त्रिशिरस्

{ triśiras (viśvarūpa), triśiras }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

TRIŚIRAS I   A demon who was a friend of Rāvaṇa. The Khara-Dūṣaṇa-Triśiras combination led the attack on Śrī Rāma in the forest of Daṇḍaka when Lakṣmaṇa cut off the nose and breasts of the demoness Śūrpaṇakhā. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa killed all the three. Triśiras was a powerful fighter and Śrī Rāma's forehead was wounded by an arrow from Triśiras. The latter came and fought in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was killed by an arrow from Rāma. [Sarga 26, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa] .
TRIŚIRAS II (VIŚVARŪPA)   Once there was a celebrated Prajāpati of name Tvaṣṭā. Though he was of a pious nature interested in the welfare of Brahmins, he hated Indra. He thought of destroying Indra somehow. With that purpose in view he produced by his wife Recanā, a powerful son and named him Viśvarūpa. The boy had three heads and so he was called Triśiras (Tri=Three Śiras--head) also. He could use his three heads for three different purposes at a time. He would drink wine with one head and mutter the Veda-mantras by another head and see the world by the third. Even from boyhood he disliked worldly pleasures and, abandoning even food, started to do penance. During the hot season he would sit amidst fire and during the cold season he would sit in water to do penance. He would stand with his head down and do penance. The penance of Triśiras was so severe that Indra began to get frightened. He sent celestial maidens to stop the penance but all the attempts proved futile before that great ascetic. Then Indra himself riding on Airāvata went and killed the sage by his Vajrāyudha. Indra feared whether Triśiras would come to life again and wreak vengeance on him. So he ordered a carpenter standing nearby to bring to him the three heads separated from the body. The carpenter cut off the heads from the body and as each head fell to the ground several kinds of birds were found escaping from it. From the head which used to mutter Vedic mantras rose the Kapiñjala birds; from the head used for drinking wine rose Kalapiṅga birds and from the third rose the Tittiri birds. When the birds thus rose to the air Indra was convinced that Triśiras was dead and he went away See under Viśvarūpa. [6th Skandha, Devī Bhāgavata] .

प्राचीन चरित्रकोश

त्रिशिरस् n.  विश्ववसु एवं वाका का पुत्र । (विश्वरुप देखिये) ।
त्रिशिरस् (त्वाष्ट्र) n.  एक सूक्तद्रष्टा [ऋ.१०.८.९] ।
त्रिशिरस् II. n.  दूषण राक्षस के चार अमात्यों में से एक । यह राम के हाथों मारा गया ।
त्रिशिरस् III. n.  त्रिशीर्ष का नामांतर ।
त्रिशिरस् IV. n.  कश्यप एवं खशा का पुत्र ।

A Sanskrit English Dictionary

त्रि—शिरस्  mfn.  mfn. three-headed ( त्वाष्ट्र, author of [RV. x, 8.]), [TāṇḍyaBr. xvii]; [Bṛh.]; [KauṣUp.]; [MBh.]; [Kām.]

ROOTS:

त्रि शिरस्

( ज्वर), [BhP. x, 63, 22]
three-pointed, [MBh. xiii]; [R. iv]
त्रि—शिरस्  m.  m. N. of an असुर killed by विष्णु, [MBh. ix, 1755]

ROOTS:

त्रि शिरस्

of a राक्षस killed by राम, [R.]; [Ragh.]
°र   (), [BhP. ix, 10, 9]
त्रि—शिरस्  n.  n. (with रक्षस्) id., [R. i, 1, 45]

ROOTS:

त्रि शिरस्

a रक्षस्, [L.]
कुबेर, [L.]

Shabda-Sagara

त्रिशिरस्  mfn.  ( -राः-राः-रः) Three-headed.
 m.  ( -राः) A name of KUVERA. 2. Fever personified as a demon with three heads: see त्रिपाद.
3. A son of RAVANA.
E. त्र three, and शिरस् a head.

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त्र शिरस्