Trishanku

(“three sins”) In Hindu mythology, a celebrated king of the Solar Line. He is
named Satyavrata at birth but is cursed
by the sage Vasishtha to bear the name
Trishanku because of three major sins:
He abducts another man’s wife, he
incurs the anger of his father, and he
eats beef (which he has earlier obtained
by slaughtering Vasishtha’s cow). Along
with this uncomplimentary name,
Vasishtha also curses Trishanku to be a
chandala (untouchable), which Trishanku
suffers for some time before being
restored to his kingship.
After regaining his throne, Trishanku
is a good king, but he desires to be taken
bodily into heaven. Vasishtha and his
sons ridicule this desire, but Trishanku
finds an ally in the sage Vishvamitra,
who has a long history of conflict with
Vasishtha. Vishvamitra performs the
sacrifice to take Trishanku to heaven,
but when he arrives there, he is pushed
back down by Indra, the ruler of heaven,
and Trishanku falls head downward.
Vishvamitra orders Trishanku to remain
where he is, and since Indra will not let
him up and Vishvamitra will not let him
down, he is suspended in midair. Indra
begins to construct a separate heaven
for Trishanku, but when Vishvamitra
threatens to create a new Indra for the
new heaven, Indra relents and takes
Trishanku to heaven in his material
body. The name Trishanku has since
become proverbial to refer to a person
trapped between two options.