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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.59.17
Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 59: Story of Viśvāmitra: Triśaṅku’s ascent and suspended heaven. Indra rejects the ascending Triśaṅku, Viśvāmitra halts his fall and creates southern stars, the Devas agree to let him remain suspended among them
In the sequence: Indra rejects him as one afflicted by his teacher's curse and orders him to fall headfirst → falling, Triśaṅku cries to Viśvāmitra for help. Viśvāmitra commands him to stop
1.59.17
triśaṅko gaccha bhūyas tvaṃ nāsi svargakṛtālayaḥ
guruśāpahato mūḍha pata bhūmim avākśirāḥ
'Triśaṅku, go back! You are not one who has made a home in heaven; struck down by the teacher's curse, O fool, fall to the earth head downward!'
Words: triśaṅko — O Triśaṅku; gaccha — go; bhūyas — back, again; tvaṃ — you; nāsi — you are not; svargakṛtālayaḥ — one who has made a home in heaven; guruśāpahato — struck down by the teacher's curse; mūḍha — O fool; pata — fall; bhūmim — to the earth; avākśirāḥ — head downward
Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.