Episode 50
Story of Maharshi Rushyasringa[i]
In the last episode we saw the story of descendance of the
celestial Ganga from the heaven to earth. When the Pandavas were moving from
one place of pilgrimage to another place, they came across the hermitage of
Rushyasrunga.
The current story discusses the story of Rushyasrunga, a
brahmachari and a Maharshi. The story discusses how the kingdom attracts
difficulties if the intellectuals of the country are abandoned by the king. The
story also discusses the subtle attraction between the male and female that
normally exists in the Prakriti and emphasizes the necessity not to discourage
dharmic kama.
The story indicates the necessity of having people of
righteousness people in and around for general prosperity and happiness. The
Honey trap that is very much employed in modern times has its genesis in this
story but with a dharmic purpose of Lokasangraha.
Since this story is found both in Valmiki Ramayana and Vyasa
Maha Bharata, the current story is built from the passages of both epics.
The Story
Dharmaraja along with his brothers and wife reached Kausiki
river where sage Vishwanitra had done great tapas in the past. Lomasa, who was
guiding the itenary of Pandavas showed the Ashrama of Rushyasrunga and Dharmaraja
wanted to hear the greatness of the sage.
Dasaratha was the king of Ayodhya. He was a mighty warrior and
a great king of Ikshvaku dynasty. His rule was so popular that the people used
to treat him as their own father. He was having everything in his life, but he
was not blessed children. In those days people used to believe that performance
of Yagas (sacrifices) like ‘Aswamedha’ (Horse sacrifice) and ‘Putrakameshti’ (Yagna
for sons) etc would help in having the children. Kings used to view Yagnas and
Yagas as one more opportunity of feeding the people of the kingdom since those
rituals involve lot of charity.
Dasaratha requested his chief purohit, Vasishta and other
intellectuals like Sumantra, Vamadeva, Jabali and others to organize and supervise
the activities of Aswamedha in a grand and dharmic way. The prime minister of
Dasaratha was Sumantra. He had an occasion to listen the future events about
Dasaratha’s Aswamedha from a Rishi by name Sanatkumara. Sanatkumara is believed to be the son of God Bramha from his very thought
process (Manasika putra). As per that prophesy, the Yaga could not be completed
without the presence of one famous Rishi by name Rushya Srunga. Who is
this Rushya Srunga whose very presence would bring pleasantries to Dasaratha? Sumantra started telling the story to Dasaratha.
Romapada was the king of Anga kingdom (present day Bihar).
Though he was a mighty ruler, on some occasion he abased
the dignity of his purohit and transgressed Dharma. The intellectual community abandoned
the king and left the kingdom. Lord Indra stopped the rain for the
entire country and there was a famine. The famine was so acute that people
began feeling suffocation and oppression under its shadow. The king could not
know what to do and how to remedy for his dereliction from dharma.
The ministers advised the king to bring one sage by name Rushyasrunga,
son of Vibhandaka (son of Kasyapa) to the kingdom and they suggested that the
very presence of the sage will bestow rain to the country.
Vibhandaka was a learned sage and one day, while taking a bath
in a river, he happened to see Urvasi, the celestial Apsarasa on the waters. He was so exited that he had lost his control and his semen
leaked out into water. A doe (female deer) just drank the water containing
the semen and in due course of time it delivered a boy and he was christened as
Rushyasrunga since he was having a horn on his forehead (Srunga in Sanskrit
means horn). The doe was in fact a divine lady and was blessed by Brahma that
she would attain her original status once she gives birth to a sage. After
giving birth to the child she disappeared and Vibhandaka rose him up.
Vibhandaka gave him all the vedic knowledge and kept him in the
forests much aloof from the civilized world. He was so secluded
that he had never seen a lady in his life.
