आगरी जातीचा इतिहास .....
Like Kols the Aga/Agar/Agariya tribes were involved with metal smelting. The tribal word ‘Ag’ probably supplied the root for the Prakrit /Hindi word ‘Aag’ for fire.
Salt makers
Agar in Marathi means salt pan or bounded farm. In Uttara Kannada district,Karnataka, near Aggargona and Gokarna, traditional salt making industries do exist. The saline water from the tidal stretches are spread on open agricultural fields and are allowed to dry up under the Sun. Desiccation of saline water forms crystals of common salt that are eventually gathered and marketed.Similar native salt making industries prevailed all along the coast since antiquity.
According to legends prevailing among Agari (also known as Agle) tribes in Maharastra, Agela and Mangela were two sons of the sage Agastya.On growing up Agela pursued the art of producing common salt from sea water, wheras Mangela became a fisherman.
पौराणिक कथा अनुसार
Once Indra, the king of gods, asked Agni, the fire god, and Vayu, the wind god, to go and kill all the demons. Agni and Vayu were very powerful and killed most of the demons but the rest hid in the ocean. So they returned and told Indra that they could not kill the rest of the demons.
Indra was very angry. He ordered Agni and Vayu "Even if you have to
churn the ocean, you must get those demons out and kill them."
Agni and vayu said that they didn't want to churn the ocean as there were other creatures
living in it and they would also have to suffer because of the demons.
Indra was not convinced and said, "The ocean has given shelter to the wicked and should suffer for that. But you two are trying to evade your duty by disobeying me. I curse
you to be born as humans on earth." Thereafter, Agni
was born as Sage Agastya while Vayu took birth as Sage Vashishtha.
Agastya (
Tamil:அகத்தியர்
Akattiyar,
Telugu:అగస్త్య,
Sanskrit:अगस्त्य,
Malay: Anggasta,
Thai: Akkhot) was a
Tamil/
Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agastya and his clan
[who?] are also generally credited with uncovering many
mantras of the
Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme
Brahman. Agastya is also the author of Agastya Samhita[ref: Dharma Bharathi]. The word is also written as
Agasti and
Agathiyar. A-ga means a mountain, Asti, thrower. Also a name of
Shiva. Agastya the Muni, was born of both Gods,
Mitra and
Varuna, from
Urvashi.
Agastya is also the Indian astronomical name of the star of
Canopus, is said to be the 'cleanser of waters', since its rising coincides with the calming of the waters of the
Indian Ocean.
Agastya and Lopāmudrā
The left of these two statues represents Agastya as a bearded, pot-bellied Hindu sage. It is located in the archaeological museum at
Prambanan,
Java,
Indonesia, and probably dates from the 9th century A.D. Agastya was one of the divinities worshipped at Candi Siva, the main temple at Prambanan.
Agastya needed to marry and sire a son, in order to fulfill his duties to the Manus. Once he resolved upon doing this, Agastya pursued an unusual course of action: by his yogic powers, he created a female infant who possessed all the special qualities of character and personality that would be appropriate in the wife of a renunciate. At this time, the noble and virtuous king of
Vidarbha (an area in south-central India, just south of the Vindhya mountains), was childless and was undertaking penances and offering prayers to the divinities for the gift of a child. Having come to know the plight of the king, Agastya arranged for the transformation of the child he had created, to be born the daughter of that noble king of Vidarbha. The child thus born was named "
Lopamudra" by her parents. Upon her attaining marriageable age, Agastya approached the king and sought the hand of his daughter. The king was initially chagrined to hear such a suggestion from a renunciate, but found that his daughter, who had already exhibited extraordinary standards of mind and character, was insistent that he should accept the proposal. She was utterly intent upon renouncing the royal palace of her father and set out to live in forest at the hermitage of Agastya. Lopamudra and Agastya were duly married and lived a life of extraordinary felicity and happiness. It is believed that they had two sons - Bringi & Achutha. In
Mahabharata (Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva), there is mention of his penance at
Gangadwara (
Haridwar),in Uttar Khand State in India, with the help of his wife,
Lopamudra (the princess of
Vidharba).
[1] Lopamudra attained the rank of one of Mahapativrathas in the world by her deication to worship her husband Agastya, and remained with other Pathivrathas (Noble exalted wives),like Mandodari (Ravana's wife),etc.
[edit] Legends about Agastya
One story about Agastya goes that once the
Kalakeyas (a clan of
Asuras) had taken refuge in the Cosmic Ocean, so that it was difficult for the Devas to vanquish them, due to which they went to Sage Agastya for help. After hearing the Devas, the sage drank the entire ocean water and held it within him, until the demons were destroyed.
In his book, he gives description of, and instructions for the creation of medicines for fever (it may be of any type), cancer, treatments for impotence, abdominal problems, brain and eye problems, bone problems, etc. Reputedly, his medicines give quick results without any side effects.
