SRINGERI.....2

[Guest guest]

The innocent boy was struck with the contrasts

when he saw them. The delicious sweets with which they

fed him were different from the fruits available in

the hermitage. Instinctively he was attracted towards

the women whom he regarded in his innocence as sages

of a different kind. Apprehensive of the sudden

return of the father, they left Rishyashringa hastily

with a parting invitation to visit their

hermitage.<br> After that meeting the mind of the Rishyashringa

began to dwell upon them and became restless. He

finally decided to go to their hermitage. He felt they

would be able to remove his mental oppression.<br> King

Romapada, learning that the boy-sage had started from his

hermitage, waited to receive him at the entrance to his

kingdom. The instant the holy sage stepped on the soil,

the heavens opened up and poured life-giving rain.

The king, thankful for the favour conferred on him,

showed his gratitude by requesting the sage to remain as

his guest for some time. Shanta, out of her own will,

confided in her father that she wanted to marry the sage.

The king readily agreed as he thought that he and his

kingdom will be more blessed by having Rishyashringa as

his son-in-law. Rishyashringa accepted her as his

wife and remained in the king's palace as an honoured

guest.<br> It was during this period that Dasharatha, King

of Ayodhya, and a relative of King Romapada, invited

Sage Rishyashringa to officiate in the Putrakameshti

sacrifice, by which he was blessed with four sons - Rama,

Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrugna. Sage Rishyashringa felt

that his life was not without its merits. It gave him

an opportunity to usher into this world Sri Rama,

the personification of Dharma and an incarnation of

Vishnu.<br> From Ayodhya, Sage Rishyashringa returned to his

forest, only to find his father's absence in the

hermitage. He went in search of his father who was later

found to have gone to another place to meditate on a

hill.<br> Sage Rishyashringa along with his wife returned

to his father who by now was very old. Both

Rishyashringa and his wife looked after the sage with devotion.

After Sage Vibhandaka's union with the Lord,

Rishyashringa and his wife meditated nearby for a long time to

spend the remainder of their lives in divine

contemplation. When Sage Rishyashringa shuffled off his mortal

coil, a lightning issued forth from his body and

disappeared into the Linga he was worshipping as a symbol of

formless Absolute. This Linga can be seen even today in

the temple at Kigga, a village about 10 km from

Sringeri. Unlike others, this Linga is invested with a horn

on its head, to commemorate the merger of the Sage

Rishyashringa.

[Guest guest]

Thank you Harshanand, about the story of

Sringeri.<br>Rishyashringa's story appears in the Ramayana. And his mother was

supposed to have been a doe who none other than an apsara.

After the birth of the child, the apsara had to leave

and before leaving she left a sign, the horn

(shringa) of a deer(Rishya)and thus he (the child) was

called RIshyaShringa.<br>The Ramayana also talks of how

the ladies duped RishyaShringa by offering sweets and

saying they were fruits and offering honey saing that

was water. When RishyaShringa wanted more, he was

told to follow them to their 'hermitage' which was

actually a few huts built on a boat - and soon as

RishyaShringa stepped into the 'hut', teh boat sailed off with

the sage.<br>Ramayana also talks of the blind sage

who had advised Dashratha to invite RishyaShringa for

the ceremony 'yagna'. RishyaShringa had a boon, that

whatever 'yagna' he performed would be successful. The

blind sage's son had been accidentally shot and killed

by Dashratha.