Trishanku Swarga. Letter T of the # a to z challenge.

Satyavrat the Suryavanshi* King dear reader
Son of Prithu, ancestor of Sri Rama
Parent to Raja Harishchandra
Is the man of my tale today.
Stay with me and we shall traverse
His life's strange ambition and how it all
Connects back to us today.

Ready to retire King Satyavrat gave up the
Throne and crowned his son King.
He felt he deserved Swarga and he did
Only hitch being that he wanted to get
There and stay there in his mortal shell
Against the laws of nature this was and
So he was denied his entry to heaven.

His guru, Rishi Vasishta refused performance of rites
To help his ascent and so Satyavrat approached
Shakti, oldest son of Rishi Vasisht for this
The son was unswerved and knew his father
To be right. Cursed he the king and then on
The king turned to Trishanku, a hideous form
Full of debilitating afflictions.



Now on we shall call him Trishanku, dear reader
And he was one steadfast man for he never gave up
And went about on a wander in the wilderness
Before he met Sage Vishwamitra with his plea
He still wanted to get to Swarga in his mortal form.
The Sage agreed, only to feed the fire of his rivalry
With the wise Rishi Vasishta.

Rituals began and Trishanku began to rise, reaching
Right up to the heavens. The devas led by Indra
Were shocked to see an actual person and ended
In pushing him back. The Sage not to be defeated
Kept on with the strength of his rituals to push him back
Finally even constructing a parallel heaven mid-air
To the south and this was called 'Trishanku Swarga'

Trishanku restored to his stately form, the Sage now
Began the task of crowning the man, new Indra at which
You guessed right. Indra and the Devas rushed to him and
Begged him to stop, apologising and explaining their
Previous act. The Sage was in a quandry, he had to
Agree to the good sense of the Devas and also uphold
His own promise to the quirky King.

A compromise was reached and everyone appeased
Trishanku got his own Heaven and hangs there upside
Down, Yet under the regime of Indra of Swarga and here
This story of mine finds its timely end but not before
We think a little on how we can easily trap our Self
In a limbo and hang between our needs and wants
Wanting what is not ours and that which never should be had.

* Solar dynasty
* The phrase "Trishanku's heaven" is used widely in India to describe similar situations faced in life. * It is also believed that Trishanku and Vaivasvata Manu are both the same.
* In astronomy, Trishanku corresponds to the constellation of Crux, also known as the Southern Cross

I am writing poetry based on Indian mythology/history for the April 2016 A to Z challenge. Please read, comment and share freely and do come back :)