Another legend is about how Sage Agastya saved the then
Bharatavarsha from imbalance. Mount Vindhyachal continually grew in size due to taunting comments by Sage Narada according to a story in the Shri Rama-Charitra-Manasa. So as to temper the vanity of the mountains, Sage Agastya and his family traveled to South India, via the Mount Vindhyachal. On their way, when the Vindhyas saw Sage Agastya, he bowed with respect and reverence, upon which Sage Agastya played a trick on the Vindhyas, joking if he would stay bowed and subdued with respect till the sage returned. The Vindhyas was truly benevolent and promised to not grow until the seer's return from the South. After passing through the mountain, sage Agastya told his wife, that they would never go back North side of mount Vindhyas ever again.
Another reference is in the
Mahabharata Book 10 in Sauptikaparva, section-12
[2] as the sage who gave
Drona, the greatest of weapons,
Brahmastra (used by both
Arjuna and
Ashwatthama at the end of the war). It is also believed by some that the Tamil language was taught to Sage Agastya by Lord Shiva Himself.
[edit] Agastya Curses Indradyumna Maharaja
Srimad Bhagavatam 8th Canto
http://vedabase.net/sb/8/4/en
SB 8.4.6: Because Gajendra, King of the elephants, had been touched directly by the hands of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was immediately freed of all material ignorance and bondage. Thus he received the salvation of sārūpya-mukti, in which he achieved the same bodily features as the Lord, being dressed in yellow garments and possessing four hands.
SB 8.4.7: This Gajendra had formerly been a Vaiṣṇava and the king of the country known as Pāṇḍya, which is in the province of Draviḍa [South India]. In his previous life, he was known as Indradyumna Mahārāja.
SB 8.4.8: Indradyumna Mahārāja retired from family life and went to the Malaya Hills, where he had a small cottage for his āśrama. He wore matted locks on his head and always engaged in austerities. Once, while observing a vow of silence, he was fully engaged in the worship of the Lord and absorbed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead.
SB 8.4.9: While Indradyumna Mahārāja was engaged in ecstatic meditation, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great sage Agastya Muni arrived there, surrounded by his disciples. When the Muni saw that Mahārāja Indradyumna, who was sitting in a secluded place, remained silent and did not follow the etiquette of offering him a reception, he was very angry.
SB 8.4.10: Agastya Muni then spoke this curse against the King: This King Indradyumna is not at all gentle. Being low and uneducated, he has insulted a brāhmaṇa. May he therefore enter the region of darkness and receive the dull, dumb body of an elephant.
SB 8.4.11-12: Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, after Agastya Muni had thus cursed King Indradyumna, the Muni left that place along with his disciples. Since the King was a devotee, he accepted Agastya Muni's curse as welcome because it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, although in his next life he got the body of an elephant, because of devotional service he remembered how to worship and offer prayers to the Lord.
SB 8.4.13: Upon delivering the King of the elephants from the clutches of the crocodile, and from material existence, which resembles a crocodile, the Lord awarded him the status of sārūpya-mukti. In the presence of the Gandharvas, the Siddhas and the other demigods, who were praising the Lord for His wonderful transcendental activities, the Lord, sitting on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, returned to His all-wonderful abode and took Gajendra with Him.
[edit] Parallels from Old Tamil traditions
Old
Tamil literature contains several references to akam in the sense of ‘fort, palace or inner place’. (e.g.) akam ‘palace’ (Perun^.32.100)
aka-nakar ‘the inner city’ (Cil. 2.15.109; Man@i. 1.72)
aka-p-pa ‘inner fortification’ (Nar\. 14.4; Patir\.22.26; Cil.28.144)
aka-p-pa ‘matil-ul| uyar met|ai : high terrace inside the fort’ (Tivakaram 5.198)
matil-akam lit., ‘fortified house’; (Cil.2.14.69); the palace of the rulers of Kerala. A clear distinction is drawn in Old Tamil literature between those who ruled from inside the forts and those who served them, even though the expressions for either group have the same base aka-tt-u ‘in the house’. The rulers of the forts were known as: (e.g.) aka-tt-ar : ‘ (princes) of the palace’ (Kali. 25.3)
aka-tt-ar ‘ those inside the (impregnable) fortification’ (Kural| 745)
aka-tt-or ‘ those inside the fort’ (Pura. 28.11)
aka-tt-on\ ‘ he (king) inside the fort’ (Tol. III: 68.4, 69.5)
Those who served as palace or temple attendants were known as follows: (e.g.) aka-tt-at|imai, aka-t-ton@t|ar, aka-mp-at|iyar etc., (Tamil Lexicon). The palace or temple service was generally called: (e.g.) aka-p-pat|ai, aka-p-pan@i, aka-p-parivaram etc., (Tamil Lexicon). Another important set of Old Tamil expressions for palace and temple attendants is derived from the root culÈ ‘to surround’ > ulÈiyam ‘service, especially in palace or temple’, ulÈiyar ‘palace or temple servants’ (DEDR 2698 > 758). Cf. ulÈi, ulÈai ‘place esp. about a king (DEDR 684) which also ultimately looks to culÈ ‘to surround, surrounding area’. Note the distinction between ul\ai-y-iruntan\ ‘minister of state, companion of the king’ and ul\ai-y-al|-an\ ‘attendant (in the palace)’ (Tamil Lexicon).
