name of a saint, celebrated in Hindu mythology, more usually entitled AGASTYA, the son of both MITRA and VARUṆA, by URVAŚĪ; he is represented of short stature, and is said by some to have been born in a water jar: he is famed for having swallowed the ocean, when it had given him offence; at his command also, the VINDHYA range of mountains prostrated itself, and so remains; hence his present appellation: he is also considered as the regent of the star Canopus.
2 The name of a tree, (Sesbana grandiflora.)
E. aga a mountain, and sti, with an adventitious meaning, to fix, or in the second instance, to be fixed; also aga as before, and sti Uṇādi aff.
agastiagasti, is, m. (said to be fr. 2. a-ga, a mountain, and asti, fr. rt. 2. as, thrower), N. of a Ṛṣi, author of several Vedic hymns, (he is said to have been the son of both Mitra and Varuṇa by Urvasī; to have been born in a water-jar; to have been of short stature; to have swallowed the ocean, and compelled the Vindhya mountains to prostrate themselves before him; to have conquered and civi- lized the South; to have written on medicine, &c.); the star Canopus, of which Agastya is the regent; a plant, Sesbana (or Æschynomene) Grandiflora. —Agasti-dru, us, f. a plant, Sesbana Grandiflora.
agasti [viṃdhyākhyaṃ agaṃ asyati; asktic śakaṃdhvādi°, Uṇ. 4. 179, or agaṃviṃdhyācalaṃ styāyati stabhnāti, styai-ka; or agaḥkuṃbhaḥ tatra styānaḥ saṃhataḥ ityagastyaḥ] 1 ‘Pitcher-born’, N. of a celebrated Ṛṣi or sage. 2 N. of the star Canopus, of which Agastya is the regent. 3 N. of a plant (bakavṛkṣa) Sesbana (or Æschynomene) Grandiflora. [The sage Agastya is a very reputed personage in Hindu mythology. In the Ṛgveda he and Vasiṣṭha are said to be the off-spring of Mitra and Varuṇa, whose seed fell from them at the sight of the lovely nymph Urvaśī at a sacrificial session. Part of the seed fell into a jar and part into water; from the former arose Agastya who is, therefore, called Kumbhayoni, Kumbhajanman, Ghaṭodbhava, (pb) Kalaśayoni &c.; from the latter Vasiṣṭha. From his parentage Agastya is also called Maitrāvaruṇi, Aurvaśeya, and, as he was very small when he was born, he is also called Mānya. He is represented to have humbled the Vindhya mountains by making them prostrate themselves before him when they tried to rise higher and higher till they wellnigh occupied the sun's disc and obstructed his path, See Vindhya. (This fable is supposed by some to typify the progress of the Āryas towards the south in their conquest and civilization of India, the humbling of the mountain standing metaphorically for the removal of physical obstacles in their way). He is also known by the names of Pītābdhi, Samudra-culuka &c., from another fable according to which he drank up the ocean because it had offended him and because he wished to help Indra and the gods in their wars with a class of demons called Kāleyas who had hid themselves in the waters and oppressed the three worlds in various ways. His wife was Lopāmudrā. She was also called Kauṣītakī and Varapradā. She bore him two sons, Dṛḍhāsya and Dṛḍhasyu. In the Rāmāyaṇa Agastya plays a distinguished part. He dwelt in a hermitage on mount Kuñjara to the south of the Vindhya and was chief of the hermits of the south. He kept under control the evil spirits who infested the south and a legend relates how he once ate up a Rākṣasa named Vātāpi, who had assumed the form of a ram, and destroyed by a flash of his eye the Rākṣasa's brother who attempted to avenge him. In the course of his wanderings Rāma with his wife and brother came to the hermitage of Agastya who received him with the greatest kindness and became his friend, adviser and protector. He gave Rāma the bow of Viṣṇu and accompanied him to Ayodhyā when he was restored to his kingdom after his exile of 14 years. The superhuman power which the sage possessed is also represented by another legend, according to which he turned king Nahuṣa into a serpent and afterwards restored him to his proper form. In the south he is usually regarded as the first teacher of science and literature to the primitive Dravidian tribes, and his era is placed by Dr. Caldwell in the 7th or 6th century B. C. The Purāṇas represent Agastya as the son of Pulastya (the sage from whom the Rākṣasas sprang) and Havirbhuvā the daughter of Kardama. Several ‘hymn-seers’ are mentioned in his family, such as his two sons, Indrabāhu, Mayobhuva and Mahendra, also others who served to perpetuate the family. The sage is represented as a great philosopher, benevolent and kind-hearted, unsurpassed in the science of archery and to have taken a principal part in the colonization of the south; nirjitāsi mayā bhadreśatruhastādamarṣiṇā . agastyena durādharṣā muninādakṣiṇeva dik .. Rām.; agastyācaritāmāśāṃ (pb) R. 4. 44; cf. also: agastyodakṣiṇāmāśāmāśritya nabhasi sthitaḥ . varuṇasyātmajo yogīviṃdhyavātāpimardanaḥ .. and R. 6. 61, Mv. 7. 14.]
agásti m. (according to, Uṇ. iv, 179 fr. 2.a-ga, a mountain, and asti, thrower, √ 2.as). N. of a Ṛṣi (author of several Vedic hymns; said to have been the son of both Mitra and Varuṇa by Urvaśī; to have been born in a water-jar; to have been of short stature; to have swallowed the ocean, and compelled the Vindhya mountains to prostrate themselves before him; to have conquered and civilized the South; to have written on medicine, &c.)
the star Canopus (of which Agastya is the regent, said to be the ‘cleanser of water’, because of turbid waters becoming clean at its rising, Ragh. xiii, 36)
m. (-stiḥ) 1 The name of a saint, celebrated in Hindu mytho- logy, more usually entitled AGASTYA, the son of both MITRA and VARUNA, by URVASI; he is represented of short stature, and is said by some to have been born in a water jar: he is famed for having swallowed the ocean, when it had given him offence; at his command also, the VINDHYA range of mountains prostrated itself, and so remains; hence his present appellation: he is also considered as the regent of the star Canopus.
