Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.442

c8.442

Ṛṣyaśṛṅga-āśrama.—The sage Ṛṣyaśṛṅga had his hermitage at Ṛiṣikuṇḍa, 28 miles to the west of Bhagalpur and four miles to the south-west of Bariarpur. It was situated in a circular valley formed by the Maira hill (Maruk hill). The Ṛiṣikuṇḍa was a tank which was the collection of the combined water of springs, hot and cold, near this hermitage. On the north side of this tank the sage Ṛṣyaśṛṅga and his father Bibhāṇḍaka used to meditate. The Ṛṣyaśṛṅga-parvata, situated at a distance of eight miles to the south of the Kajra station, claims the honour of being the hermitage of the sage (*Rāmāyaṇa*, Ādikāṇḍa, Ch. 9). From the proximity of the Ṛiṣikuṇḍa to the Ganges, which afforded facility to the public women sent by Lomapāda, king of Aṅga, to entice away the young sage from this seclusion, preference should be given to it as the likely place where the sage and his father performed austerities. According to the *Mahābhārata* (Vanaparva, Chs. 110 and 111) this hermitage is said to have been situated not far from the river Kuśī (ancient Kauśikī) and 24 miles from Campā.