[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.24 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.24 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.24 - **Language:** English ### [c5.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.24) It is in the Rāmāyaṇa that Agastya makes the most distinguished figure. He dwelt in a hermitage on Mount Kunjara, situated in a most beautiful country to the south of the Vindhya mountains, and was chief of the hermits of the south. He kept the Rākshasas who infested the south under control, so that the country was “only gazed upon and not possessed by them.” His power over them is illustrated by a legend which represents him as eating up a Rākshasa named Vātāpi who assumed the form of a ram, and as destroying by a flash of his eye the Rākshasa’s brother, Ilvala, who attempted to avenge him. (See Vātāpi.) Rāma in his exile wandered to the hermitage of Agastya with Sītā and Lakshmana. The sage received him with the greatest kindness, and became his friend, adviser, and protector. He gave him the bow of Vishnu; and when Rāma was restored to his kingdom, the sage accompanied him to Ayodhyā. - [Previous: c5.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.23) - [Next: c5.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.25) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) ## Linked texts (1) - [Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.ramayana.valmiki) — Vālmīki, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.24) · Pramāṇa