Trishanku, Triśaṅku, Tri-shanku, Trishamku: 15 definitions
Introduction:
Trishanku means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
The Sanskrit term Triśaṅku can be transliterated into English as Trisanku or Trishanku, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: Wisdom Library: Bhagavata PuranaTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु):—Another name for Satyavrata (son of Tribandhana, who was the son of Prāruṇa). (see Bhāgavata Purāṇa 9.7.5-6)
Source: archive.org: Puranic Encyclopedia1) Triśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—(SATYAVRATA, MATAṄGA). A celebrated King of the Solar dynasty. 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). (See full article at Story of Triśaṅku from the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani)
2) Triśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—A philosopher. He is mentioned in several places in Taittirīyopaniṣad.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: The Purana IndexTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—Satyavrata (s.v): the son of Tribandhana and father of Hariścandra; became a Caṇḍāla by the curse of his Guru; three spikes meant for him by Vasiṣṭha. Result of his three sins—displeasing his father, killing the Guru's cow and eating unconsecrated flesh; banished from the kingdom; seeing this Viśvāmitra consoled him and agreed to be his Guru; the latter had him crowned after a purification bath in the river, Karmanāśā near the Vindhyas; this enabled him to go to heaven bodily and get a place among the planets all in the presence of Vasiṣṭha; though thrust down headlong from heaven, he was stopped and given a place in the sky.*
- * Bhāgavata-purāṇa IX. 7. 5-7; Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa III. 63. 108; Vāyu-purāṇa 88. 108-13. Viṣṇu-purāṇa IV. 3. 21.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
General definition (in Hinduism)
Source: Apam Napat: Indian MythologyTrishanku was a King in the Solar dynasty, the son of Prithu. His original name was Satyavrata. His son was Dhundumara. Satyavrata committed three sins, and hence he got the name Trishanku. First, while a prince, he misbehaved in the kingdom and was temporarily exiled. Next, he killed the milch cow of his perceptor Vasishta. His third sin was that he used the unsanctified meat of his kill as food.
He wished to ascend to heaven in his mortal body, and asked his perceptor Vasishta to do the needful rights. Vasishta refused, for it was against the laws of nature. He then approached the sons of Vasishta. They were angry that the King had asked them, deeming it an insult to their father, so the cursed the King to become afflicted with a debilitating disease.
In Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Source: Wisdom Library: Tibetan BuddhismTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु) refers to one of the various Grahas and Mahāgrahas mentioned as attending the teachings in the 6th century Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa: one of the largest Kriyā Tantras devoted to Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of wisdom) representing an encyclopedia of knowledge primarily concerned with ritualistic elements in Buddhism. The teachings in this text originate from Mañjuśrī and were taught to and by Buddha Śākyamuni in the presence of a large audience (including Triśaṅku).
Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—
1) Name of a celebrated king of the Solar race, king of Ayodhyā and father of Hariśchandra. [He was a wise, pious, and just king, but his chief fault was that he loved his person to an inordinate degree. Desiring to celebrate a sacrifice by virtue of which he could go up to heaven in his mortal body, he requested his family-priest Vasiṣṭha to officiate for him; but being refused he next requested his hundred sons who also rejected his absurd proposal. He, therefore, called them cowardly and impotent, and was, in return for these insults, cursed and degraded by them to be a Chāṇḍāla. While he was in this wretched condition, Viśvāmitra, whose family Triśaṅku had in times of famine laid under deep obligations, undertook to celebrate the sacrifice, and invited all the gods to be present. They, however, declined; whereupon the enraged Viśvāmitra. by his own power lifted up Triśaṅku to the skies with his cherished mortal body. He began to soar higher and higher till his head struck against the vault of the heaven, when he was hurled down head-foremost by Indra and the other gods. The mighty Viśvāmitra, however, arrested him in his downward course, saying 'Stay Triśaṅku', and the unfortunate monarch remained suspended with his head towards the earth as a constellation in the southern hemisphere. Hence the wellknown proverb:-त्रिशङ्कुरिवान्तरा तिष्ठ (triśaṅkurivāntarā tiṣṭha) Ś.2.]
2) the Chātaka bird.
3) a cat.
4) a grass-hopper.
5) a firefly. °जः (jaḥ) an epithet of Hariśchandra. °याजिन् (yājin) m. an epithet of Viśvāmitra.
Derivable forms: triśaṅkuḥ (त्रिशङ्कुः).
Triśaṅku is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms tri and śaṅku (शङ्कु).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit DictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—(1) m., name of a mountain: Divyāvadāna 106.17, 18, 20, 24; Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya i.30.12; °kuka, id., Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya i.40.8; (2) f., name of a river associated with 1: Divyāvadāna 103.1; 106.20, and °kukā 24; (3) m. pl., name of thorns (kaṇṭakās) growing on 1: Divyāvadāna 106.18, 20; (4) m., name of a mātaṅga chief: Divyāvadāna 619.19 ff.; Mūla-Sarvāstivāda-Vinaya i.109.13 ff. (different story).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—m.
