Ṛcīka (Richika) was a sage who belonged to the clan of Maharṣi Bhṛgu (Maharshi Bhrigu). In the Mahābhārata (Mahabharata), in one instance it was said that Ṛcīka (Richika) was a son of Bhṛgu (Bhrigu). But according to some Purāṇas (Puranas), he was the son of Maharṣi Ūrva (Maharshi Urva) or Āpluvāna (Apluvana) who belonged to the clan of Bhṛgu (Bhrigu). So he was also called Ourva. In the Aitareya Brāhmana (Brahmana), Ṛcīka (Richika) was also called Ajīgarta (Ajigarta). In the Ādiparva (Adiparva) of the Mahābhārata (Mahabharata), he was called the son of Ourva , the son of Cyavana (Chyavana) who belonged to the clan of Bhṛgu (Bhrigu).

When king Gādhi (Gadhi) of the Candra dynasty lived in the forest, his daughter, Satyavatī (Satyavati), who was very beautiful, was born. When Satyavatī (Satyavati) became young, Maharṣi Ṛcīka ( Maharshi Richika) went to king Gādhi (Gadhi) and prayed him to give him the permission to marry his daughter Satyavatī (Satyavati). But king Gādhi (Gadhi) was not ready to marry his daughter off to an old, poor sage. So he told Maharṣi (Maharshi)- ” I can give you my daughter, but the traditional rule of our clan is that the would-be bride- groom has to give the necessary bride-price. If you agree to pay the bride-price according to my wish, you can marry my daughter. My bride-price is one thousand high-speed horses whose ears are blood-red within and the outer ears are black-coloured and the other body-parts are of pale yellow colour”. Maharṣi Ṛcīka ( Maharshi Richika) agreed to this proposal.Being pleased by the tapasyā (tapasya or meditation) of Ṛcīka ( Richika), god Varuṇadeva (Varunadeva) gave him the same one thousand high-speed horses. Then king Gādhi (Gadhi) accordingly married his daughter, Satyavatī (Satyavati) off to Ṛcīka ( Richika). Getting Satyavatī (Satyavati), a beautiful and a woman of quality, as his wife, Ṛcīka ( Richika) became very pleased.

Then once, Satyavatī (Satyavati) asked for a blessing from her husband. She wanted to be a mother of sons. And she also asked for a son for her mother. Maharṣi (Maharshi) prepared Caru (Charu) in two halves and told Satyavatī (Satyavati), “You and your mother should eat your own caru (charu) with a pious mind. I confirm that you and your mother will get eligible sons”. But Satyavatī’s (Satyavati’s) mother deceived her.According to her mother’s order, Satyavatī (Satyavati) gave her part of Caru (Charu) to her mother. Rather she ate her mother’s caru (Charu). Ṛcīka (Richika) came to know about this incident through his power of meditation. He said to his wife- “Unconsciously you were deceived by your mother. I made your Caru (Charu), mingling it with the Brahminic qualities of ultimate peace, knowledge, intelligence and sacrifice, while your mother’s Caru (Charu) consists of the Kṣatriya (Kshatriya) qualities like the power of the warrior and the vital energy. As both of you have consumed each other’s Caru (Charu), you will be the mother of a son of Kṣatriya (Kshatriya) qualities, while your mother will give birth to a son of Brahminic qualities.
Hearing this Satyavatī (Satyavati) became sad and started crying. She said-“I don’t want to be a mother of a son of  Kṣatriya (Kshatriya) quality. My grandson can be a man of this quality”. Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika) told his wife- ” I don’t see any difference between a son and a grandson. Still if you want so, you will have a grandson of Kṣatriya (Kshatriya) quality”. As a result of this incident, Satyavatī became the mother of the great sage Maharṣi (Maharshi) Jamadagni. But the grandson of Ṛcīka (Richika) and the son of Jamadagni was Paraśurāma (Parasurama) who was quite powerful and ferocious. On the other side, Satyavatī’s (Satyavati’s) mother gave birth to his son Viśvāmitra (Visvamitra), who became Brahmarṣi (Brahmarshi) in his later life.

Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika) had two other sons besides Jamadagni.The name of his second son was Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha). His youngest son was known as Śunaḥpuccha (Sunahpuchcha). In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa (Brahmana), the name of Maharṣi Ajīgarto (Maharshi Ajigarto) was mentioned. As the names of the sons of Maharṣi Ajīgarto (Maharshi Ajigarto) resembled the names of the the sons of Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika), it was assumed that Maharṣi Ajīgarto (Maharshi Ajigarto) and Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika) indicated the same person. But in the Rāmāyana (Ramayana), the youngest son of Ṛcīka ( Richika) was named as Śunaka (Sunaka).

