The Marriage of Rishyasringa and Shanta

The Marriage of Rishyasringa and Shanta establishes a bond between the hermit’s son and the royal household of Anga. Shanta is given to Rishyasringa as his bride by her father, the king; the poem’s account emphasizes their loving life together, rather than describing the wedding ceremony itself.

The Royal Marriage

Shanta is introduced in the marriage passage as the king’s own daughter, fair and lotus-eyed, and Rishyasringa as the Brahman whom the king honors. Their union brings the ascetic into the royal family: he is not merely a guest at court but the king’s son-in-law, bound to the household through his marriage to Shanta.

Life Together in Anga

The account looks beyond the act of giving Shanta in marriage to the life the couple share afterward. Rishyasringa lives in the royal town, loved and honored by the king, with Shanta described as his beloved wife. The brief portrayal makes affection and royal esteem the defining features of their married life; it supplies no further account of domestic circumstances or wedding rites.

The Marriage’s Later Consequence

The marriage also shapes what follows in the narrative. When Dasharatha is to invite Rishyasringa to perform a rite, the hermit’s son agrees to go at the request of Anga’s lord, and Shanta accompanies him. The poem thus carries the royal marriage beyond the household: Shanta’s place beside her husband connects his life in Anga with the ritual undertaking for which Dasharatha seeks his aid.