116 Mortals Who Lived Through both Ramayan and Mahabharat periods. Episode 10.

Aditi—Aditi is referred to as the wife of Kashyap and the mother of many gods in Ramayan, Mahabharat and Puran. She was the daughter of Daksh Prajapati. Indra, Twasta, Mitr, Varun, Vivasvaan, Vaaman and Vishnu were her sons, Indra being the elder one in Chakshush Manvantar who were also among the twelve Adityas in Vaivasvat Manvantar. During churning of milky ocean (ksheer Samudramanthan) a pair of earrings emerged out, which Indra gave to his mother Aditi. It was stolen by Narkasur from Indra’s Devlok and taken to his city Pragjyotish. Later Shri Krishan killed Narkasur in a battle, brought back the earrings, and returned it to Aditi. 2. Agastay—Agastay, also called Dattoli, was the son of Pulastay (one of the 16 manasputra of Brahma, and Saptrishi in Swayambhuv Manvantar). Agastay’s mother was Priti, the daughter of Daksh Prajapati. Agastay was also paternal uncle of Ravan, as his father Vishrava was also son of Pulastay. Nahush, A famous King of the Lunar dynasty, grandson of Pururava, was transformed to a huge serpent by Agastay. Story goes like this: to get remission from the sin of killing Vritrasur, son of Vishwakarma, a Brahman, Indra hid himself in one of the underground water channel of the Manasarovar Lake. The Devatas who were worried due to the absence of Indra, elected Nahush as their Indra temporarily. Nahush wanted to get Indrani as his consort. Agastay cursed Nahush "Since you have whipped me saying 'Sarp Sarp', may you be transformed into a mahasarp, a python.” Many years passed by when at the sight of the Pandavas Nahush, as Python, regained his original form and went back to the world of Indra. Shri Ram and Lakshman went to the forest with Vishwamitra for protecting the Yagya and rishis from the onslaughts of Rakshasas. When they entered the Tadaka forest Vishwamitra told them the story of Tadaka. Tadaka was the daughter of Suketu, a semi god of the Yaksh tribe. Suketu gave her in marriage to Sund. Tadaka gave birth to a son called Marich. When Sund was killed, Tadaka got wild and angry and ran into the hermitage of Agastay causing much havoc there. At this Agastay got angry and cursed her to become a Rakshasi and instantly the bodies of Tadaka and Marich were deformed. Both were killed by Shri Ram. He was present at the time of marriage of Shri Ram and Sita, sang Vedic mantras along with many eminent rishis of the time. Shri Ram stayed awhile at Agastay’s ashram at Dandak forest while in exile. Agastay gave Shri Ram an arrow, which, when shot at an Asura would pierce his heart, pass on to the other side, fly to the sea and bathe in the seawater and return to the quiver. Agastay from South was present at the time of Shri Ram’s crowning ceremony (rajyabhishekh). When Shri Ram was fighting with Ravan in Lanka, dejection befell him, his heart being weighed down with faintness, for a little while. Ravan made the best use of this opportunity and began to advance. The gods had gathered in the sky above to witness the fight. Agastay, at that particular moment, taught Shri Ram the Aditya-hridaya mantra, a hymn in praise of the Sun god and when Shri Ram chanted that mantra, he resumed fight with vigour and Ravan was defeated and slain. When Shri Ram returned to Ayodhya from exile, hermits from various parts visited him, among whom Dattatrey, Namuchi, Pramuchi, Valmiki, Soma, Kandu, Agastay and their disciples were from the South. Guru Dronacharya was the disciple of Agnivesh who in turn was the disciple of Agastay. Dron says to Arjun as follows, "Agnivesh, my teacher was the disciple of Agastay, in the art of using bows and arrows and I am his disciple." He was one of the many eminent and illustrious sages present at the Vaasudev Yagya performed by Shri Krishan and Balram. Shri Krishan, Balram and Pandavas rightfully respected all eminent rishis.