Once king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) of the Ikṣvāku (Ikshvaku) clan attempted to perform Aśvamedha yajña (Ashvamedha yajna) . But Indra (the king of the gods) captured the horse of the Aśvamedha yajña (Ashvamedha yajna). When the horse was stolen, the priest of the yajña (yajna or fire sacrifice) told the king- ” You are responsible for the stealing of the horse which is meant for the performance of the yajña (yajna). Misfortune wrecks havoc on the king who fails to protect the horse. You have to specially expiate for this crime. You have to get a man in place of this horse for sacrifice in this yajña (yajna) before the performance of the yajña (yajna) will end. According to the priest’s order, the king began to search for a human animal. He even agreed to spend thousands of cows and various jewels and riches for this. Ultimately king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) saw Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika) when he reached Bhṛgutuṅga (Bhrigutunga) parvata or mountain. The king saw Maharṣi (Maharshi) with his sons and wife. He paid his respect to Maharṣi (Maharshi) and asked him- “If you can sell one of your sons as a sacrificial animal to me in return of one lakh cows, my yajña (yajna) will be performed successfully. I will be obliged to you”. Hearing all this, Maharṣi (Maharshi) told him-“I cannot sell my eldest son”. The wife of the Ṛṣi (Rishi or sage) took away her youngest son. Seeing all this, Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha) sadly told the king- “My father does not sell his eldest son, while my mother denies to sell the youngest son. It means that the second son can be sold. So being the second son, you can buy me”. Hearing this, King Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) became very happy. He gave Maharṣi (Maharshi) one lakh cows and many crores of gold coins and then, took Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha) to the place of sacrifice.

While king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) was travelling with Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha), he reached Puṣkara (Pushkara), the place of pilgrimage at noon. Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha) saw his maternal uncle, Viśvāmitra (Visvamitra) there. The sad son Ṛcīka (Richika) jumped to the lap of his maternal uncle and implored him- I don’t have any mother or father. I can’t see any saviour in this world. So in this hour of crisis, please save me with your dharma (religious power). Please do something so that king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) can perform his yajña (yajna) successfully as well as my life will also be saved. Viśvāmitra (Visvamitra) told his sons- “One of you must sacrifice your life to save the life of Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha)”. But none of Viśvāmitra’s (Visvamitra’s) son agreed to do this. Angry Viśvāmitra (Visvamitra) cursed his sons to become fallen and losing their dharma (religion). Then he taught Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha) a divine song and told him- ” You go the place of sacrifice of king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) as a sacrificial animal. When you will be tied with the sacrificial alter, you will sing this divine song of praise to the Agnideva (the god of fire). Don’t be afraid. You will be successful in this way”. Following Viśvāmitra (Visvamitra), Śunaḥśepha (Sunahsepha) started to sing the divine praise, when he was tied to the sacrificial alter. Indra was pleased by this divine song and saved his life. And king Amvarīṣa (Amvarisha) was also blessed by Indra and consequently attained the result of the yajña (yajna).

In the ancient times, Viśvakarmā (Visvakarma) made two bows. The two bows were equal in power. Viśvakarmā (Visvakarma) gave one of the bows to Mahādeva (Mahadeva) who destroyed Tripura with the help of this bow. The other bow was given to lord Viṣṇu (Vishnu) by the gods. The gods discussed among themselves which bow was more powerful. Ultimately they went to Brahmā (Brahma) and asked him about the power of the bows. Brahmā (Brahma) created a conflict between Śiva (Siva or Mahadeva) and Viṣṇu (Vishnu) to test the power of the two bows given to these two supreme gods. There was a ferocious war between Śiva (Siva) and Viṣṇu (Vishnu). But at the end, Viṣṇu (Vishnu) won the war. In consequence, Śiva (Siva) became disgusted with his own bow and gave it to Videha king, Devarāta (Devarata). During the reign of Videha king, Janaka, Rāma (Rama), the son of King Daśaratha (Dasaratha) of the Ikṣvāku (Ikshvaku) lineage, broke the divine bow. Lord Viṣṇu (Vishnu) kept his bow with Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika). The son of Ṛcīka (Richika), Jamadagni and then Paraśurāma (Parasurama), the son of Jamadagni, got this divine bow as an ancestral property. After his marriage, when Rāmacandra (Ramachandra) was returning to Ayodhyā (Ayodhya), Paraśurāma (Parasurama) faced him with this bow. Rāma set the thread of the bow to its right place and by this act, crushed the arrogance of Paraśurāma (Parasurama).

Paraśurāma (Parasurama), the grandson of Ṛcīka (Richika), had slain all the Kṣatriya (Kshatriya) clan for twenty one times in order to avenge the death of his father. Making the world free of Kṣatriyas (Kshatriyas), he created five lakes filled with the blood of the dead Kṣatriyas (Kshatriyas) at Samantapañcaka (Samantapanchaka) in Kurukṣetra (Kurukshetra) and performed Pitṛtarpana (Pitritarpana) there with that blood. At that time his grandfather Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika) appeared in front of him and with reasonable advice, dissuaded his from the slaughter of Kṣatriyas (Kshatriyas).

It is known from the Anuśāsana (Anusasana) Parva of the Mahābhārata (Mahabharata) that Śālvaraja (Salvaraja) Dyutimāna (Dyutimana) gave a state to Maharṣi Ṛcīka (Maharshi Richika).