Citrāratha

Citrāratha was a gandharva, a celestial being of music, beauty and flight. He met the Pāṇḍavas at the Gaṅgā during their journey after they escaped from the lākshāgṛha (the house of lac).

The gandharvas were then bathing in the Gaṅgā at night with their women. They held the Gaṅgā at night to be their own. When the Pāṇḍavas came to the bank, Citrāratha challenged them, and Arjuna defeated him. After this Citrāratha became friendly. He gave Arjuna the cākshushī vidyā, the divine power of sight that lets one see beings across the worlds. He also told the Pāṇḍavas the story of Tapatī and Saṃvaraṇa, which explains the line of Arjuna’s own ancestor Saṃvaraṇa.

The meeting at the Gaṅgā

Citrāratha and the company of gandharvas were at the Gaṅgā by night. This was their usual time for bathing and play. The Pāṇḍavas arrived at the river bank. Citrāratha challenged their right to come to the Gaṅgā at that hour, since he considered it the time of the gandharvas. The quarrel grew into a fight.

Arjuna fought Citrāratha and defeated him. Citrāratha did not take his defeat badly. He answered with generosity and respect.

The gift of cākshushī vidyā

Citrāratha gave Arjuna the cākshushī vidyā. This is the power of the divine eye. It lets the one who holds it see beings across the three worlds, see through māyā (illusion), and know the true nature of those around him.

The Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇa upākhyāna

Citrāratha also told the Pāṇḍavas the upākhyāna (episode) of Saṃvaraṇa and Tapatī. Saṃvaraṇa was an ancestor of the Kuru line, to which the Pāṇḍavas belong. He fell deeply in love with Tapatī, the daughter of the deva of the sun, and spent twelve years with her in a forest retreat. This account sets the Pāṇḍavas’ line within the beginnings of the Kuru dynasty.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva (the meeting at the Gaṅgā, the gift of cākshushī vidyā, and the Tapatī-Saṃvaraṇa upākhyāna)