Cirakārī Upākhyāna

The Cirakārī Upākhyāna is an account that Bhīshma tells Yudhishṭhira in the Mahābhārata, in the Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 266. Yudhishṭhira asks whether an act should be done quickly or only after long thought. Bhīshma answers with the account of Cirakārī, the son of Gautama Maharshi.

Cirakārī’s name means “the one who acts slowly”. His slowness, which people had always mocked, saved his mother’s life.

Cirakārī and his nature

Cirakārī was the son of Gautama Maharshi and belonged to the Āṅgirasa line. He could not act quickly. Before he began any task he thought about it for a very long time. He would think, sleep on it, wake and think again, think more, pause, and only then act.

Because of this, his community mocked him. They called him dull, lazy and useless. Even his father thought him a slow learner.

The father’s rage and the command

One day Gautama found what he believed to be a wrong done by his wife, a breach of the honour of the family’s dharma. In great rage he turned to Cirakārī, who was nearby, and said, “Kill your mother.” Then Gautama left at once and went into the forest.

Cirakārī stood there with the command in front of him. As always, he began to think. He did not act. His whole mind went into weighing what he had been told to do.

Cirakārī’s deliberation

Cirakārī weighed both sides.

For obedience. A father’s command is among the highest duties a son can receive. To disobey is itself adharma, a breach of pitṛ-ājñā (the father’s order), and brings grave results. The son’s duty to his father is almost complete.

Against obedience. The mother is the source of his own being. To kill her is mātṛ-hatyā (the killing of a mother), one of the gravest forms of pāpa (sin). The command also came from a father in rage, not from calm judgment. Was the wrong real? Had anyone looked into it? Was the rage fair? Was a command given in haste, without thought, a right act of dharma?

The wider point. Cirakārī came to see that no act that cannot be undone should be done on an order given in the heat of anger, without checking, and without the full thought that taking a life needs. The father’s authority was real. But authority must also work through right process.

The father’s repentance

While Cirakārī stood thinking, hours passed, then a day, then more. Gautama was alone in the forest, and his rage cooled. In the clear mind that comes after anger, he saw what he had done. He had told his son to kill his innocent wife. He was horrified and hurried back.

Gautama found Cirakārī still standing in thought, and the mother still alive. He blessed his son again and again. He said, “Cirakārī! You are wise. Cirakārī! You have kept the honour of this family. One who acts slowly, who thinks long before he acts, never makes a mistake that cannot be mended. You have saved your mother. You have saved me from a pāpa that I would have carried for many lifetimes.”

The teaching

The account teaches a lesson that reaches past family life to every case of authority, duty and possible harm.

• An act that harms living beings and cannot be undone should never be done in haste.
• An order given in rage does not have the full weight of dharma of a carefully weighed order, even when the one who gives it has the right to command.
• The person who is mocked as slow sees something the hasty person does not see: a wrong act cannot be undone.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa also has a version of this account, in the Kaumarika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6. Its details and setting are different.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 266
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kaumarika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6 (a different version of the same account)