How to bring such an austere mendicant to the kingdom of Anga? The
king consulted his ministers and well-wishers and charted out a plan. Romapada
initially thought of deputing some learned ministers to talk and bring
Romapada. But they were all afraid of Vibhandaka and could not venture in going
to the forest. Then what to do? The chief purohit
(priest) advised the king to send a few beautiful and intellectual young ladies
to attract, trap and bring him to the court. The king called the beautiful
courtesans (prostitutes) of his kingdom and asked them to bring Rushyasrunga
with their talents.
Honey-trap – ensnaring Rushyasrunga
The courtesans were in tenterhooks since approaching the place
of Vibhandaka might invite his curse; and disobeying the orders of the king
might attract his wrath. Ultimately an old prostitute volunteered
to take up the task and she left for forest with a selected bevy of beauties
dexterous enough to attract physically and intellectually.
A beautiful ashrama was designed on the floor of the ship decked
with ornaments and filled with sweet fruits and drinks. The ship was anchored a
few yojanas (a yojana is approximately twelve kilometers) away from Vibhandaka
Ashrama. She sent a few envoys to explore the presence of Vibhandaka in the hermitage.
One day she got the news that Vibhandaka was not in the ashram.
The lady then asked her beautiful daughter to reach out to
Rushyasrunga. The muni was awestruck to see a beautiful
young person with all smiles on lips and fragrance all around. He had
never seen such a muni and offered her arghyam (water for cleansing the hands
and feet) and offered a seat of grass to sit. He thought that the person was
another muni in different attire.
The lady then bent close to Rushyasrunga and told, ‘you are not
supposed to offer prayers to me. According to our tradition, I deserved to be
embraced by you’. Then she embraced him tight and offered the choicest fruits, sweets
and cool drinks. She bent forward with grace and played
with the ball, sang nicely and smiled and smiled. She repeatedly
embraced him tight and then withdrew on the pretext that she had to leave the
place to do the evening oblations.
Rushyasrunga was highly delighted with her touch and he could
not forget her even after she had left the Ashram. He was a Bramhacari (one who
practices celibacy). But his mind began wavering now though he could not
distinguish male or female versions of humanity. He was
simply attracted by the new human being who look beautiful and speak
intellectual. The very touch of the lady was so pleasing to all his
limbs that he heaved a sigh and sat glaring at the direction where she had
left.
The sun was setting and Rushyasrunga had forgotten to perform
Sandhyavandan. Vibhandaka reached home and surprised to
find the ashram not lighted up. He found the pathetic son glaring at infinity.
He asked as to what happened to him.
Rushyasrunga started narrating the sweet attraction that he
could not forget. He was talking about the new sage who was embracing him. The person was not an ordinary muni with feeble body but endowed
with bubbling flesh projected and withdrawn at different places and the very
embrace was enchanting and delighting. Rushyasrunga was describing the
lady as if he was a man since he had never seen a lady earlier.
Vibhandaka got suspicious. ‘Demons will be loitering this place
to destroy the tapas of munis. Be careful’, he told and set out to search the
new person but his efforts to trace her proved futile. After three days when
Vibhandaka went out to fetch fruits, the lady again came to see Rushyasrunga. The muni was attracted by her that he volunteered to
accompany the lady before his father could arrive to the ashram.
On seeing the sage coming towards her, she felt very happy and
with all the attractions under her command, she lured him towards the capital
of Anga desa.
Rushyasrunga was such a dharmic Rishi that the moment
he set his legs on the land of Anga desa, the rain God was pleased to present
showers on the entire landscape of the country. The king
touched the feet of the great Rishi and offered his daughter Santha for
marriage. Eventually the marriage was solemnized, and the sage began living in
the court of Romapada.
When Vibhandaka did not find his son in the forest, he started
searching and eventually reached Anga desa. He saw the riches of his son and
was pleased by the pleasantries of Romapada. He blessed his son and
daughter-in-law. He asked his son to come back to hermitage once he was blessed
with a child.
