Sringeri

[Guest guest]

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

 

It is believed that this town was named after Rishyashringa, who

figures in the famous Indian mythological epic Ramayana as the chief

priest at the sacrifice of King Dasaratha. Sringeri, where the

founder of the Advaita philosophy, Adi Shankara, discovered a cobra

sheltering a frog from the torrential rains, has its spiritual centre

on the banks of the Tungabhadra river in the evergreen forests of

Chikmagalur. The Vidyashankara Temple located here is an

architectural marvel – its 12 sculpted pillars, each representing a

sign of the zodiac, are placed so that the sun's rays fall on each

successively in the order of the solar months. The temple also has a

paved courtyard. A second temple, built in the Dravidian style, is

dedicated to Sharada, the goddess of learning. The Tungabhadra river

flows past the temple where devotees congregate to feed the sacred

fish.

 

Sringeri is hallowed for all times by the ancient legend of the sage

Sri Rishyashringa.

 

Sage Vibhandaka and his older brother Sage Prabhandaka, were the sons

of Maharishi Kashyapa. Sage Vibhandaka as a boy left home for his

education. After several years of intensive education returned to his

brother Prabhandaka, who by then had got married.

 

Prabhandaka was overjoyed to see his brother after several years. But

Vibhandaka's return was not well received by his sister-in-law who

thought that he was more of a burden to her. Noticing her

displeasure, Vibhandaka with full of sorrow felt that he should leave

his brother once and for all.

 

He left his brother's ashram to proceed to a far off forest. In his

new environs he built an ashram and started living in it without any

worldly contact.

 

Seeing Sage Vibhandaka's peaceful life, Urvashi, the heavenly damsel,

smitten by his serene life, wanted to marry him. Vibhandaka refused

but Urvashi was adamant. At last, Vibhandaka relented and soon he and

Urvashi started living in the ashram as husband and wife.

 

In course of time, Urvashi bore a son who was named as Rishyashringa.

This child was born with a small horn in the forehead.

 

Sage Vibhandaka realised that Rishyashringa would be a great sage and

would bring prosperity to the world. A few days after the child was

born Urvashi returned to the heavens. Vibhandaka found himself

responsible for the proper upbringing of the child.

 

Since Vibhandaka was dejected by the attitude of his sister-in-law

and Urvashi's way of life, he thought that the easiest way to keep

his son innocent of the worldly ways was to keep him in forest

isolation.

 

He succeeded to such an extent that when the boy matured into

manhood, he had never set eyes on any human being other that his own

father. He was even unaware of sexual distinction.

 

It so happened that the neighboring kingdom of Anga suffered from a

severe drought. The king Romapada was advised by his ministers that

there would be copious rains if Sage Rishyashringa blessed his

kingdom with the touch of his holy feet.

 

Romapada, under the leadership of his daughter, Shanta, sent a number

of fair damsels, all dressed as sanyansins, to the forest to bring

the sage. They were however afraid of sage Vibhandaka, and so

approached the hermitage in his absence.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 of Anga, 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 Shanta as his wife and remained in the king's palace as an

honoured guest.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

The place where Sage Rishyashringa meditated till his last days was

in later days called as Rishyashringagiri, Shringapura, Shringagiri

and now known as Sringeri.

 

The Linga known as Malahanikareshvara that was worshipped by Sage

Vibhandaka and into which he himself disappeared in the end is on the

summit of the hill, known as Malahanikareshvara Hill, located in the

centre of present Sringeri.