A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c9.13

c9.13

In the *Rāmāyaṇa*, as they are on their way to Agastya's *āśrama*, Rāma tells his brother Lakshmana how Agastya, intent upon the good of the world, overpowered a deadly demon and thereby rendered the earth habitable. He goes on to narrate the story of the death of Vātāpi in a form which differs from that of the *Mahābhārata* in some ways, though the deviations are of no significance. What deserves particular notice is the idea that the Dandakāranya was first made fit for human (Aryan) occupation by the success of Agastya against the *asuras*. Agastya's conflict with the *asuras* and *rākshasas* is also hinted at elsewhere in the *Rāmāyaṇa*. The sage Viśvāmitra, for instance, explains to Rāma the reason for Tātakā's depredations against Aryan settlers. Agastya had destroyed Tātakā's husband Sunda, and was consequently attacked by Tātakā and her son Mārica. Agastya cursed them both, turning Mārica into a *rākshasa* and his mother into an ugly ogress. From that time to the moment when Rāma did away with her, she maintained a war of revenge.