Editing Agastya (section)

===Puranas===
The [[Puranas|Puranic]] literature of Hinduism has numerous stories about Agastya, more elaborate, more fantastical and inconsistent than the mythologies found in Vedic and Epics literature of India.{{sfn|Dalal|2010|pp=7–8}} For example, chapter 61 of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]'', chapter 22 of ''[[Padma Purana]]'', and seven other Maha [[Puranas]] tell the entire biography of Agastya.{{sfn|Daniélou|1991|pp=322–323 with footnotes 5 and 6}}{{sfn|Patton|1996|p=413}} Some list him as one of the ''[[Saptarishi]]'' (seven great [[rishi]]), while in others he is one of the eight or twelve extraordinary sages of the Hindu traditions.{{sfn|Daniélou|1991|pp=317–323}} The names and details are not consistent across the different Puranas, nor in different manuscript versions of the same Purana. He is variously listed along with Angiras, Atri, Bhrigu, Bhargava, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Vasistha, Kashyapa, Gautama, Jamadagni and others.{{sfn|Patton|1996|pp=408–414}}

Agastya is reverentially mentioned in the Puranas of all major Hindu traditions: Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism. Many of the Puranas include lengthy and detailed accounts of the descendants of Agastya and other ''Saptarishis''.{{sfn|Daniélou|1991|pp=322–323 with footnotes 5 and 6}}{{sfn|Patton|1996|pp=408–414}}