King Trishanku, was a ruler from the Ikshvaku (Solar) dynasty. Among other things, he was known to be so in love with himself and his body that he wanted to ascend to heaven in his physical form. He requested his family’s preceptor, and one of the oldest and most revered Maharishis, Rishi Vashishtha to help him ascend to heaven in his physical form. Rishi Vashishtha straight away declined, proclaiming that only the soul (Aathma) is pure and divine, and only it can ascend to the heavens to be one with the Paramathma. Disappointed, Trishanku then asked Rishi Vashishtha’s sons, to help him with his desire. The sons, feeling disrespect towards their father, by Trishanku, as he approached them even after Sage Vashishtha had refused, cursed the King to become a stinking Chāṇḍāla. The next morning his body became wretched, his clothes turned from silk to rags. Unrecognisable by anyone, he was exiled from his own kingdom. During this exile, the once-great king, crossed paths with Rishi Vishwamitra, and told him what had happened, and his desire to reach the heavens in his physical form. Now to understand why Maharishi Vishwamitra took pity and agreed to help the poor king, you’ll need some context about the feud between the two great sages, Vashishtha and Vishwamitra.

The feud of the two Great Sages

Vishwamitra, was born a king, a Kshatriya, and he coveted Rishi Vashishtha’s divine cow, Kamdhenu, who had the power to grant all material desires. When Vashishtha refused, Vishwamitra attacked him with all his might. Vashishtha, being a Maharishi actually refused to engage in violence, but an army of divine soldiers generated by Kamdhenu (because of her will to not be forcefully taken away from her master), obliterated all of Vishwamitra’s armies. Vishwamitra, upon facing defeat, practiced penance for thousands of years, until being granted divine weapons by lord Shiva. He then, attacked and destroyed Vashishtha’s hermitage and sons, but was eventually repelled off by the Brahmarishi’s powers. Because of Vishwamitra’s desire to be equal to Sage Vashishtha, this back and forth went on, till eventually Vishwamitra too, through thousands of years of “Tapas”, himself attained the status of “Brahamarishi”, and was greeted as an “equal” by Brahmarishi Vashishtha. They eventually reconciled.

Vishwamitra speaking with sage Vashishtha in peesence of Kamdhenu

Now, back to King Trishanku. Sage Vishwamitra, in his desire to prove himself equal to Rishi Vashishtha, thought that granting a wish which Vashishtha had refused, would help him in his cause. So he took pity on “the king with a wretched body”, and tried sending him to heaven, but the king of gods and heaven itself, lord Indra, refused him entry, stating again, that no mortal being can enter heaven with their physical body intact. This angered sage Vishwamitra, who then using his “Tapas”, tried to forcefully make Trishanku ascend to heaven. Indra, in turn, used his powers to send him back, with his head facing earth. This clash of powers between the sage and the god, caused Trishanku to be hung, upside down in limbo, in a place between the earth and the heavens. It is said that Trishanku became the Southern Cross constellation. This is also how the Hindi idioms “Trishanku’s heaven” or “hanging like Trishanku” originated, essentially meaning, hanging in limbo, in dilemma, or not being able to choose between right and wrong.

Indra prevents Trisanku from ascending to Heaven

The conclusion: A new Universe

Maharishi Vishwamitra, in order to fulfil his promise to Trishanku, started creating a parallel universe, with its own Brahma and its own “Swarga” (heaven), right where Trishanku was hanging. The gods were left in awe, for the sage had created a heaven, even better than the original, and Vishwamitra had to start his tapasya again, for he had exhausted all his accumulated “Tapas” in doing so. Trishanku got his wish fulfilled, at least partially. The compromise? He had to live in his new found heaven, hanging upside down.