Agastya

In Hindu mythology, Agastya is one of
the rishis (sages) of ancient India and
is attributed with various supernormal
powers. As with many of the rishis,
Agastya is marked as different even by
his birth, which is far outside the normal manner. According to the story,
Agastya is conceived when the semen
of the deities Mitra and Varuna is
placed in a pot and develops there into
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Agastya
a baby boy. Agastya is described as preferring a detached, ascetic lifestyle, but
he compromises in deference to his
ancestors. The ancestors appear
to Agastya in a vision, imploring him
to marry and have children, so that
his sons can continue performing the
ancestral offerings; this is one of the
three debts that every Hindu man
must pay. Agastya consents and
marries Lopamudra.
Agastya’s ascetic lifestyle is said to
have generated immense powers,
which he demonstrates by performing
many marvelous deeds. According to
some accounts, he curses king
Nahusha to become a giant serpent, in
retribution for the insults Nahusha has
heaped upon him. Agastya also curses
King Indradyumna to become an elephant, and the gandharva named
Huhu to become a crocodile; the two
are released many years later through
the god Vishnu’s divine grace.
Not all of his exploits stem from his
readiness to curse—a trait found in
many of the sages—and some are performed for the benefit of human
beings. He is reported to have humbled
the Vindhya Mountains (here personified), which through envy of Mount
Meru have grown so tall that the sun
and moon are unable to get around
them. Agastya does this by asking
Vindhya to bow down to let him get
through on his journey to southern
India. Agastya promises that Vindhya
can stand up again when he returns,
which has yet to happen. In other cases
Agastya is reported to have used his
powers to help get rid of demons. On
one occasion, when a group of demons
is hiding in the sea by day and coming
out to pillage at night, Agastya exposes
them by drinking up the ocean and thus
taking away their place of refuge. On
another occasion he foils a demon who
has been taking the form of a goat to be
cooked and eaten by unsuspecting diners. The demon has been killing the diners by exploding out of their stomachs.
Agastya eats the demon as usual, but it is
then completely destroyed by Agastya’s
prodigious digestive powers. See also
Gajendramoksha.