Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.834

c7.834

IDHMAVĀHA. Son of Agastya and his wife Lopāmudrā. The actual name of Idhmavāha was Tridasyu. There is a story in the Mahābhārata about the birth of this boy. When Lopāmudrā was pregnant, Agastya asked her :—"1000 sons of average ability; or 100 sons, each of them having the worth of 10 sons; or 10 sons, each having the worth of 100 sons; or a single son having the nobility and greatness of more than a thousand sons; which would you prefer?" Lopāmudrā chose a single son with the greatness of a thousand sons. Tridasyu or Idhmavāha was the son born according to her wish. The child was in the womb for seven years before he was born. He began to recite Vedas even from the moment of his birth. As the boy grew up, he used to bring small pieces of firewoods and twigs to feed the fire for his homa. That was why he got the name Idhmavāha. (One who brings the necessary things for homa). (Idhma = fuel; vāha = one who carries).