Rishyasringa: Encyclopedia - Rishyasringa

Rishyasringa

In Indian and Hindu mythology, Rishyasringa ('horned rishi' in Sanskrit) was a boy born with the horns of a deer. His father was the rishi Vibhandaka, and his mother was a deer. The father raised the boy in a forest, isolated from society. He never saw any girls or women, and was not told of their existence.

In the usual version of the story, at the time that the boy becomes a young man, the kingdom of Anga suffers from drought and famine. The king, Romapada, is told that this can only be alleviated by a brahmin with the powers that come from observance of perfect chastity. The only such person is Rishyasringa. He has to be brought to the city, and be persuaded to carry out the necessary ceremonies. Despite his fear of the power and anger of the boy's father, the king sends young women, and later his daughter 'Shanta' , to introduce the boy into normal society. This is done, Rishyasringa does what is necessary, and later marries the princess Shanta. Much of the story is taken up by accounts of the feelings of the young man as he becomes aware of women for the first time.

In another version of the story, the forest in which the boy is brought up is part of Anga. The boy's upbringing without knowledge of women is itself the cause of the troubles of the kingdom.

The story can be found in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Category: Mahabharata epic

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Rishyasringa", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki