The son of the sage Vibhandaka.Vibhandaka was the son of Kashyapa.

Once Vibhandaka happened to see Urvashi and immediately ejaculated. It fell into a river and a deer drank from it then. The deer later gave birth to a human child with horns. Vibhandaka called him Rishyashringa and they both stayed in a hermitage. Rishyashringa had no other human contact save his father even after he reached adulthood.

During that time, Anga was ruled by Dasarath’s friend Lomapada. He once cheated a brahmin because of which all the brahmins in the land left. From then on, the kingdom suffered from drought. The king called together learned brahmins and asked them for a solution. They said that if a yajna could be conducted by a brahmin who had not seen women, it would rain. The king started making enquiries and heard about Rishyashringa. He started making plans to bring the sage to Anga. He called a few prostitutes and asked them to lure him, but they said it was impossible. Only one of them volunteered to try. As per her advice, the king sent her with many maids to the forest. They made a hermitage on a boat and stationed it on the river near to Vibhandaka’s hermitage. One of the women went to the hermitage when  Vibhandaka was not around and began a conversation with Rishyashringa, claiming to be a sage herself with a hermitage nearby. Rishyashringa became very interested in her and when she left, became morose. His father returned just then and noticed the change in him and asked him who had been there. Since Rishyashringa had never seen a woman, his description made his father think that the visitor was a rakshasa. Later, Vibhandaka searched the premises when his son wasn’t around, but found nothing. A few days later, when Vibhandaka was away on a visit to Shravanabali, the woman visited again and Rishyashringa was overjoyed.

Before Vibhandaka returned, she took him to the hermitage on the boat and from there returned to Lomapada’s kingdom. There, the king got Rishyashringa married to his daughter Shanta. He also sent Vibhandaka several presents to pacify him. When Vibhandaka returned, he saw the king’s attendants at his door, with the presents. Ignoring them, the sage proceeded to Champanagar, the capital city of Anga. As per the royal command, the citizens there began appealing to Vibhandaka. When the sage realised that the entire kingdom now belonged to his son, his anger subsided. He instructed Rishyashringa to return to the forest after a son was born to him. Rishyashringa conducted the yajna and it rained in Anga, ending the drought. After a son was born to him, Rishyashringa returned to the forest according to his father’s instructions, as per Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 110 verse 3.

Dasarath had been childless for a long time. His minister Sumantra opined that if Rishyashringa conducted a yajna, the king would have children. Lomapada sent the sage to Ayodhya as per dasarath’s request. There, he conducted the putrakameshti yajna, and from the fire rose a dark spirit who brought with him an offering, which the king accepted. He gave a half each to his queens Kausalya and Kaikeyi, and they shared their portions with Sumitra. Kausalya and Kaikeyi had a son each and Sumitra had two. Kausalya’s son was Rama, Kaikeyi’s Bharata and Sumitra’s Lakshmana and Shatrughna as per Ramayana Balakanda Sarga 14-17.