Triśaṅku (Devī Bhāgavata)

Satyavrata was a king of the Ikshvāku line of Ayodhyā, later called Triśaṅku. The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells his account in the Seventh Skanda, Chapters 11 to 14, as part of the history of the solar dynasty. His guru Vasishṭha cursed him to become a piśāca, and the brāhmaṇas turned him away. When he was about to give up his life on a funeral pyre, he remembered Śrī Mahāmāyā Devī. The Devī herself came down before him, mounted on a lion, saved him from death, and promised him his kingdom. She also promised that his father would reach Brahma-sālokya by her grace.

Satyavrata’s curse

King Satyavrata of the Ikshvāku line of Ayodhyā was a great king of the solar dynasty, descended from Vivasvān and Vaivasvata Manu. He was known for his courage, his generosity and his devotion to truth. His name satya-vrata means one who is bound by the vow of truth. Then a great misfortune came upon him.

His guru Vasishṭha, one of the seven first ṛshis, became angry with him over a fault. Vasishṭha gave him a terrible śāpa (curse): Satyavrata would become a piśāca, one of the lowest forms of being, a ghoul that wanders outside the company of people and is shut out from all ritual, all worship and all holy action.

The curse took effect. The prince was driven from the palace and left by his father. He became a wandering outcast. The name Triśaṅku came to describe his cursed state. It means one who is held between three: not a true human, not a piśāca by nature, and not yet free.

Turned away by the brāhmaṇas

Though he was cursed, Satyavrata’s heart stayed turned to dharma and to devotion to the Devī. As he wandered in the forest, he kept repeating the Navākshara mantra-rāja (king of mantras) of Śrī Devī and kept the fire of devotion alive. He went to groups of brāhmaṇas in the forest and bowed before them with true respect. He asked them to be the ṛtvijas (officiating priests) at a yajña that he wished to perform. He told them: “I am Satyavrata the king. I have been cursed to this form. But I have taken dīkshā (initiation) in the Devī mantra, and I wish to perform a yajña to complete its dāśāṃśa homa (the fire offering of one tenth of the number of repetitions). Please accept me as the yajamāna (the one for whom the rite is done) and guide the rite.”

The brāhmaṇas refused. They said to him: “Vasishṭha himself has cursed you to be a piśāca. You have no adhikāra (right) to the Vedas. You live under the stain of disgrace. Your father has cast you out, your guru has cursed you, and you have lost your kingdom. We cannot perform a yajña for one in this state.”

Satyavrata was filled with grief when he heard this. He felt that his birth had become worthless. Without a yajña, without a guru and without a kingdom, what was left of life?

The funeral pyre

In the depth of his despair Satyavrata decided to end his life. He gathered large logs from the forest, built a funeral pyre (cita) and got ready to enter it. Before he threw himself into the fire, he made one last act of devotion. He bathed and stood with folded hands in front of the unlit pyre. With all his heart he called on Śrī Mahāmāyā Devī, Śrī Caṇḍikā, in sincere remembrance (smaraṇa). He offered no long stotra and no complex ritual. It was only the pure, anguished surrender of a man at the very end of his means.

Then he lit the fire and stood before it.

The Devī appears and saves him

The Devī saw Satyavrata’s sincerity and that he was about to die. She came down from the sky, seated on her lion, and appeared before him in her full divine glory. She spoke in a voice deep like rolling clouds:

“O Mahātmā! Sādhu! What have you decided? Do not enter these flames. Your father is old and has been waiting for you to come home, so that he can hand over the kingdom and go to the forest for tapas. O Vīra! Put away your grief. The day after tomorrow, go back to your home. By my grace, ministers will come to take you back. Your father will anoint you on the throne with full royal ceremony. And when your work in the world is done, your father, by my grace, will surely reach Brahma-sālokya.”

When she had said these words, the Devī vanished in that same moment.

Back to the kingdom

The Devī’s own act had saved Satyavrata from the fire. He turned from the pyre and made his way back toward Ayodhyā. The ṛshi Nārada had seen all that happened. He went ahead and told King Aruṇa, Satyavrata’s father, what had taken place. The old king heard that his son had nearly died in despair and had been saved only by the Devī’s grace. He was overcome with grief and regret for the suffering that his actions had caused.

Just as the Devī had promised, ministers came to bring Satyavrata home. The old king received his son in tears of relief. He gave up his throne and performed Satyavrata’s full royal consecration (rājyābhisheka) with all the auspicious rites. Satyavrata took the throne and ruled with great justice. He always remembered Śrī Parāśakti as the source of his kingdom, his breath and his life.

Brahma-sālokya promised

The Devī promised Brahma-sālokya for Satyavrata’s father. This means a home in the world of Brahmā after death, the highest loka that can be reached. The account says that it was not Satyavrata’s tapas or his rites that won the Devī’s grace. It was his pure surrender at the moment when he had no help left. When everything else fails and a person turns to the Devī with his whole being, she herself comes down and sets right what nothing else can mend.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapters 11–14
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapter 11 (the curse and the refusal of the brāhmaṇas)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapter 12 (the pyre and the Devī’s appearance)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapters 12–13 (the return and consecration)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapters 13–14 (Brahma-sālokya)