One of the stories associated with Sage Vishwamitra is that he created a parallel heaven, known as Trishanku Swarga, for King Trishanku. Trishanku wanted to ascend to heaven with his mortal body. Viswamitra was obliged to him and he used his powers gained through great meditation to send him thus to heaven. His entry to swarga (heaven) was barred and he was thrown into the paatala or underworld where too he was rejected. Then Viswamitra created a third universe for him called Trishanku swarga!! This was a universe between heaven and the hades—dangling in the middle


. He said, "I have promised to this Trishanku that he will reach heaven in his mortal body. I do not wish to go against your advice either. As a compromise, let this King inhabit this heaven created by me. Let the stars and galaxies created by me also continue to exist."

The Devas said, "So be it! The stars and constellations created by you shall exist for all eternity. The King shall reside in your heaven, to be called Trishanku's heaven from now on.





“Trishanku was originally a King like Rama, ruling from Ayodhya … The King, first called Satyavrata, seemed to have led rather a typical boring king’s life … One day however, he was seized with the strange desire to ascend to heaven in his bodily form, a process that is usually possible only when the flesh falls away in death. The usual procedure for achieving the impossible in Hindu myth, is a Yagna, a great Fire Sacrifice/festival. Satyavrata’s guru, the great sage Vasishta, refused to officiate in a proceeding that smacked only too strongly of hubris. Royalty is impervious to rebuffs however, and he approached the sons of the sage to act as officiating priests, calculating that they would be desirous of position and influence with him. The outraged sages cursed him to lose his royal status and become a Chandala, the worst form of outcaste, and a punishment far worse than death.

“In this miserable condition, he chanced upon the sage Vishwamitra, the great rival of Vasishta. This worthy was a holy terror in the literal, as well as metaphorical sense. Originally a king himself, he felt humiliated by Vasishta’s display of spiritual might, and he set about acquiring spiritual stature in the universe with a demented determination that eventually humbled the gods. At this point, he was only a Rajarishi, a Royal sage, while Vasishta was a Brahmarishi, the pinnacle of spiritual evolution and his ultimate goal. Vishwamitra might have looked like no match for the other sage, but the whole world was to see how wrong they were. He was not called the tiger amongst Rishis for nothing. He promised to set Vasishta’s nose out of joint, and he was not the man to be above a little malicious compassion.

“The sons of Vasishta tried to thwart the Yagna (Fire Sacrifice) Vishwamitra was holding for the purpose. The rage of the sage burst forth, and he incinerated them with a curse and condemned them to outcaste status for seven hundred more births to boot.


In astronomy, Trishanku corresponds to the constellation of Crux, also known as the Southern Cross

Biami is one of the most important male Spirit Ancestors in south-eastern Australia. He was given his spirit form by the Rainbow Serpent during the Dreamtime and is incorporated into male initiation ceremonies. Even though Biami initially roamed the earth and guarded the tribespeople, he is now considered to be a Sky God and watches over the earth from his home in the sky. In this myth about Biami and Mirrabooka, the origin of the Southern Cross constellation is described.


Biami the good spirit was kept very busy, guarding the tribes as they roamed throughout the earth, and he was very much troubled for them. He found that he could not watch over all of them at once; he knew he must have help to keep them from harm. Among the tribes there was a man called Mirrabooka, who was much loved for his wisdom, and the way in which he looked after the welfare of this people. Biami was well pleased with Mirrabooka, and when he grew old, promised him eternal life. Biami gave Mirrabooka lights for his hands and feet and stretched him across the sky, so that he could watch forever over the tribes he loved. And the tribes could look up to him from the earth and see the stars which were Mirrabooka’s eyes gazing down on them.