[3]
[edit] From Etymology to History
The critical link between Dravidian etymology and history is brought out by the following two sets of entries: DEDR 7: aka-m ‘inside, house, place’ aka-tt-u ‘within, inside the house’ aka-tt-an\ ‘one who is in, a householder’. C.W.Kathiraiver Pillai’s Dictionary (1910) (gloss in English added by
Iravatham Mahadevan ):
aka-tt-i : (1) akattiya mun\ivan\ (‘Agastya, the sage’)
(2) ul|l|-irukkir\a-van\ (‘one who is in’)
(3) oru maram (‘Agasti grandiflora’).
Note how akatti in (1) and (3) get transformed to agasti in Indo-Aryan loanwords.[3]
[edit] Agastya and the southern migration of the Veilr
The story of the southern migration of the Velir from
Dvaraka[disambiguation needed 
] under the leadership of Agastya is narrated by Naccinarkkiniyar in his commentary on
Tolkappiyam (payiram ; Porul|.34).
One version of this 'ayitheehyam', meaning spiritual story wherein proof is not sought for but is believed to be true, is that pleased upon Parvathy's penance to achieve consort hood of Lord Siva, He appears before her and agrees to marry Her. The Spiritual Wedding was solemnized on Mount Kailasa. All the Devas, Bhootas, Asuras, Yakshas, Kinnaras, Gandharvas etc, and other dignitaries including Brahma and Vishnu, came down from their respective extra-terrestrial realms to Earth, to Kailasa to witness the wedding. Due to the weight of the population in the North the Earth started to Tilt. Lord
Shiva then requested Agasthya Muni to rush to the then South India and balance the Earth from further tilting. Agasthya muni came down to a place which later on came be known as Chengannoor (old name not known) in Kerala and sat in mediation and then negated the further tilt of the planet. However, Agasthya muni had laid down a condition before leaving Kailasah that Siva and Parvathy would come down to the place where he would sit, and the marriage will be solemnized again there for his benefit to which all agreed. Finally the Bride and Bridegroom came to Chegannoor to be married again before Agasthya muni. But Parvarthy had her periods and the marriage was postponed. The red blood that flowed from Parvathy Devi's vagina fell on the ground and the mud there turned red. Thus the place got the name Chemmanoor - chem(red)-mann(mud)-ooru(place). Which later got distorted over ages and now is got to be known as Chengannoor. Though still there are people who call the place as Chemmannoor.
An important legacy worth mentioning here is a Temple there; considered to be first built by Agasthya Muni, where he sat in meditation and the marriage was re-solemnized after Parvathy devi’s periods were over; where Siva-Parvathy’s idols are worshiped in the same temple. One half of the temple is dedicated to Lord Siva and the other half behind Siva is dedicated for Goddess Parvathy. It is believed that They are available to Their devotees for worship, as husband and wife here. Interestingly it is believed that even today the idol of Parvathy has menstrual flow, though not regular. But if the priest observes blood (claimed to be tested true menstrual blood) in the 'odayaada' during 'nirmalya pooja', Parvathy's idol is removed and kept in a sanctum opposite to the temple within the premises and after a festival 'tripoottaraatu' (7 days) Her idol is placed back into the temple. The festival is celebrated only if Her menses occurs.
[edit] Vathapi legend
Another story has it that two demon brothers, Ilvala and Vathapi, used to kill people who were passing by the forest in a special manner. Vathapi was good at changing to other life forms and the other, Ilvala knew the supernatural slogan
Sanjivani mantra which, when invoked can bring back a dead person to life. They hatched a plan against Agastya that Vathapi would turn into a goat and be killed and fed to Agastya. After Agastya had eaten the meat, Ilvala would invoke the Sanjivani mantra to bring back his brother Vathapi to life, who in turn would rend Agastya's stomach and come out thereby killing him. By the plan, one changed into a goat and the other disguised himself as a
Brahmachari who invited Agastya to a meal. Agastya knew beforehand about the plan due to his immense
Vedic powers, but he resolved to teach both a lesson. After the meal, Agastya simply rubbed his stomach saying
Vathapi JeerNo bhava; literally
may Vathapi be digested, while the other demon tried to bring his brother to life in vain. Agastya plainly informed the demon that his brother has been digested and could no longer be brought back to life.
