agama
In the tantric tradition (see TANTRISM) agama most
commonly means “authoritative scripture.” Dif-
ferent systems of tantric tradition may designate
different texts as agamas. In South India, for
instance, there is a tradition called Agamanta
SHAIVISM that relies upon 28 agamas. In this tradi-
tion, the VEDAS are referred to as NIGAMA.
Agamas tend to be fairly late texts (compared
to the Vedas); the earliest agama could hardly have
been written before the sixth century C.E. Though
many of the agamas of the diverse tantric tradi-
tions are philosophical, others focus on Shaivite
temple ritual, including the layout of temples, the
installation of icons, and the ritual forms to be
used. In this sense, they are foundational texts for
temple Hinduism.
In a more limited sense, an agama is a tantric
text that takes the form of a teaching by SHIVA to
PARVATI or another goddess. (In this context, a
Nigama is a text taught by the goddess to Shiva.)
Finally, agama is a linguistic term used in PANINI,
The great Sanskrit grammarian, for an augment
added to a base to form a complete word.
Further reading: J. A. B. van Buitenen, trans., Yamana’s
Agamapramanyam or Treatise on the Validity of Pancara-
tra (Madras: Ramanuja Research Society, 1971); Bruno
Dagens, Architecture in the Ajitagama and the Raurav-
agama: A Study of Two South Indian Texts (New Delhi:
Sitaram Institute of Scientific Research, 1984); Mark
Dyczkowski, The Canon of the Saivagama and the Kub-
jika Tantras of the Western Kaula Tradition (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1988); Kamalakar Mishra,
Kashmir Saivism: The Central Philosophy of Tantrism
(Portland, Ore.: Rudra Press, 1993); S. K. Ramachan-
dra Rao, Agama-Kosa: Agama Encyclopedia (Bangalore:
Kapatharu Research Academy, 1994).
Agastya (also Agasti)
Agastya was one of the Vedic RISHIs (inspired
poets); his name is given as the author of several
hymns in the first of the 10 chapters of the RIG
VEDA. He is said to be the son of both MITRA and
VARUNA, both of whose seed was emitted upon
sight of the celestial APSARAS URVASHI. Agastya then
was born in a water jar. (A similar story exists
about the conception of DRONA in a bucket.)
In the MAHABHARATA and later literature Agas-
tya became an important rishi. In the Mahabharata
itself there are a number of stories about him.
One tale frequently mentioned in Indian litera-
ture relates how Agastya helped the gods destroy
demons who had hidden in the ocean by drink-
ing up the entire ocean. In another tale Agastya
restores the world to order: the VINDHYA mountain
grew jealous of mount MERU, the central mountain
of our universe around which the Sun and Moon
always go, so he began to raise his head in order to
block the path of the celestial orbs. Agastya, GURU
of the Vindhya mountain, went to Vindhya and
forced him to lower his head in obeisance, and to
keep his head lowered while Agastya headed in
the southern direction. Agastya, however, never
returned.
This notion of the Vindhya’s bowing to
Agastya is associated with the migration of the
ARYANS and particularly the BRAHMINS to South
India. Agastya is venerated in the south of India,
where he is said to have been the first to organize
the Tamil grammar. Tolkappiyar, the author of
the oldest known Tamil grammar, is considered
one of Agastya’s 12 students. Agastya was also
said to have been a member of the first two
Tamil Sangams or literary academies, which were
inundated by the sea. (The literature of the third
and last Sangam is understood to be still extant,
but, of course, the Sangams are not historically
verifiable.)
In Tamil Nadu Agastya is mythologically asso-
ciated with SHIVA, who it is said to have sent
Agastya to the south. In the tantric tradition of
the SRI VIDYA, Agastya is said to be the husband of
LOPAMUDRA, the female founder of one of the sri
vidya lineages.
In the Ramayana Agastya was visited at his
ASHRAM by RAMA and became an adviser to him. InAgastya 13 J