2. The name of a tree, (Sesbana grandiflora.)
E. aga a mountain, and sti, with an adventitious meaning, to fix, or in the second instance, to be fixed; also aga as before, and sti Unadi aff.
agasti [vindhyākhyaṃ agaṃ asyati; as-ktic śakandhvādi˚, Uṇ.4.179, or agaṃ vindhyācalaṃ styāyati stabhnāti, styai-ka; or agaḥ kumbhaḥ tatra styānaḥ saṃhataḥ ityagastyaḥ] 1 'Pitcher-born,' N. of a celebrated Ṛiṣi or sage. -2 N. of the star Canopus, of which Agastya is the regent. -3 N. of a plant (bakavṛkṣa) Sesbana (or Ӕschynomene) Grandiflora [Mar. ruīmaṃdāra]. [The sage Agastya is a very reputed personage in Hindu mythology. In the Ṛigveda he and Vasiṣṭha are said to be the off-springs of Mitra and Varuṇa, whose seed fell from them at the sight of the lovely nymph Urvaśī at a sacrificial session. Part of the seed fell into a jar and part into water; from the former arose Agastya, who is, therefore, called Kumbhayoni, Kumbhajanman, Ghaṭodbhava, Kalaśayoni &c.; from the latter Vasiṣṭha. From his parentage Agastya is also called Maitrāvaruṇi, Aurvaśeya, and, as he was very small when he was born, he is also called Mānya. He is represented to have humbled the Vindhya mountains by making them prostrate themselves before him when they tried to rise higher and higher till they wellnigh occupied the sun's disc and obstructed his path. See Vindhya. (This fable is supposed by some, to typify the progress of the Āryas towards the south in their conquest and civilization of India, the humbling of the mountain standing metaphorically for the removal of physical obstacles in their way). He is also known by the names of Pītābdhi, Samudra-chuluka &c.; from another fable according to which he drank up the ocean because it had offended him and because he wished to help Indra and the gods in their wars with a class of demons called Kāleyas who had hid themselves in the waters and oppressed the three worlds in various ways. His wife was Lopāmudrā. She was also called Kauṣītakī and Varapradā. She bore him two sons, Dṛḍhāsya and Dṛḍhāsyu. In the Rāmāyaṇa Agastya plays a distinguished part. He dwelt in a hermitage on mount Kunjara to the south of the Vindhya and was chief of the hermits of the south. He kept under control the evil spirits who infested the south and a legend relates how he once ate up a Rākṣasa named Vātāpi, who had assumed the form of a ram, and destroyed by a flash of his eye the Rākṣasa's brother who attempted to avenge him. In the course of his wandering Rāma with his wife and brother came to the hermitge of Agastya who received him with the greatest kindness and became his friend, adviser and protector. He gave Rāma the bow of Viṣṇu and accompanied him to Ayodhyā when he was restored to his kingdom after his exile of 14 years. The superhuman power which the sage possessed, is also represented by another legend, according to which he turned king Nahuṣa into a serpent and afterwards restored him to his proper form. In the south he is usually regarded as the first teacher of science and literature to the primitive Dravidian tribes, and his era is placed by Dr. Caldwell in the 7th or 6th century B.C. The Purāṇas represent Agastya as the son of Pulastya (the sage from whom the Rākṣsas sprang) and Havirbhuvā the daughter of Kardama. Several 'hymn-seers' are mentioned in his family, such as his two sons, Indrabāhu, Mayobhuva and Mahendra, also others who served to perpetuate the family. The sage is represented as a great philosopher, benevolent and kind-hearted, unsurpassed in the science of archery and to have taken a principal part in the colonization of the south; nirjitāsi mayā bhadre śatruhastādamarṣiṇā | agastyena durādharṣā muninā dakṣiṇeva dik || Rām; agastyācaritāmāśām R.4.44; cf. also; agastyo dakṣiṇāmāśāmāśritya nabhasiḥ sthitaḥ | varuṇasyātmajo yogī vindhyavātāpimardanaḥ || and R.6.61; Mv.7.14.] agastitulyā hi ghṛtābdhiśoṣaṇe | Udbhaṭa.
1) Name eines vedischen Ṛṣi (= agastya) H. an. 3, 242. MED. t. 85. AV. 4, 29, 3. vindhyākhyamagamasyatīti agastiḥ UṆ. 4, 181. agastipūtā dikdie durch Agasti gereinigte Weltgegend, der Süden H. 15. Am Himmel erscheint er als Stern CANOPUS 122. agastayas sind die Nachkommen des Agasti (im Sg. āgastya) P. 2, 4, 70.
— 2) Name einer Pflanze H. an. 3, 242. = vakavṛkṣa ŚKDR. = vaṅkasenataru (vaṅgasena) MED. t. 85. Aeschynomene grandiflora SUŚR.
— 1) N.pr. eines alten Ṛṣi. Die Saga lässt ihn aus dem in einen Wasserkrug gefallenen Samen von Mitra und Varuṇa entstehen und das Meer austrinken. Er steht in besonderer Beziehung zum Süden. Pl. seine Nachkommen.
Agasti. — This form of Agastya's name occurs once in the Atharvaveda,1 where he appears as a favourite of Mitra and Varuṇa. [Footnote] 1) iv. 9, 3. Cf.Sieg,Die Sagenstoffe des Ṛgveda, 127, n. 5.