Changes

Agastya Gita features as part of the Varaha Purana across adhyayas 51 and 52. It is called so as it is a conversation between Rshi Agastya and Raja Bhadrashva. Their conversation is related by Rshi Durvasas to the hunter-turned Rshi Satyatapas in the context of enumerating the dvadashivratas that were performed by Mother Earth to please Narayana.

Agastya Gita features as part of the Varaha Purana across adhyayas 51 and 52. It is called so as it is a conversation between Rshi Agastya and Raja Bhadrashva. Their conversation is related by Rshi Durvasas to the hunter-turned Rshi Satyatapas in the context of enumerating the dvadashivratas that were performed by Mother Earth to please Narayana.

In the Krtayuga, the Dvadashi vrata was told to Raja Bhadrashva by Rshi Agastya just before leaving for the Pushkara tirtha after spending a week with the Raja. The Rshi is then said to have returned to the palace of Raja Bhadrashva in the month of Kartika.

In the Krtayuga, the Dvadashi vrata was told to Raja Bhadrashva by Rshi Agastya just before leaving for the Pushkara tirtha after spending a week with the Raja. The Rshi is then said to have returned to the palace of Raja Bhadrashva in the month of Kartika.

When mother Earth was thus, being reminded by Varaha about the vratas she herself performed, she expressed her curiosity to know what Rshi Agastya did when he returned to the residence of Raja Bhadrashva. It is said that on his return, the Rshi was requested to expound Moksha dharma by Raja Bhadrashva. And this exposition on Moksha dharma by Rshi Agastya is designated as Agastya Gita.<ref>S. Venkitasubramonia Iyer (2003), [https://cloudup.com/cJQYxJ4_QG4 The Vamana Purana (Part 1)], Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.</ref>

When mother Earth was thus, being reminded by Varaha about the vratas she herself performed, she expressed her curiosity to know what Rshi Agastya did when he returned to the residence of Raja Bhadrashva. It is said that on his return, the Rshi was requested to expound Moksha dharma by Raja Bhadrashva. And this exposition on Moksha dharma by Rshi Agastya is designated as Agastya Gita.<ref name=":0">S. Venkitasubramonia Iyer (2003), [https://cloudup.com/cJQYxJ4_QG4 The Vamana Purana (Part 1)], Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.</ref>

== Subject Matter ==

== Subject Matter ==

=== Freedom from Bondage ===

 

The first question posed by Raja Badrashva to Rshi Agastya is how to get freedom from the bondage of worldly existence and overcome the sorrows in life. This Rshi Agastya explains through the story of Raja Pashupala.

=== By what means is the bondage of worldly existence snapped and by what means the sorrows in life can be got over ? ===

 

 

 

 

 

13. The woman was holding on her chest a person having the splendour of a thousand suns and with three colours and three divisons.

 

 

15. The king was then encircled by the serpents, and he began to think about how he could kill them and effect his escape.

 

 

 

18. The king was covered by that and asked to be alert in mind. He was then confronted by the woman (who was really Maya).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30. So saying he released the son, and with him others also. And freed from them, he stood alone.

 

 

 

 

3. He got five sons comprehending all comprehensible objects and named Aksa and the rest (Eye etc).

 

 

5. In their abstract form they made an abode for themselves (in the king's person), a city consisting of nine outlets, a single pillar, four pathways, and numerous rivulets and ponds.

 

6. All the nine entered the city together and soon Pasupala became the concrete Purusa.

 

7. Established in that city, the king brought the Vedas there by contemplating on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agastya said:

 

 

 

 

 

7. They all heard the story of Satyamurti (Svara). The second (Vrsa) then resorted to Brahmacarya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16. The four-footed then cut it off like a sesamum plant.

17. Then he cut off what had become rootless.

It is said that at the time when there was no day, no night, no direction, no heaven, no deities and no Sun, a Raja named Pashupala was looking after numerous creatures. Once as he went to see the eastern ocean he saw there, on the shore of that limitless expanse of water, a forest full of snakes. There were eight trees and a freely flowing river. Five important persons were there moving horizontally and upwards. One of them was holding an effulgent woman. This woman was holding on her chest a person with three colours and three divisons having the splendour of a thousand Suns. They all became silent and still seeing the Raja and as soon as the Raja entered the forest, they became combined into a single being.

