At a glance
- Name & meaning: Rishyashringa (ऋष्यशृंग), "deer-horned" — rishya, an antelope, and shringa, horn. In Hindi often Shringi Rishi.
- Category: Rishi; revered as a maharshi in the Ramayana tradition.
- Father: the sage Vibhandaka, of the line of Kashyapa. His mother, in the Mahabharata's telling, was a doe.
- Spouse: Shanta, daughter of King Lomapada of Anga in Valmiki's Ramayana; later tradition makes her Dasharatha's daughter adopted by Lomapada.
- Era: Treta Yuga, the generation before Rama's birth.
- Associated places: the kingdom of Anga (eastern Bihar); Ayodhya, where he performed Dasharatha's yajna; Sringeri in Karnataka, whose name tradition derives from Rishyashringa-giri; Shringi Rishi ashram traditions near Ayodhya and in Himachal.
- Best known for: bringing rain to Anga; the Putrakameshti that brought the birth of Rama.
Birth and family background
The Mahabharata's Vana Parva, in the sage Lomash's telling, gives the strangest birth in the epics. The sage Vibhandaka, bathing in a lake, saw the apsara Urvashi; his seed fell into the water and was swallowed by a doe, who gave birth to a human child with a small horn on his head. Vibhandaka raised the boy alone in the deep forest, teaching him the Vedas and the rites, and shielded him from the world so completely that Rishyashringa grew up never having seen a woman — or, as the story stresses, any human being but his father.
Life and key episodes
Rain for Anga
The kingdom of Anga, ruled by Lomapada (also Romapada), was struck by a long drought — in the Mahabharata because the king had wronged a brahmin, in the Ramayana as simple misfortune. His counsellors told him that the rains would return only if the innocent sage Rishyashringa came to the kingdom. Since Vibhandaka would never allow it, the king sent courtesans to the forest. Rishyashringa, who had never seen a woman, took them for young ascetics of an unusual kind, was enchanted by their sweets and their company, and followed them to Anga. As soon as he set foot in the kingdom, the rain began to fall. Lomapada gave him his daughter Shanta in marriage, and when Vibhandaka arrived in fury, he was so honoured on the road that his anger melted.
The Putrakameshti for Dasharatha
In the Bala Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana, the minister Sumantra reminds the childless King Dasharatha of an old prophecy told by Sanatkumara: Rishyashringa would bring about the birth of sons to the king of Ayodhya. Dasharatha brought Rishyashringa and Shanta from Anga. Rishyashringa first presided over the Ashvamedha and then performed the Putrakameshti, the sacrifice for sons. From the fire rose a being holding a vessel of payasam, which Dasharatha shared among his queens — and from it were born Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
Achievements and contributions
- The priest of Rama's birth: the Ramayana's whole story begins with his yajna.
- The rain-bringer: in folk tradition across India he is worshipped for rain, and drought rites invoking Rishyashringa survive in several regions.
- A figure of innocence: his story became one of the best-known tales across Asia, retold in Buddhist Jatakas (as Isisinga) and beyond.
Writings attributed to him
None. His role is that of a perfected ascetic and officiating priest rather than an author.
Why he is revered today
Rishyashringa is honoured above all as the rishi through whom Rama came into the world. Couples praying for children sometimes invoke him, and the Putrakameshti is still performed in his name. In Karnataka, the Sringeri region and the nearby Rishyashringa temple at Kigga keep his memory alive, and the Kigga shrine is traditionally visited to pray for rain.
Variant traditions and a historical note
The versions differ in important details. In the Mahabharata, the courtesan who brings him is an old woman's daughter sent on a boat-hermitage; in the Ramayana, a group of courtesans. Valmiki makes Shanta the daughter of Lomapada; later Ramayanas and folk tradition make her Dasharatha's daughter given to his friend Lomapada. The Buddhist Nalinika and Alambusa Jatakas tell a parallel story of the horned ascetic Isisinga seduced from the forest, showing how widely the tale travelled.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Rishyashringa?
The horned son of the sage Vibhandaka, raised in the forest, who brought rain to Anga and performed Dasharatha's Putrakameshti yajna, from which Rama and his brothers were born.
Why did Rishyashringa have a horn?
According to the Mahabharata, he was born of a doe who had swallowed Vibhandaka's seed, and so had a small antelope's horn on his head.
Who was Rishyashringa's wife?
Shanta — in Valmiki's Ramayana the daughter of King Lomapada of Anga, in later tradition Dasharatha's daughter adopted by Lomapada.
What is the Putrakameshti yajna?
A sacrifice for the birth of sons. Rishyashringa performed it for Dasharatha, and the payasam from the fire led to the births of Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
Is Sringeri named after Rishyashringa?
Tradition says so — from Rishyashringa-giri, the hill of Rishyashringa — and the Rishyashringa temple at nearby Kigga is associated with him.