After finishing the story of Rushyasrunga, the minister of Dasaratha
advised the later to invite Rushyasrunga for performing the Yaga. Dasaratha was
pleased to listen the story of the great sage and set out towards the Anga desa
with all his queens. Romapada received the king with all grace and upon his
request advised his son-in-law, Rushyasrunga to oblige the request of
Dasaratha. Rushyasrunga and his wife reached the kingdom of Dasaratha and Rushyasrunga
performed the Aswamedha yaga for Dasaratha. Dasaratha was quite happy for
completing the Aswamedha as it was supposed to remove all sins which are the
obstacles for attaining progeny. There upon, he requested Rushyasrunga for
performing the Putra Kameshti.
Symbolic
significance of the story
Rushyasrunga was the embodiment of dharma and a great
Bramhacari. He was attracted by the young ladies not out of lust but out of his
sheer innocence in distinguishing human beings into ladies and gents. In fact,
he was a Bramhacari of par excellence. (A bramhacari is
defined in our scriptures as one who keeps aloof from the company of ladies before
marriage; and avoiding contact even with his wife after marriage on all days
which are prohibited).
The story talks of the subtle attraction that prevails between
a male and female in the Prakriti. Maha Bharata is an
epic that has touched all fields of human activity and nothing is hidden, or
nothing is obscured for readers as taboo. The instinct of a young man on
seeing a beautiful lady is shown in the character of Vibhandaka when he
secreted the semen on seeing the celestial beauty, Urvasi. Similarly, the tight embrace of the prostitute and the
exhibition of beauty kindled the subtle manly maneuvers in Rushyasrunga and he
started forgetting the things around.
Indirectly, the story emphasizes not to suppress the biological
urges of a human being; and Hindu dharma never denied
dharmic kama. A Grihasta (a household person) is
a necessity to sustain the society since he has to feed the Brahmacharis,
Sanyasis and the needy persons. Everyone is not supposed to embrace sanyasa
unless he has the will power and determination to stand by it.
How can the arrival of Rushyasrunga help in getting rains? A
dharmic person par excellence, Rushyasrunga’s presence itself brings prosperity
to the country. We have similar story in Maha Bharatha
when Duryodhana was enquiring as to how to trace Pandavas when they were
undergoing the ordeal of ajnatavasa (remaining incognito in an unknown place). At
that time Bhishma began telling that the presence of Dharmaraja in any country
would be easily recognized. In that country there will not be any poverty or
famine. Rains will pour profusely, and people will be happy. We also hear the
concept of Ramarajya where people were always happy due to dharmic nature of
king Rama. Thus,
we have many examples which say that the presence of righteous persons bring prosperity
for the region.
Rushyyasrunga was invited to Anga desa for social good and dharmic
need. In Patanjali Yoga sutras we have a reference of
‘dharma megha’. Megha means mass or cloud. It is also known as
"raincloud of dharma." Then dharma is virtue, morality, or
merit. But virtue and morality are simply among the many good things.
"Good" has long been one of the broader meanings of the word dharma. Rushyasrunga is akin to dharma megha and it is but natural
that Anga desa witnessed profuse rain upon his arrival to the country.
The story also highlights the fact that one should not deviate
the path of dharma or righteousness. If a king is
unrighteous, he incurs the wrath of the nature. This became true when
Romapada transgressed dharma. He had to face severe famine in his country. The symbolic significance of the story is that if we defame intellectuals
of the country, we will be facing difficulties in the country.
The story suggests the practice of ‘honey trap’ in olden days
also (At present, Honey trap implies trapping celebrity men with the help of
beautiful and intelligent ladies). But in Maha Bharata
time the supposed Honey trap was for the Lokasangraha or for the good of the
society. It was a historic necessity to save the people from famine.
Points to ponder
- What
is Honey trap? Is it ethically permissible? On what occasions it is
permitted?
- Is it
possible to isolate children from the society and give exclusive education
to them?
- Can
we defame the intellectuals of the country for any reason?
Footnotes
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