18. At that part arose ten1 and afterwards the five.2

The Raja was then encircled by the serpents. And as he was thinking about how to kill them and effect his escape, another person having the three colours viz. white, red and yellow, came out of his body who was followed by Mahat who covered the Raja and asked him to be alert in mind. He was then confronted by the woman who was none other than Maya who engulfed him. Then the five other persons came there and hid themselves within the Raja when the serpents came united to attack.  

19. He cut them again and they were all flaming.

Raja Pashupala now appeared highly resplendent with all his papas disappeared. He stood there unifying the earth, water, fire, air and ether and all their qualities.<ref name=":0" /> Seeing the Raja thus, the tri-coloured person said, <blockquote>त्वत्पुत्रोऽस्मि महाराज ब्रूहि किं करवाणि ते । अस्माभिर्बन्धुमिच्छद्भिर्भवन्तं निश्चयः कृतः ।। ५१.२५ ।।

20. When that was cut off, a small object, onetenth of the original size, appeared.

यदि नाम कृताः सर्वे वयं देव पराजिताः । एवमेव शरीरेषु लीनास्तिष्ठाम पार्थिव ।। ५१.२६ ।।<ref>Varaha Purana, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%AB%E0%A5%A7 Adhyaya 51]</ref>

21. That too was cut off, but then arose another small like that and white and calm.

tvatputro'smi mahārāja brūhi kiṁ karavāṇi te । asmābhirbandhumicchadbhirbhavantaṁ niścayaḥ kr̥taḥ ।। 51.25 ।।

22-23. And he saw in that his own father small like a molecule and indistinct. He then became happy and so too the father Svara.

yadi nāma kr̥tāḥ sarve vayaṁ deva parājitāḥ । evameva śarīreṣu līnāstiṣṭhāma pārthiva ।। 51.26 ।।</blockquote>Meaning: O Raja, I am your son. Please command me to do what you wish. We decided to bind you, but we were defeated and bound by you and we now remain hidden in your body. When I have become your son, everything else will arise of its own.

24. Such was the man Svara, his trunk was Pravrtti (action :and head Vivrtti (inaction).

However, the Raja replied that he doesn't desire to have attachment to any of the pleasures men may have and released the son and others. Thus freed from them, the Raja Pashupla stood there alone.<ref name=":0" />

25. Thus arose the story and it has been narrated to you.

As Raja Pashupala stood free from bondage, Rshi Agastya further explained that the Raja made himself into a tri-coloured being and produced a tri-coloured son named Aham (Ego). The son got a daughter of the form of Avabodha (consciousness) and her son was Vijnana (knowledge). Vijnana got five sons comprehending all comprehensible objects viz. Aksa and the rest (ie. eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin; the Panchajnanedriyas). These sense-organs were the Dasyus who were subjugated by the Raja earlier.  

26. This is the earliest of all stories. He who understands its significance, performs true action.

It is said that in their abstract form, they made an abode for themselves (within the Raja); a city consisting of nine outlets (navadvaras), a single pillar, four pathways, and numerous rivulets and ponds. They all entered the city together and soon Pasupala became the concrete Purusha.

=== Who should be worshipped by a person desirous of getting knowledge and how he should be worshipped. ===

Once as the Raja felt distressed, he evoked karmakanda (the scripture of ritualistic action), and then the Supreme being remaining in yogic slumber, got forth a son with four faces, four hands and four feet embodying the four Vedas.

2. Lord Visnu alone is to be worshipped by all always, even by Devas. I shall tell you the means by which one can get boons from him.

From then onwards, every object of sense is known to have come under the Raja's perfect control. He found alike the sea and the forest, the grass and the elephant as a result of his invocation of the Karmakanda.

3. He is the ultimate truth conveyed by the Vedas and sought by sages and the common people, and He is the Supreme God. Worshipping him will never be in vain.

