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There are many sculptures of rishi Bhringi in temples of South India; which show he has 3 legs. Is there any scriptural basis that he had 3 legs by birth or did he get them after birth?

Here are some pictures of sculptures:

rishi bhringi worshiping shiva parvati

rishi bhringi

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  • Maybe it is a reference to when he kicked Viṣṇu (unclear which form)? Oct 7, 2020 at 18:02
  • @Aupakarana He was Rishi bhrigu who kicked Vishnu and not rishi Bhringi.
    – TheLittleNaruto
    Oct 8, 2020 at 3:02
  • Well, according to Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhringi (This is tantra, so I doubt we could find a better source) Bhṛṅgi got his third leg from his correction by Pārvatī. I guess it also reference the three forms he took during the story, a Bhṛṅga, a rat/bee thing that is hard to identify, and a Nivātakavaca/their animal equivalent. Oct 8, 2020 at 9:58
  • @AupakaranaAbhibhaa Please compile an answer.
    – TheLittleNaruto
    Oct 8, 2020 at 10:00
  • I think someone else did a more detailed version already. Oct 8, 2020 at 10:06

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In Pratima-Kosha: Encyclopaedia of Indian Iconography, Vol. 4, S. K. Ramachandra Rao explains the symbolism and backstory behind Bhṛṅgī's three-legged and skeletal appearance in temple art:

BHṚṄGĪ

An important attendant of Śiva, who is distinguished by his total devotion to Śiva. A story found in Kālikā-purāṇa (ch. 45) makes him (along with Mahākāla) born out of the semen of Śiva, which was received by the fire-god Agni. He was entrusted with the administration of Śiva's troops; and Bhṛṅgī and Mahākāla were made the door-keepers.

Better known accounts relate that he was a great sage who was given to the exclusive worship of Śiva. Pārvatī, who did not receive any attention from him, grew jealous and complained to Śiva. Śiva, thereupon, assumed the form of Ardha-nārī, incorporating Pārvatī into his own body, so that the sage would worship Pārvatī also when he worshipped Śiva. But when the sage who arrived to do circumambulation found Śiva and Pārvatī united, he immediately became a beetle (bhṛṅga) and bore a hole in the middle of Ardha-nārī's body so that he could go round Śiva's half only. This is how he came to be known as Bhṛṅgī.

Pārvatī, who became indignant at Bhṛṅgī's device, cursed him to become emaciated and weak. The two legs of the sage could no longer support the body, whereupon Śiva provided him with a third leg.

Bhṛṅgī is usually shown in the parivāra of Śiva, with Nandī, Taṇḍu, Tuṃburu and others. He is represented as a lean figure with frail limbs, sage-like in appearance, with matted hair done up as a tall crown, and dancing in devotion. He is distinguished by having three legs. He is said to have a monkey's face, owing to Pārvatī's curse, and he is sometimes classed as a bhairava.


The Skanda Purāṇa narrates a different story on how Bhṛṅgī ends up being cursed by Pārvatī but it doesn't say anything about Śiva blessing him with a third leg:

Chapter 34 - Śiva Loses to Pārvatī in a Game of Dice


Bhṛṅgī said:

  1. You must not talk too much, O beautiful lady. My master is invincible and devoid of aberrations, O lady of good waistline.

  2. You possess only womanly temperament, O lady of excellent face. You do not know the Lord who is greater than the greatest. Formerly, O Bhavānī, you had come to Ugra, the great lord, after keeping Kāma in front of you.

  3. Has this ever been remembered by you? (Do you recollect) what has been performed by the Pināka-bearing Lord formerly? O beautiful lady, tell us (if it is so). Indeed Kāma was made Anaṅga (bodiless) by him. The park belonging to that Mountain, your father, had been burned.

  4. It was after that, that Śiva, the Supreme Soul, the lord, greater than the greatest, was propitiated by you.

  5. On being told thus by Bhṛṅgī, she became excessively angry. Even as Maheśa was listening, the infuriated lady spoke these words to Bhṛṅgī:

...

Girijā said:

  1. O Bhṛṅgī, be quiet and steady. Otherwise go away. You do not know what should be said and what should not be said. Why do you babble like a ghost?

  2. By which man or woman was Śiva brought here by means of penance? Who am I? Who is this as understood by you? You speak to me with the attitude of difference.

114-115. Who are you? By whom have you been united? Wherefore do you talk too much? I will curse you. What will Śiva do now?

On being spoken to reproachfully by Bhṛṅgī, the chaste lady then cursed: "O stupid Bhṛṅgī, O favourite one of Śaṅkara, be devoid of flesh."

116-117. After saying thus, Pārvatī, the goddess, beloved of Śaṅkara, became furious. She held Śaṅkara by the hand. The lady of slender limbs took away the serpent Vāsuki from his neck.

...

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  • Wait, does it say Ṛṣi when it says the sage, or is he literally the same as the Nivātakavaca Bhṛṅgī/Bhṛṅgin, known formally as Andhaka. Oct 8, 2020 at 10:12

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