Who is Agastya Muni?
Agastya is regarded as the founding figure of Siddha medicine. Numerous Puranas and Itihasas, including the important Ramayana and Mahabharata, mention Agastya. He is one of the seven most revered rishis (the Saptarishi) in the Vedic texts and is revered as a Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition. He invented an early grammar of the Old Tamil language, Agattiyam, and played a pioneering role in the advancement of Tampraparniyan medicine and spirituality at Saiva centres in pre-colonial Sri Lanka and South India. Additionally, he is honoured in the Shaktism and Vaishnavism Puranic literature.
He is one of the Indian sages depicted in ancient sculpture and reliefs in Hindu temples throughout South and Southeast Asia, including the Shaiva temples built on Java, Indonesia, in the early Middle Ages. He serves as the main character and Guru in the 11th-century translation of the ancient Javanese text Agastyaparva.
Way Forward
Adiyogi Shiva investigated and outlined 112 ways for people to reach their true nature when he communicated his knowledge. He separated the Sapta Rishis, his seven followers, into seven groups of sixteen when he realised how long it would take them to understand the 112 ways. Each one of them discovered sixteen paths to the highest goal. According to legend, it took them eighty-four years to discover this. They remained with Adiyogi for these 84 years, and over time, he grew from being just their instructor to becoming their entire lives.