A philosopher. He is mentioned in several places in
[Taittirīyopaniṣad] .
TRIŚAṄKU I (SATYAVRATA, MATAṄGA). A celebrated King of the Solar dynasty.
1)
Genealogy. Descending in order from Brahmā-- Marīci--Kaśyapa--Vivasvān--Vaivasvata Manu-- Ikṣvāku--Vikukṣi--Śaśāda--Purañjaya (Kakutstha)-- Anenas--Pṛthulāśva--Prasenajit, Yuvanāśva--Māndhātā-- Purukutsa--Trasadasyu-- Anaraṇya--Haryaśva Vasumanas--Sudhanvā--Trayyāruṇa--Satyavrata (Triśaṅku).
2)
Father discards him. When Satyavrata grew up he became a lewd, lustful imprudent man. One day while he was leading such a contemptuous life, a marriage was being conducted in a brahmin house. Guests had assembled, the bridegroom had come and the ceremony was about to start when Satyavrata entered the marriage hall and carried away by force the bride to the shock of all those present there. Some of the Brahmin guests immediately went to Trayyāruṇa and told him what a shameful crime his son had committed. The enraged father at once sent Satyavrata out from the palace. Satyavrata left the country altogether and went and stayed in a colony of harijans. Though he lived with those low-caste people he did not adopt their mode of living. He went out daily to the forests with his bow and arrow and made his food. He never felt any animosity towards his father who had thus sent him out from his country. He thought thus “Of course, my father got terribly angry when he heard the complaints of the Brahmins and in that mood punished me thus, though the punishment was a bit too much. But our family preceptor Vasiṣṭha, who knows everything, who is a moralist and a righteous man, who has the knowledge and authority to prescribe atonement for all sins, did severe punishment. That was very hard.” As he thought more about it in this vein, he felt a great hatred towards Vasiṣṭha.
3)
Satyavrata and Viśvāmitra's family. When his only son Satyavrata was turned out from the family, King Trayyāruṇa was greatly distressed. He went to the forests to do penance to get another son. At that time the country did not have rains for twelve successive years as a punishment for the King for sending out his son. The people suffered much. Among the people who were suffering were the wife and children of Viśvāmitra. Viśvāmitra at that time had gone to the shores of river Kauśikī for doing penance. Viśvāmitra's family consisting of his wife and three sons during that famine lived in hunger. At last the mother decided to sell the middle son and buy food with the money received by the sale. She put a rope made of darbha grass round the neck of the boy and took him to the market. On the way Satyavrata saw them and on hearing their sad story told them not to sell the child. He assured them that he would take care of them till the return of Viśvāmitra. He removed the darbha rope from the child's neck and the child got the name of Gālava from that time onwards. (Gala=neck). He promised them he would daily place enough meat at the foot of a tree near the āśrama. True to his promise, he hunted in the forests and brought to the foot of the tree fresh flesh of deer or hare or boar and also fresh fruits. The family lived happily because of him.
4)
Curse of Vasiṣṭha and the name of Triśaṅku. When Trayyāruṇa went to the forests to do penance, it was Vasiṣṭha who was managing the affairs of the palace. The heir-apparent Satyavrata lived in the hut of a caṇḍāla. Every minute Satyavrata's hatred towards Vasiṣṭha increased in strength. One day Satyavrata did not get any game even after a day's hunting and at dusk he happened to reach the āśrama of Vasiṣṭha where he saw Nandinī, the beloved cow of the sage, grazing by the side of the āśrama. Anger, desire and hunger made him imprudent and without thinking of the consequences Satyavrata killed Nandinī and after eating enough to appease his hunger took the rest to feed the family of Viśvāmitra. The wife of Viśvāmitra little knowing that it was cow's flesh cooked it and ate it. That night when Vasiṣṭha came to the āśrama he found Nandinī missing and he went in search of it. After some time the sage knew that Satyavrata had killed and eaten it. The enraged sage called Satyavrata to his side and cursed him thus “You will from today become a caṇḍāla. Three śaṅkus (sins) namely wrath of a father, abduction of another man's wife and consumption of cow's flesh will give you life-long trouble and thus you will earn a name, Triśaṅku (Three śaṅkus). Instantly Satyavrata became a caṇḍāla and started roaming about in the streets.
