AtApi and VAtApi Versus agastya MahaRshi

AtApi and VAtApi versus agastya MahaRshi

There is a prayer that we can recite if we accidentally eat too much of a tasty thing and have a bout of indigestion:

आतापी मारितो येन वातापी च निपातितः ।
समुद्र: शोषितो येन स मेऽगस्त्य: प्रसीदतु।।
ātāpī mārito yena vātāpī ca nipātitaḥ .
samudra: śoṣito yena sa me'gastya: prasīdatu ..

[May MahaRshi agastya be pleased with me (and bless me to digest the food that is giving me indigestion)! He is the sage who destroyed the demon AtApi, digested his brother demon VAtApi, and drank up the entire ocean once (in a separate incident.]

There is a story behind this prayer, of course.

There was a time when the demons were a terror to gods and humans. AtApi and VAtApi were two demon brothers, carnivorous and cannibalistic. Their only aim in life was to eat up human beings. The two used to kill humans, cook them up and eat the flesh. But how to get edible human beings every day? This became a problem for the cannibals.

So these demon brothers — the older one was AtApi — hatched out a plan. They disguised themselves as very humble devotees, and every day they invited a temple goer or a pilgrim for lunch. The younger brother was an accomplished master of black magic. He would allow himself to be cut up into pieces and be cooked into spicy dishes. He had the power to regain his life afterwards. So, he died fearlessly.

AatApi, the elder brother would serve his younger brother disguised well with spices, and feed the invited hungry man, who would not know what he was eating. After the meal was over, AatApi would call out his younger brother saying, “O Vaataapi, please come.” Vaataapi, using his power of black magic, would regain life, burst out of the stomach of the innocent guest and come out live.

And the poor visitor would then become the meal for both. Every day this used to happen. Most of the devotees and pilgrims in the region were finished off one by one in this manner.

One day, it so happened that they had a very bad encounter. There was a very powerful sage by the name of agastya MahaRshi. Born from a clay pot (and therefore called KumbhOdbhava) he was a sage who had attained spiritual perfection. The hapless brothers invited agastya for lunch hoping their regular tactic would work. The sage was not an ordinary man as the two brothers mistook him to be. As usual, the younger brother was cooked up into a dish and given to Sage agastya for his lunch.

The holy man knew what was happening. He thought: “These demons want to kill me for food. I will teach them an unforgettable lesson today.” The sage ate the meal as if he did not know of the shady deal. As soon as he finished his meal, the elder brother said, “O Vaataapi, please come.” The satiated sage rubbed his belly, intoning, “Vaataapi ! jirṇo bhava = Vatapi ! Be digested.” How can the incantation of the Sage agastya who had once drank up the whole ocean and digested it become untrue?

Turning to AtApi, the sage said, “Sir, your brother has been digested; he cannot come out of me any more.

AtApi, the older demon, was shocked. He realized there was some special power this Sage possessed, and therefore he became afraid, and so he ran for his life. But Maharshi agastya would not let him escape. He simply uttered 'Hum' (a mystical and potent holy sound) which reduced the running AtApi to ashes. From then on, agastyarshi got a new name: VAtApihA. Killer of VAtApi.

Because Maharshi agastya is kind to his own devotees, they can intone the following stanza and receive the blessings of the sage who could digest anything. And then the Sage will help his devotees rid themselves of their indigestion challenge.

आतापी मारितो येन वातापी च निपातितः ।
समुद्र: शोषितो येन स मेऽगस्त्य: प्रसीदतु।।
ātāpī mārito yena vātāpī ca nipātitaḥ . samudra: śoṣito yena sa me'gastya: prasīdatu ..

The End

PS: As a precursor to this verse, there is another verse
अगस्त्यं कुम्भकर्णं च शनिं च वडवानलम्‌॥
आहारपरिपाकार्थं स्मरेद्भीमं च पञ्चमम्‌॥
that suggests to remember Agastya, Kumbhakarna, Shani, Vadavanal, and Bhim for general digestion improvement. This is elaborated further in the Hindu Jeevan Paddhati by Dr. Kameshwara Upadhyaya

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