We all know that birth and death are the ultimate truth. No one can avoid it. Death is an event in a person’s life which everyone has to face. No one can stop or avert this incident. After death a person has to leave all the attachments and attachments of his life behind. A person cannot take even the most precious thing of his life with him after death. This has been written about in the popular text of Hindu religion, Garuda Purana. According to Garuda Purana, only that person gets liberation from life who gives up attachment and illusion after death. The perfect example of which is the mythological story of Trishanku.
Garuda Purana is a very popular scripture in Sanatan Dharma, in which it mainly tells about the journey of life and death of human being. This book specifically describes death and the traditions that take place after death. You can understand this through the mythological story of King Trishanku. Let us know what is the mythological story of King Trishanku.
According to the legend, King Trishanku was a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who had done many good deeds in his life. He had only one wish regarding his death that he should not have to abandon his body even after death. When he died, he expressed his last wish that he did not want to leave his body. He also wanted to go to heaven with his human body.
The king went to Guru Vashishtha with his wish, where he prayed that he might be blessed to go to heaven along with his body. Guru Vashishtha did not accept Trishanku’s prayer because it was against the laws of nature. After this Trishanku went to Vashishtha’s sons. When the Guru’s sons saw that King Trishanku was bound by attachment rather than obeying his father, they became angry. The Guru and his sons cursed King Trishanku to turn into a Chandala. Besides, they had to wander from door to door, deprived of wealth. After this Trishanku went to King Vishwamitra.
When Trishanku went to Vishwamitra, Vishwamitra promised him that he would send him to heaven along with his body. As promised, as soon as Trishanku reached heaven, there was an uproar there. King Trishanku fell down from heaven, that is, he remained hanging between heaven and earth. After this he could never go to heaven. However later Vishwamitra created a separate world for Trishanku, where Trishanku lived after his death.
The message that comes from this story is that without freedom from illusion, man neither attains heaven nor attains salvation.
