From the ancient line of Sambhūta arose his son, Anaraṇya, a king famed for his valor. Yet, during Rāvaṇa’s conquest of the three worlds, Anaraṇya was slain, marking a turning point in the lineage. Trasadaśva was Anaraṇya’s son, and his own son was Haryaśva. On the banks of the Drṣadvatī river, Haryaśva fathered King Vasumat, whose reign was marked by righteousness. Vasumat’s son, Tridhanvan, was renowned as a learned master of the three Vedas and a skilled warrior. Tridhanvan’s son was Satyavrata, a mighty prince whose actions brought upheaval: he abducted the wife of Vidarbha after slaying celestial beings. Because of this deed, Satyavrata was excluded from the marriage rites, and his son was named Viṣṇuvṛddha, so called because he was increased by the grace of Viṣṇu. These descendants, though born of the sage Aṅgiras, took up the kṣatriya path. Satyavrata’s act—driven by desire, strength, delusion, the force of Saṅkarṣaṇa, and the power of destiny—was accomplished by the wise prince, yet it brought consequences. His father, endowed with the three Vedic qualities, abandoned him for his unrighteousness, repeatedly commanding him to depart. Satyavrata, seeking guidance, asked his father where he should go. His father replied, “Live among the outcastes.” He further declared, “I do not desire a son through my own son, O stain upon the lineage.” Thus, Satyavrata left the city, obeying his father’s command. The venerable sage Vasiṣṭha did not restrain him. Satyavrata, wise and steadfast, freed by his father, dwelt near the abode of the outcastes, while his father retreated to the forest. During this time, Indra withheld the rains from Satyavrata’s territory, and for twelve years, drought plagued the land as a result of his unrighteousness. In that land, the great ascetic Viśvāmitra, forsaking his wife, undertook intense austerities on the shore of the ocean. His wife, desperate to sustain herself, bound their middle-born natural son by the neck and offered him for sale with a loud cry. Witnessing this, the righteous and disciplined prince Satyavrata, son of a great sage, released the boy and provided for his sustenance, seeking the satisfaction of Viśvāmitra and moved by compassion. The boy, bound by the neck, became known as Gālava, a great ascetic, and Viśvāmitra, his father, was freed by this act of valor. Through his vow, devotion, compassion, and promise, Satyavrata steadfastly supported Viśvāmitra’s wife. He hunted deer, boars, buffaloes, and other forest animals near Viśvāmitra’s hermitage, cooking their meat to sustain her. Observing the upāṃśu vow and undertaking a twelve-year initiation, he served at his father’s command while the king resided in the forest. Meanwhile, Vasiṣṭha, with the help of priests and teachers, protected Ayodhyā, the kingdom, and the palace. From childhood, Satyavrata harbored a greater anger against Vasiṣṭha than Vasiṣṭha himself, due to the force of future events. When his father, weeping, abandoned him from the kingdom, Vasiṣṭha did not prevent it, for his own reasons. The marriage mantras culminate at the seventh step, and so Satyavrata performed them at the seventh step. Vasiṣṭha, knowing the dharmas, refused to recite the mantras, harboring anger in his mind toward Satyavrata. Though Vasiṣṭha acted with wisdom, Satyavrata did not wisely observe the upāṃśu vow. When Satyavrata departed, whoever stood in his father’s place, Indra withheld the rains for twelve years. Thus, the initiation, weakened and manifold on earth, became an atonement for the family and for oneself. Eventually, Vasiṣṭha prevented Satyavrata, who had been rejected by his father, saying, “I will consecrate him to the kingdom later.” Yet Satyavrata, strong in resolve, endured the twelve-year initiation, while Vasiṣṭha had no meat available. Driven by anger, delusion, fatigue, and hunger, Satyavrata saw the cow that grants all desires and acted rashly. Seeing Satyavrata had taken to the conduct of bandits, the best of the strong slew the cow. Satyavrata, along with the sons of Viśvāmitra, ate her flesh. When Vasiṣṭha heard of this, he cast Satyavrata off and addressed him, “Cruel one, O cruel one, let your body be pierced with three iron spikes, unless you are not the lowest of men. By failing to please your father, by killing the cow of your teacher, and by eating what is forbidden in exile, your transgression is threefold.” Thus, seeing those three spikes, the great ascetic called him Triśaṅku, and from then on, Satyavrata was known as Triśaṅku. Viśvāmitra, returning to provide for his family, was pleased and granted a boon to Triśaṅku. When urged to choose a boon, Triśaṅku asked his teacher, for at that time the twelve-year drought and fear of famine weighed heavily. Viśvāmitra consecrated him in his ancestral kingdom and caused him to perform sacrifices. In the sight of the gods and Vasiṣṭha, Kauśika (Viśvāmitra) then raised Triśaṅku bodily to heaven. As Vasiṣṭha watched, it appeared wondrous, and even today, those versed in the Purāṇas recite these verses. By the grace of Viśvāmitra, Triśaṅku shines in heaven, together with the gods, through the favor of that wise and mighty sage.