Suketu (Son of Citraketu)

Suketu was the son of Citraketu. He was a warrior in the Pāṇḍava army at Kurukshetra. He appears in the Karṇa Parva of the Mahābhārata on the seventeenth day of the war, in the fierce fighting before the last duel between Karṇa and Arjuna.

Fight with Kṛpa

Kṛpa poured so many arrows on the chariot of Śikhaṇḍī that Śikhaṇḍī had to give up his horses. He fought with sword and shield before escaping. Kṛpa’s arrows harried him so hard that he could not move. Suketu saw his comrade in trouble and rushed at Kṛpa.

Suketu charged fast and fired many sharp arrows. He struck Kṛpa with nine arrows, then seventy more, then three again, and pressed Kṛpa hard. Then he shot an arrow that broke Kṛpa’s bow.

Kṛpa took up a fresh, strong bow and answered with great fury. He struck Suketu at his vital points with thirty arrows. Suketu swayed on his chariot like a great tree shaken by an earthquake. Kṛpa then shot again and cut off Suketu’s head.

The head, with its shining kīrīṭa (crown) and gleaming kuṇḍalas (earrings), fell to the ground. The Mahābhārata says it fell like a piece of meat dropped from a vulture’s beak. The body fell after it. Suketu’s followers saw their master slain and fled in fear. The Mahābhārata tells this in Karṇa Parva, Chapter 54.

Not the Suketu of the Rāmāyaṇa

This Suketu, son of Citraketu, is a different person from Suketu the yaksha, the father of Tāṭakā, who appears in the Rāmāyaṇa. The two share a name but belong to different narratives.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Karṇa Parva, Chapter 54