“Agastya: In Hindu mythology, the legendary sage and pioneer in the epic age of the Aryanization of south India. Supposed to have been born in a jar, Agastya is also known as Kumbhayoni, or ‘jar-born.’ Legend says that he presented to his pupil Ram the invincible bow and inexhaustible quiver of Vishnu. According to another legend, as he was walking one day with Vishnu, the insolent ocean asked the god who the pygmy (the ‘jar-born’ dwarf) was that strutted by his side. When Vishnu replied that it was the patriarch Agastya, who would restore earth to its true balance, the ocean contemptuously spat its spray in Agastya’s face. Agastya, in revenge, drank it dry.”
Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.
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