5)
Triśaṅku becomes King. Triśaṅku, distressed at heart by a father's wrath and a Guru's curse walked about aimlessly in the forests. He expressed his desire to the ṛṣis and Brahmins to do a yāga and get himself absolved of all his sins. But nobody was willing to help a wretched man cursed and abandoned by both his father and his Guru. Feeling desperate, he decided to commit suicide. He made a great fire-pit and prepared himself to jump into it. Before doing that he prayed to the goddess and when the goddess knew that his devotee would jump into the fire and become ashes, she appeared before him in person and said thus: “Son, why do you try to jump into the fire? Your father has become old and day after tomorrow he will crown you as King and then go to the forests to do penance. Look, there comes your father's minister to take you to the palace.” When the goddess disappeared Satyavrata returned to his āśrama in a pensive mood. Nārada went and informed the king of everything that happened in the forest and the king immediately sent his ministers to fetch Satyavrata to the palace. When Satyavrata came the king crowned him as king and then went to the forests for penance.
6)
Satyavrata becomes Caṇḍāla again. Satyavrata ruled the country for a long time. He was a pious ruler, devoted to god and soon he developed a desire to go to heaven with his mortal body. He approached Vasiṣṭha first for this purpose. But the family preceptor told him there was nothing in the śāstras about any yāga which could help one to go bodily to heaven. Disappointed he approached the sons of Vasiṣṭha who ridiculed him when he told them of his queer desire. Triśaṅku got angry and left them saying “Let me see whether there are others in this country who could send me bodily to heaven.” Those arrogant words annoyed Vasiṣṭha and his sons and they cursed him and made him a caṇḍāla again. Triśaṅku thereafter did not return to the palace, but went to the forests to live there. He knew if he returned to the palace as a caṇḍāla he would not be recognised by his wife and children. Hariścandra, son of Triśaṅku, heard about the curse on his father and sent the ministers to fetch his father to the palace. But Triśaṅku did not come back and so the ministers made Hariścandra the king of Ayodhyā.
7)
Viśvāmitra meets Triśaṅku. When Hariścandra became king, Triśaṅku was living in Ambāvana [forest of Ambā] as a great devotee of the goddess. It was at that time that Viśvāmitra returned home after his penance. Viśvāmitra enquired of his wife how they managed to live during the great famine. Then Satyavatī, wife of Viśvāmitra, told him the whole story of how Satyavrata helped them, why he killed Nandinī, Vasiṣṭha's cow, and how they ate cow's flesh, how Satyavrata was cursed to be a caṇḍāla, how he was called back as king and how he was at that time living in Ambāvana. The eyes of Viśvāmitrā became wet when he heard the sorrowful story and he decided to end the caṇḍālatva (state of being a caṇḍāla) of Satyavrata. He went straight to Ambāvana and met Triśaṅku there.
8)
Triśaṅku Svarga (Heaven of Triśaṅku). Viśvāmitra promised Triśaṅku that he would send him to heaven bodily and made preparations for a yāga. No other sage partook in the yāga because of instructions from Vasiṣṭha. But undaunted, Viśvāmitra conducted the yāga alone and, as the power of his performances increased, Tri- śaṅku started rising bodily from earth slowly and soon rose up to heaven. When the devas found a Caṇḍāla standing with his physical body before the gates of heaven, they ran to Indra and told him. Indra got angry and pushed him out from heaven and Triśaṅku came falling down with his head turned downwards to the earth. Triśaṅku cried loudly calling Viśvāmitra by name. When Viśvāmitra, hearing the noise, looked up he saw poor Triśaṅku descending fast from heaven with his head turned upside down. Viśvāmitra's anger knew no bounds and he roared aloud “Let Triśaṅku stay where he is now.” Triśaṅku stopped in mid-air. Indra did not allow Triśaṅku to come up and Viśvāmitra did not allow him to come down. Indra then made a separate heaven for Triśaṅku below original heaven. Then Viśvāmitra started to create another Indra and devas for the new heaven. The devas were frightened and Indra then approached Viśvāmitra and requested him to desist from his attempt to make duplicate devas promising him that he would give Triśaṅku a seat in his heaven itself. Viśvāmitra agreed to it. At once Indra brought a golden Vimāna and took him bodily to heaven.
[Sargas 57 to 59, Bālakāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa] ;
[7th Skandha, Devī Bhāgavata] ;
[9th Skandha, Bhāgavata] ;
[Chapter 13, Harivaṁśa] ;
[Sundara Kāṇḍa, Kamba Rāmāyaṇa] ;
[Chapter 71, Ādi Parva] ;
[Chapter 12, Sabhā Parva] .