The Hermit Who Brought the Rain

On their long pilgrimage the Pandavas came with the sage Lomasha to a quiet and beautiful hermitage deep in the woods, and Lomasha told them that this was a place made holy by a sage named Rishyasringa, whose innocence had once been so complete that the rains of heaven obeyed him.

"There is a tale here, son of Pandu," said Lomasha, "of a boy who grew to manhood in the forest and never once in all those years set eyes upon a woman, nor upon any human being but his own father. So pure and untouched was he that a whole kingdom, dying of drought, sent for him as their only hope - and the moment his foot touched their soil, the clouds broke and the rain came down. Listen, and I will tell you how the innocent hermit was brought out of his forest."

And the brothers sat in the green shade of that ancient grove while the sage unfolded the story of Rishyasringa.