(-ṅkuḥ) 1. The name of a king of the solar race, famous for attempting to go to heaven in his mortal frame, by the aid of Viswamitra. 2. A cat. 3. A grasshopper. 4. A bird, the Chataka, (Cuculus melanoleucos.) 5. A fire-fly. E. tri three, śaṅku a dart, ṭa aff.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English DictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—[tri-śaṅku], m. The name of a king, [Harivaṃśa, (ed. Calc.)] 730.
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Triśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—m. the name of a king, [Harivaṃśa, (ed. Calc.)] 730.
Triśaṅku is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms tri and śaṅku (शङ्कु).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु).—[masculine] [Name] of an ancient sage and king (conceived as a constellation in the southern hemisphere).
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Triśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु):—[=tri-śaṅku] [from tri] m. Name of a sage, [Taittirīya-upaniṣad i, 10]
2) [v.s. ...] of a king of Ayodhyā (aspiring to ascend to heaven in his mortal body, he first requested Vasiṣṭha to perform a great sacrifice for him; on Vasiṣṭha’s refusing he applied to Vasiṣṭha’s hundred sons, who cursed and degraded him to the rank of a Caṇḍāla [hence called a Caṇḍāla king, [Divyāvadāna xxxiii]]; Viśvā-mitra then undertook the sacrifice for him and invited all the gods, who declined to come and thereby so enraged the sage that, by his own power, he transported T° to heaven; on his being hurled down again head foremost by the gods, he was arrested in his course by Viśvā-mitra and remained suspended in the sky, forming the southern cross constellation, [Rāmāyaṇa i, 57 (59 G.) ff.] [son of Pṛthu; Harivaṃśa 730 ff.] and, [Viṣṇu-purāṇa iv, 3, 13 f.] [son of Trayyāruṇa; son of Tri-bandhana] [Bhāgavata-purāṇa ix, 7]), [Mahābhārata i, xiii etc.]
3) [v.s. ...] a cat, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
4) [v.s. ...] the civet-cat, [Nighaṇṭuprakāśa]
5) [v.s. ...] a grasshopper, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
6) [v.s. ...] a fire-fly, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
7) [v.s. ...] = ṅkha, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
8) [v.s. ...] Name of a mythical mountain, [Divyāvadāna viii, 293 ff.]
9) [v.s. ...] f. Name of a mythical river, [223 and 295]
10) [v.s. ...] (kukā), [298]
11) [v.s. ...] m. [plural] Name of thorns, [293]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryTriśaṅku (त्रिशङ्कु):—[tri-śaṅku] (ṅkuḥ) 2. m. The name of a king of the solar race; a cat; a grasshopper; a bird; a fire-fly.
[Sanskrit to German]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Kannada-English dictionary
Source: Alar: Kannada-English corpusTriśaṃku (ತ್ರಿಶಂಕು):—
1) [noun] name of a mythological king.
2) [noun] (fig.) a man who is unable to make a choice between two options or is in a helpless or awkward situation caused by indecision.
3) [noun] any of leaping, plant-eating orthopteran insects of various families, esp. of Acrididae, with powerful hind legs adapted for jumping; a gross-hopper.
4) [noun] a cat.
5) [noun] the male of the bird Cuculus melanoleucus, fabled to live only upon rain drops.
6) [noun] a small southern constellation near the celestial pole containing Coalsack; the Southern Cross; the Crux.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Trishamkusthana, Trishamkusthiti, Trishamkusvarga, Trishankudesha, Trishankugraha, Trishankuja, Trishankuka, Trishankutilaka, Trishankuvedanuvacana, Trishankuyajin.
Ends with: Kritrimatrishamku.
Full-text (+20): Traisankava, Trishankuja, Trishankuyajin, Shardulakarna, Satyavrata, Harishcandra, Dhundhumara, Trishankutilaka, Satyaratha, Prithu, Trishankha, Trishankuka, Tribandhana, Aikshvaku, Tridhanva, Rohita, Tiricanku, Trishankugraha, Satyarata, Trayyaruna.
Relevant text
Search found 29 books and stories containing Trishanku, Triśaṅku, Tri-shanku, Trishamku, Trisanku, Tri-śaṅku, Tri-sanku, Triśaṃku, Trisamku; (plurals include: Trishankus, Triśaṅkus, shankus, Trishamkus, Trisankus, śaṅkus, sankus, Triśaṃkus, Trisamkus). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Ramayana of Valmiki (by Hari Prasad Shastri)
Chapter 60 - King Trishanku ascends to a specially created heaven < [Book 1 - Bala-kanda]
Chapter 57 - Shri Vasishtha refuses to help King Trishanku < [Book 1 - Bala-kanda]
Chapter 58 - Vasishtha’s sons curse Trishanku < [Book 1 - Bala-kanda]
Viswamitra-Ahalya < [April – June and July – September, 1996]
Potentiality of Poetry < [April – June, 1997]
Kirtanas of Sadasiva Brahmendra < [July – September, 1981]
Taittiriya Upanishad (by A. Mahadeva Sastri)
Lesson X - The Illumination < [Book I - Shiksha Valli]
Puranic encyclopaedia (by Vettam Mani)
Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya Vartika (by R. Balasubramanian)
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