Agastya ate Vatapi - Vedic Food For Thought - Part 3

Did Brahmins Eat Meat?

 

In Yesterday’s post I had mentioned about the requirements of following a vegetarian diet in order to embark on the spiritual path. The Puranas tell us that Sage Agastya ate a goat. This has led most people to believe that in ancient times, Brahmins were allowed to eat meat. Let us examine the legend about Sage Agastya to see if this was the case.

 

Legend of Agastya: 

Sage Agastya spent all his time meditating. Once he was met by his departed ancestors. His ancestors asked him to marry and have a son so that Sage Agastya could fulfill his debts to them.

The Sage was unable to find a suitable woman. He then created a beautiful woman out of everything that was good in this Universe.  He made it possible for this lady to take birth as the  daughter of Satyavati the wife of the King of Vidharbha. When the girl came of age, Sage Agastya asked her hand in marriage. The king afraid of being cursed by the Sage if he refused gave his daughter, Lopamudra in marriage to Sage Agastya.

As the Sage was a mendicant, Lopamudra requested the Sage to seek wealth so that they could start a family. The Sage approached three kings successively for wealth. The kings were called as Srutarvan , Bradhnasva, and Trasndasyu. Upon examining their account books the Sage found out that their income and expenditures were balanced. The kings did not have any funds in the treasury to donate to the Sage. The Sage then took the Kings with him to seek alms from a Dhanava called Ilvala. The Dhanava hated Brahmins as he had requested some Brahmins to bless him with a son equal to Indra and they had refused. Ilvala’s brother Vatapi had the powers to transform himself into a goat. Ilvala cooked Vatapi as food for the Brahmins and after they had eaten, Ilvala would call Vatapi to come out of their bellies. Upon hearing the words of Ilvala, the dead Vatapi would become alive. He would tear the stomachs of the Brahmins to come out thus killing the Brahmins.

When Sage Agastya approached Ilvala with the kings, Ilvala requested the Sage to have lunch served by him. Ilvala then cooked his brother Vatapi, disguised the food and served it to the Sage and the kings. The Sage prevented the kings from eating the food and he consumed their share as well. After the meal, Ilvala called Vatapi  but before he could say “come out”, the Sage rubbed his belly and said that “Vatapi has been digested”.  Thus the Sage prevented Vatapi from bursting out of his belly.

Ilvala repented his mistakes and offered sufficient wealth to the Sage as well as the three kings. After the Sage returned home to his wife they had a son  called Idhmavaha.

Esoteric Meaning:

From a brief overview of the story it looks like it was the norm for Brahmins to eat mutton but if we examine the story we can easily see the actual meaning.

Sage Agastya is shown to create his wife from all good things. This indicates the birth of “faith” in him to get the absolute knowledge. As a Sage, he is married to faith. Lopamudra is Lady Faith. She sends him on an errand to gain the best wealth which is true knowledge. There are four Purusharthas in this world which are a form of wealth. The four Purusharthas are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.

The Sage meets with the three Kings who have the wealth of the first three Purusharthas respectively. The efforts they had to put in according to the shastras to obtain the Purusharthas is the income and their enjoyment of the Purusharthas is the expense. The income and the expense balance out. Upon examining their income vs expense statements the Sage realizes that the first three Purusharthas are not eternal wealth. He therefore takes the three kings with him to obtain the eternal wealth from the Dhanava Ilvala. The five stars in Orion’s head are called as Ilvala. The moon called as soma is the regent of these five stars. Thus we have a hidden meaning about the Soma Sacrifice in this legend.

The sacrificial oblation is often represented as a victim in the form of a goat. The moon Soma cooks his brother Vatapi as a goat. That is the moon sacrifices something which is very dear to him. Thus Vatapi is the Soma juice obtained from the moon Soma. Vatapi has the essence of the Soma Juice and is the “food of true knowledge”.

The stomach is used to represent a samsaric man’s sufferings from hunger and thirst. A Brahmin is a person who seeks Brahma Vidhya. Ilvala feeds knowledge in the form of Vatapi to the Brahmins. As soon as the Brahmins consume this supreme food, Vatapi is shown to burst forth from their bellies to show us that true knowledge ends the troubles of samsara.

When Ilvala offers knowledge Vatapi as food, Agastya consumes everything without leaving a single morsel for the kings. This is to show that only Brahmins have the right to consume the Soma Juice. Even though Agastya eats Vatapi without leaving a single morsel for the kings, they too are benefited when Sage Agastya obtained true knowledge. It was shown earlier that Vatapi burst out of the stomach of Brahmins in order to show that true knowledge ends sufferings. It is also equally essential to show that true knowledge makes a person immortal. Thus Sage Agastya is shown to have digested “Vatapi” and he is not harmed. Ilvala granted wealth to  the Sage as well as the three kings to show that people of other varnas (castes) are benefited as well when a Brahmin acquires true knowledge.

The Sage then returned home and his wife Lopamudra conceived. The embryo grew in her womb for seven years and after the completion of the seventh year was born as Idhmavaha. It should be noted that it took seven whole years for the embryo to develop. This part of the legend shows us that the Sage obtained the Supreme-Self as his son i.e to show the Sage’s spiritual birth. A person who is initiated into spiritual path through the Upanayanam ceremony is called a Dwija. The Upanayanam ceremony is typically performed after the completion of the seventh year. Thus Idhmavaha is shown to grow in Lopamudra’s womb for seven years and then take birth after the completion of seven years to indicate the Sage’s spiritual birth.

Through Ilvala’s sacrifice of Vatapi Idhmavaha is born; thus, Ilvala’s wish to have a son equal to Indra is fulfilled as well. The word “Indra” means king and refers solely to Lord Vishnu. Only when we add a prefix to the word “Indra” the word is used to refer to other kings like Devendra, Gajendra etc. Idhmavaha is thus the Supreme-Self and He is realized by sage Agastya.  The name Idhmavaha means the one who carries the fuel. The Supreme-Self carries the fuel "jeevatma"; i.e Paramatma is the means as well as the end. This is the true knowledge required to attain moksha.  This is the true meaning of the story.

 Reference:

Essays on Indo Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyangar.