Sages & Others
Rishyasringa
ऋष्यशृङ्ग
The Horned Ascetic Who Brought the Rain
Who was Rishyasringa?
Rishyasringa (ऋष्यशृङ्ग): The Horned Ascetic Who Brought the Rain, one of the sages and supporting figures in the Mahabharata. Son of the sage Vibhandaka by a hind that drank his seed from the water, born with a horn upon his head and raised in the forest without ever seeing a woman or any man but his father.
Quick Facts
| Sanskrit name | ऋष्यशृङ्ग |
|---|---|
| Title / Epithet | The Horned Ascetic Who Brought the Rain |
| Faction | Sages & Others |
| Key traits | innocent, potent, gentle, unworldly |
| Notable relationships | Descendant: Kashyapa, Forebear: Alambusha, Subject of his tale: Lomasa |
| Featured in | 4 stories |
About Rishyasringa
Son of the sage Vibhandaka by a hind that drank his seed from the water, born with a horn upon his head and raised in the forest without ever seeing a woman or any man but his father. When Indra withheld rain from Anga, King Lomapada sent courtesans on a floating hermitage to draw the boy out, and the clouds broke over the kingdom the day he crossed its border. He was given Lomapada's daughter Santa, and long after, a rakshasa of his line named Alambusha fought for the Kauravas at Kurukshetra.
In Their Words
Who art thou, bright one? No ascetic like thee has ever come to my father's woods.
Rishyasringa
Traits
- innocent
- potent
- gentle
- unworldly
Story Appearances
Stories Featuring Rishyasringa
3 further tales on this site name Rishyasringa, in canonical reading order.
- The Mountain That Answers SpeechWhere a sage's temper made silence the price of passage
- Kurukshetra Day 8: The Rakshasa's HourIravan falls and Ghatotkacha answers for him
- The Three ColumnsAt midday on the eighth day the Pandava army splits into three attacking bodies, Arjuna's son Iravan is killed, and Bhishma sends thirteen warriors to pull Duryodhana out of the fire.
Character Arc
- The Hind's SonBorn in the deep forest with a horn upon his head
- The Floating HermitageAscetics he had never seen before, and the fruits they brought
- The Rain Over AngaA kingdom watered the hour he entered it
Key Relationships
Places in Rishyasringa's Story
Drawn from the stories Rishyasringa appears in.
Related Characters
Others counted among the Sages & Others.