Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.424

c8.424

The seven sons of Maṇibhadra after learning magic from Maya created a huge cobra and travelled all over the world on it. One day they reached a mountain near Ṛṣyamūkācala. They saw the sage Agastya coming that way and just to tease him they coiled that cobra and hid it beneath the ground in the form of a circle and they themselves stood on it as seven palm trees in a circle and caused obstruction to the sage in his path. The sage as he came near the trees knew by his spiritual powers what trick had been played on him and said cursing, "May you stand like this for ever". The princes knew the hideousness of the curse and pleaded for redress and the sage said, "After centuries the incarnation of Viṣṇu as Śrī Rāma would come and give you salvation".