It is interesting to note here how the entire description is an allegory based on the principles of Sankhya philosophy.<ref name=":0" />

4. The vrata to propitiate Visnu told by the great Narada to the Apsarases is well known.

After understanding the importance of sense control and the role of equability in obtaining freedom from worldly bondages, Raja Bhadrashva now wished to know how manifestation of the world was effected and by whom.

9. On the auspicious DvadasI day in the suklapaksa in Vasanta (spring season), one should fast and worship Visnu at night in the prescribed manner.

He had a son named Svara who is considered an embodiment of truth (Satyamurty). He expounded the significance of the four Vedas to four persons and became venerable. Pravrtti (action) was his body and Nivrtti (inaction) was his head.<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>एवंविधोऽसौ पुरुषः स्वरनामा महातपाः । मूर्त्तिस्तस्य प्रवृत्ताख्यं निवृत्ताख्यं शिरो महत् ।। ५३.२४ ।।<ref name=":1">Varaha Purana, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%AB%E0%A5%A9 Adhyaya 53]</ref>

10. A circle of red flowers should be made (round the idol) and the whole night should be spent without sleep and with dance and song, vocal and instrumental.

evaṁvidho'sau puruṣaḥ svaranāmā mahātapāḥ । mūrttistasya pravr̥ttākhyaṁ nivr̥ttākhyaṁ śiro mahat ।। 53.24 ।।</blockquote>The fourfaced one, seeing the permanent and transient objects, began thinking about the means to see his father. Remembering the Vedic proclamation that the grandson will be like the grandfather, he longed too see the virtues of his father in someone, either in Svara or his sons.  

11. The (lord's) head should be worshipped as Bhava, the waist as Anaiiga, the hands as Kama, the belly as Susastra, the feet as Manmatha, and the whole body as Hari.

While he was thinking thus, a weapon from his father appeared there and with that Svara was churned. While churning, the fourfaced saw the head appearing like a coconut fruit covered in a tenfold way. He cut it off like a sesamum plant. He then cut off what had become rootless and there arose the 10 indriyas (5 jnanendriyas and 5 karmendriyas) and the five elements viz. Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. He cut them again and a small object, 1/10th of the original size appeared. When that too was cut off, another small one arose, white and calm. In that, the four-faced saw his own father, small like a molecule and indistinct. And became happy and so did the father Svara.

12. The devotee should then bow in all directions.

This was the earliest story of origin narrated to Raja Bhadrashva by Rshi Agastya and it is said that the one who understands its significance, performs true action.<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>एषेतिहासः प्रथमः सर्वस्य जगतो भृशम् । य इमं वेत्ति तत्त्वेन साक्षात् कर्मपरो भवेत् ।। ५३.२६ ।।<ref name=":1" /> eṣetihāsaḥ prathamaḥ sarvasya jagato bhr̥śam । ya imaṁ vetti tattvena sākṣāt karmaparo bhavet ।। 53.26 ।।</blockquote>

Listening to the story of origin, Raja Bhadrashva was keen to know who should be worshipped by a person desirous of getting knowledge and how he should be worshipped. Rshi Agastya states that it is Vishnu who is to be worshipped by all, even the devas, always. For, he is the ultimate truth conveyed by the Vedas and sought by sages and the common people; he is the Supreme being. And that worshipping him will never go in vain.  

13. In the morning gifts should be given to a Vaidik Brahmin who is free from bodily defect.

It is said that the vrata to propitiate Visnu was once told by the great Narada to the Apsaras.

14. After propitiating the Brahmins, the vrata should be

On the Shukla paksha dvadashi day of Vasanta, Vishnu should be worshipped at night in the prescribed manner by fasting. Making a circle of red flowers around Vishnu, the whole night should be spent without sleep but with dance and music, both vocal and instrumental. Worshipping the deity's head as Bhava, waist as Ananga, hands as Kama, stomach as Sushastra, feet as Manmatha and the whole body as Hari, the devotee should bow in all directions. In the morning, the vrata is concluded after propitiating a Vaidika Brahmana who is devoid of bodily defects with gifts.

concluded. If you observe all this, Visnu will certainly become your husband.

It is said that as a result of observing this vrata, one obtains Vishnu as one's husband.<ref name=":0" />

==== Shubhavrata ====

==== Shubhavrata ====