Agastya

What does Agastya mean?

Agastya is the name of a revered Vedic sage, giving it a personal and literary association rather than a straightforward dictionary translation. Wiktionary records the sage, the given name and the star Canopus under the same name. It also records Agasti as a Sanskrit variant. The cited entries do not settle the name's deeper etymology, so the sage is the clearest starting point for understanding it. His place in both Sanskrit and Tamil traditions gives the name several cultural connections.

Source: Wiktionary, अगस्त्य. How we use sources.

Spelling and pronunciation

अगस्त्य is pronounced a-gas-tya, in three syllables with short vowels and a hard g. Agasthya is another spelling used in South Indian contexts; Agasti is a recorded Sanskrit variant. Keep the consonants in the ending close together. The th spelling here represents the dental t, rather than English th.

Also spelled Agasthya, Agasti.

Agastya in tradition and story

Agastya is remembered as a Vedic sage and composer of hymns. Later legends describe him humbling the Vindhya mountains and bringing Vedic learning southward. Tamil tradition honors him in accounts of the origins of its grammar, and Indian astronomy gives his name to Canopus.