[edit] Other facets of Agastya
He is considered as the first and foremost
Siddha. He is considered the guru of many other
Siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni, meaning short (kuru) saint (muni). He made contributions to the field of Medicine and
Astrology - especially
Nadi astrology. He is said
[Tamil sidhhars] to have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations, Boopathi Kuligai, is so powerful that it can even bring the dead back to life. Two of his students and disciples were
Therayar and
Tholkappiar. Another story about him is that once when the great sage accompanied by his beloved royal wife were wandering through forests, she fainted due to the humidity and hot conditions prevailing in the south. She was royal, hence not exposed to hard conditions. By seeing this the great sage became angry and prepared to punish the Sun God with his bow and arrows. Upon seeing this the sun god feared and appeared before Agastya and presented him with umbrella and
chappals (foot wear).
[edit] Unity of Vishnu and Shiva
At a Saivite temple named
Kutralam, formerly a Vishnu temple, in
Tamil Nadu, Agastya, in one legend, was refused entry. He then appeared as a Vaishnavite devotee and is said to have miraculously converted the image to a Shiva
linga.
[4] A symbolic meaning of this conversion is to show that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the one and same God.
[edit] In Akilam
According to
Akilattirattu Ammanai, the religious book of
Ayyavazhi, Agastya was created from the mind of lord
Siva inorder to offer boons to
Kaliyan (See:Boons offered to Kaliyan). As per the order of Siva, Agastya offered many boons including all worldly knowledge to him.
So as per Ayyavazhi, in
Kali Yug all the knowledge, including the basic formulae and forms of modern scientific technologies came from Agastya.
[edit] Certain important Stotrams
[edit] Contrast between Northern and Southern Traditions
[edit] Agasthya Legend
The Notable differences between the Northern (Indo Aryan ) and Southern(Dravidian-Tamil) traditions relating to the Agestya legend can now be set forth in the form of a table:
| Northern(Indo Aryan) Traditions | Southern(Dravidian Tamil) Traditions |
|---|
| Migrates from North to South | Migrates from North to South |
| Kills the Rakshasas | clears the Forest |
| Promotes Vedic Aryanism | Promotes agriculture and Irrigation. |
| Leader of Brahman colonists | Leader of the Velir Clan |
| Indo-Aryan or Sanskrit Speaker(implicit in the claim of Northern Extration and Aryan leadership) | The greatest exponent of Tamil Language;author of the earliest Tamil grammar |
| Has no definite historical Context. | Linked to the Indian Historical Tradition of
(a)Ventar-Velir-Velalar hierarchy of Tamil Sangam Polity
(b)Dravidian ruling classes claiming descend from a pitcher
(c)Yadavas,and (through Them) the Andha-Kura-Vrishni-Bhoja tribes of the Mahabharata Age |
[5]
[edit] The fact of Agastya's leadership of Velir clan
The fact of Agastya's leadership of
Velir clan rules out the possibility that he was even in origin an Indo-Aryan speaker. The
Velir-Velar-
Velalar groups constituted the ruling and the land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history and betray no trace whatever of an indo-Aryan linguistic ancestry. The Tamil Society had of cource under the religious and cultural influences of the North even before the beginning of the Cankam Age but had maintained its
linguistic identity.From what we now know of the
linguistic prehistory of India,it is more plausible to assume that the
Yadavas were the Aryanised descendants of an original Non-Aryan people that to consider the
Tamil Velir as the later offshoot of the indo-Aryan speaking
Yadavas.The Agastya legend itself can be re-interpreted as Non-Aryan and Dravidian even in origin and pertaining to the Pre-Vedic Proto-historical period in the नोर्थ
टी.व्ही.वरील स्टॅण्डअप कॉमेडी शो आणि मिमिक्री कार्यक्रमांमधून घराघरात आगरी बोलीभाषा पोहोचविणारा जॉनी रावत आता संपूर्ण आगरी भाषेतील पूर्ण लांबीचा ‘आगरी डॉन' हा चित्रपट घेऊन येतोय. नावाप्रमाणेच हा अमिताभच्या मूळ डॉनचा आगरी रीमेक आहे. आठ वर्षांपूर्वी ज़्‍ाॉनी आणि त्याचा मित्र रमेश जाधव यांनी शोले आणि डॉन हे दोन चित्रपट आगरी भाषेत रीमेक करण्याचे ठरविले होते. आधी त्यांनी ‘शोले' निर्माण केला. त्याला चांगला प्रतिसाद मिळाल्यानंतर आता ते डॉन घेऊन येत आहेत.
