Indus Valley and the legend of RishyaSringa

November 11, 2023

Indus Valley and the legend of RishyaSringa

Romapada's courtesans arrive and, in his curiosity, Rishyasringa goes out to observe them. Image taken from Ramayana, Bala Kanda. Originally published/produced in Udaipur, 1712.

I recently came across the below Indus Seal (fig 1) from Mohenjo-Daro (ca. 2500 BCE). From left to right the first symbol is a ladder followed by an antelope head. The next symbol is a double quote, which represents a preposition. The common fish - arrow combination comes after this. Fish-arrow combo, as I had explained in my earlier articles, is suggestive of a divine lady.

Fish is ‘meen’ in Malayalam. The symbol is used as a rebus for ‘star’. In Malayalam ‘min’ means ‘to shine’. So, the Indus people used the homonym ‘Meen’ (fish) to signify stars or celestial beings. Arrow (‘amb’ in Malayalam) is used in the Indus scripts as a female honorific suffix. Even today ‘amba’/’amma’ means ‘a respectable lady’/’mother’ in Malayalam.

Consequently, the script unfolds a narrative focused on a divine lady, with the left side of the double quote providing a nuanced clue to her location.

I propose that the ladder symbol signifies a hillock. But, I had, initially, overlooked this perspective until an observation of Southern mount names such as Madikeri, Sringeri, Kodiyeri, and Komberi etc. drew my attention. In Malayalam ‘eri’/’keri means ‘to climb’.

Named after the well-known Haleri monarch Mudduraja, who governed Kodagu from 1633 to 1687, Madikeri was originally known as Muddu Raja Keri. It literally means ‘The hill climbed on my Muddu Raja’. It began to be known as Mercara in 1834, during the British Raj. Later, the Mysore government changed its name to Madikeri. It can therefore be concluded that the ladder is symbolic of climbing the hill and hence used as a popular place name suffix- ‘eri’.

What was even more fascinating was the antelope's head. It was essential in comprehending the mount’s name. I had glanced over the hill names of South India once more, and the name "Sringeri" drew my eye. The name is attributed to a sage who inhabited these forests, Rishyasringa.

Sage Vibhandaka, the father of RishyaSringa is also believed to have meditated here. Born of a deer, Rishyasringa too had a horn on his forehead. ‘Rishya(ka)’ in Sanskrit is antelope and ‘Sringa’ is indicative of ‘a sharp horn’ and hence the name ‘Rishya-Sringa’. As per the Mahabharata, Urvashi, the most beautiful apsara (nymph), was seen by Vibhandaka, He releases his seed into the river after becoming aroused. A deer, who was a cursed apsara, swallowed it and became pregnant.

According to legend, King Romapada of Anga dispatched his courtesans to bring RishyaSringa to his realm after a severe drought because he had been informed that only a man with immaculate virginity could bring rain. He was also invited to participate in the Putrakameshti yaga as an officiant by Ayodhya's ruler, Dasaratha. Four sons including Sri Rama were born to the King as a result of this Yaga. Later, the sage retired to the Sringeri forest to spend the remainder of his days in celestial contemplation. Legend has it that he became one with Lord Shiva. A Linga can still be seen today in a temple in Kigga, a village around 7 km from Sringeri. Unlike other Lingas, this one wears a horn on its head in remembrance of the merger of the sage.

I surmise that the deer/antelope is a totem, and it's possible that Rishyasringa was born into a Dravidian clan that worshipped deer. This adds to the antiquity of the RishyaSringa legend. The practice of honoring plants, animals, and birds was prevalent even during the Indus civilization. We had already observed that some clans, like the Cheras, worshipped snakes, while others deified roosters. A clan member was often referred to by his totem (like the monkeys of Ramayana).

Ancient Tamil scriptures reference 'kalaikottan' (where 'kalamaan' in Malayalam signifies an antelope), translating to 'deer horned'. I think 'Rishya Sringa' was a literal translation that arose during the Vedic period.

It becomes apparent that the mount in question is associated with or climbed by the sage Rishyasringa. Scholars like Mahadevan and Parpola have often argued that Dravidians migrated southwards following the demise of the Indus civilization. This migration likely brought along legends, influencing the naming of hills, rivers, and places based on recollections of their ancestral lands.

However, the holy lady associated with Rishyasringa or residing in the sage's hill remains elusive. Rishyasringa rose to the throne of Anga after marrying Santha, the daughter of Romapada. Rishyasringa embodies various elements of an Indus-era priest-ruler. Priestesses, or female attendants of the Indus goddess, were seen as the female manifestation of the goddess herself. Their lives were centered around the great bath, and during the Vedic period, they were demoted to ‘apsaras’ (water dwellers) or devadasis. They performed fertility ceremonies, which may give light on the origins of Rishyasringa and the positioning of figures such as Urvashi and other apsaras in the Rishyasringa narrative.

This seal and its inscription add to the evidence of cultural links between the Indus and contemporary times.