Triśiras

Triśiras means “three-headed”. Two beings of this name appear in the texts. In the Mahābhārata, Triśiras is the three-headed son of the deva craftsman Tvashṭā, killed by Indra. In the Rāmāyaṇa, Triśiras is a rākshasa general who served Khara at Janasthāna and was slain by Rāma.

Triśiras, son of Tvashṭā

Who he was

The Mahābhārata, in the Udyoga Parva, says that Triśiras was the son of Tvashṭā, the divine craftsman. Tvashṭā was a deva of brahmin nature, and his son carried his father’s brahma-tejas (the spiritual radiance of a brahmin). Though Triśiras had three heads, he was doing tapas (austerity) and offering to the Vedic tradition through his practice.

His three heads did different work at the same time. One head recited the Vedas. One drank soma. One drank wine (sura).

Indra kills him

Indra ruled Svarga. He saw the growing tapas and power of Triśiras as a danger to his own rule. Any being whose gathered power grew greater than Indra’s could take his place.

Triśiras was not an enemy of Indra and held no grudge against him. He was only practising his tapas. Indra killed him with his vajra (thunderbolt). The killing was an attack on one who was no threat and who was at his sacred practice. It was brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brahmin) done without cause, and it was against dharma.

Tvashṭā’s revenge

The death of Triśiras filled Tvashṭā with grief and anger. He did not only mourn. He performed a great yajña (a fire ritual) to make an instrument of revenge against Indra. From that fire came the asura Vṛtra, whose purpose was to destroy Indra. Vṛtra carried the brahma-tejas of Tvashṭā’s yajña. So when Indra later killed Vṛtra as well, the brahmahatyā-pāpa fell on him a second time.

The Mahābhārata gives the chain that followed the death of Triśiras in this order:

  1. Indra’s killing of Triśiras, a brahmahatyā.
  2. Tvashṭā’s yajña.
  3. The birth of Vṛtra.
  4. The war of Vṛtra and Indra.
  5. Indra’s brahmahatyā for killing Vṛtra.
  6. Indra’s hiding.
  7. The rise of Nahusha.
  8. The fall of Nahusha.

This whole Indravijaya narrative of the Udyoga Parva began with Indra’s killing of Triśiras. Triśiras himself has very little part in the account. He appears, is killed, and the account moves on.

Triśiras, general of Khara

In the Rāmāyaṇa, Triśiras was one of the chief commanders of Khara at Janasthāna. He marched with Dūshaṇa in the army of 14,000 rākshasas that Khara led against Rāma at Pañcavaṭī, sent to take revenge for the mutilation of Śūrpaṇakhā.

Rāma killed the whole army in the battle and then turned to the commanders. Dūshaṇa and Triśiras were both killed before Rāma faced Khara and killed him. The army and all three commanders were destroyed within three ghaṭikās (a ghaṭikā is a measure of time).

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 9 (and chapter 10 for the chain of events after the killing)
  • Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–31 (chapters 29–31 for the death of Triśiras)
  • Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa