Ilvala was angry and sad at the same time. He decided to take revenge on Agastya for killing his brother. He attacked Agastya. How can Kshatra strength win over Brahma strength? With the power of his tapas Agastya reduced Ilvala to ashes. In this way Agastya rid the world of the two terrible demons who were troubling the people and helped people live in peace.
Agastya's Promise
Once when Agastya was on his tour of the world he reached a big valley in which he saw his pithrus hanging head downwards from a big tree. He was shocked and he went near them and asked them why they were hanging like that. His words were full of concern. Those sages who were Brahmavadis said," We are reduced to this plight because you have not become a grihasta. As a result, our family line has no chance to continue. This in turn will stop us from reaching heaven."They continued, "Son Agastya, if you marry and get a son, we will get released from this state and attain heaven. Therefore please get married. It will help us to get salvation."Agastya realising the gravity of the situation agreed to become a grihastha. Though he gave a promise to his pithrus,he did not know how to become a grihastha, who he should marry and how to get a son. He began to think about the problem seriously.
Birth of Lopamudra
Who is going to be suitable bride for me? How can the family line be continued, he began to think. He continued to think for a long time but he failed to come to a conclusion. Suddenly an idea flashed to him with the power of his tapas he created a fine juicy fruit. He knew that the king of Vidarbha was performing tapas for getting children. He therefore gave that fruit to the king. The king was very happy and he received the fruit happily and took it to the palace and gave it to his queen. The queen ate the fruit with great devotion. The fruit was the product of Agastya's years of tapas. The queen became pregnant and at the end of nine months she gave birth to a baby girl. The child was cute and attractive. The king invited priests and got the namakarana ceremony(christening, namingceremony) done. The priests were very much attracted by the beauty of the child. The child was named Lopamudra. Lopamudra grew up and became a girl of exquisite beauty and she attracted the attention of everyone around her. She became a very well behaved girl. She was soft spoken, kind and she had all the good qualities expected of a princess. When she reached the age of marriage, the king began to look for a suitable bridegroom for her. Many princes of neighbouring countries felt that they were no match to Lopamudra and they did not venture to offer to marry her. The king got worried.