Citraketu of Śūrasena and Vṛtrāsura

Citraketu was the king of the Śūrasena region, the area around Mathurā. He had ten million wives and great wealth, but he had no son. The sixth skandha of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells his story in Chapters 14 to 17.

He lost a son to poison and grieved deeply. Aṅgiras and Nārada then taught him that nothing in this world lasts. Nārada gave him the Saṃkarshaṇa mantra. After seven days of japa and prāṇāyāma on water alone, he saw Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa (Ananta Śesha) and spoke with Him about the nature of the self. He then travelled the three worlds for ten billion years in a celestial vimāna. At Kailāsa he laughed at Bhagavān Śiva, and Pārvatī cursed him to be born as an asura. He accepted the curse calmly and was reborn as Vṛtrāsura, through the yajña of Tvashṭā.

King of Śūrasena

Citraketu ruled the Śūrasena region, the Mathurā district. He had ten million wives, wealth and sovereignty. He did not have one son, and this caused him deep sorrow. His chief queen was Kṛtadyuti.

The great ṛshi Aṅgiras visited his palace one day. Citraketu received him with full honour and told him, in great distress, his one sorrow: he had no son.

The yajña, the son and the poison

Aṅgiras performed a yajña (fire ritual) to Tvashṭā deva. A son was born to the chief queen Kṛtadyuti from it. The birth brought joy to the kingdom, but it filled the other wives of Citraketu with fierce jealousy. One or more of them poisoned the infant, and the child died. The grief of Citraketu and Kṛtadyuti was very great. Citraketu lay next to the dead child as if he were dead himself.

Aṅgiras and Nārada teach impermanence

Aṅgiras and Nārada came together to the palace to comfort Citraketu. They asked him: “Whom do you mourn? Who is this child to you? Think of all the births you have taken before and all that wait for you. In how many of them is this child a son, a father, an enemy, a stranger?”

They gave him the teaching of the grains of sand. Grains of sand carried by water meet and part by the force of the current. In the same way, jīvas (souls in bodies) meet and part by the force of kāla (time). Grains produce grains, and then they perish. Beings arise and pass in the same way. There is no lasting relationship. What looks like father and son in this life was different in the last. We do not exist before birth or after death, so even now, in ultimate reality, we do not exist.

Aṅgiras then told Citraketu who he was. He said: “I came to your home earlier. I could have given you ātma-jñāna, the highest knowledge. But you were set on having a son. I saw that, and I gave you only a son. Now you have felt the duḥkha (sorrow) that comes to those who have sons. Understand now that wives, children, house, wealth, rule, the five sense objects, sovereignty, army and treasury are all anityam (not lasting). They are like a gandharva-nagara (a city in the clouds) and like a dream.”

Nārada then gave Citraketu the Saṃkarshaṇa mantra, the catur-vyūha mantra (the mantra of the four forms):

Oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya pradyumnāyāniruddhāya saṃkarshaṇāya

It means: “Oṃ, salutations to Bhagavān Vāsudeva, to Pradyumna, to Aniruddha and to Saṃkarshaṇa.”

Nārada said: “The sādhaka (practitioner) who holds this mantra for seven nights will receive the darśana of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa.”

The dead child speaks

Before leaving, Nārada called the jīva of the dead child. The child appeared in his subtle form (sūkshma) and spoke. He said: “In my many births I have had many fathers and mothers. In which of those births were these people my parents? Jīvas go round from birth to birth as gold goes from owner to owner. The sense of “I” and “mine” for a body lasts only as long as one lives in that body.”

When the relatives of the dead child heard this, they let go of their attachment. The queens who had poisoned the child repented. They did prāyaścitta (atonement) by bathing in the Yamunā.

The Saṃkarshaṇa sādhana

The teaching of Nārada and Aṅgiras woke Citraketu’s antaḥkaraṇa (inner mind). He bathed in the Yamunā, offered tarpaṇa (water offerings) and practised prāṇāyāma in silence. He gave himself to Nārada and asked for the formal upadeśa (instruction) of the mantra. With a steady mind, and taking only water as food, he did japa of the Saṃkarshaṇa mantra for seven full days. By the power of the mantra he gained unchallenged sovereignty over the vidyādharas, and his mind became very pure.

Darśana of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa

After some days Citraketu went to Bhagavān Ādi Śesha, who is Saṃkarshaṇa. He saw Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa in the middle of a circle of siddheśvaras (lords of the siddhas). He was white like a lotus stalk and wore dark garments. He was adorned with a crown, bhujaketanas, a mōlanūl (sacred cord) and kaṃkaṇas. His faces were calm and his eyes were red.

At that darśana all of Citraketu’s pāpas burned away, and his antaḥkaraṇa became pure and clear. He wept with love, and his body was full of goosebumps. He came before Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa and bowed to the ground.

With the tears from his eyes he wet the pīṭha (seat) of the lotus feet of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. For a long time he could not speak, because his voice was caught by devotion. When he had steadied himself, he spoke a deep stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa.

The stotra to Saṃkarshaṇa

Citraketu’s stotra to Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa holds these main teachings:

Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa is reached by those who practise sama-darśana, seeing the same Īśvara in all.
To those who offer ārādhanā with nishkāma bhakti (devotion without desire), Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa gives Himself.
All creation, existence and dissolution are His līlā (play).
From the smallest paramāṇu (atom) to the greatest mahat-tattva, Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa is the beginning, middle and end of all things. Yet He Himself has no beginning, middle or end.
Countless brahmāṇḍas (universes) turn within Him like specks of dust.
Those who seek their wishes through ārādhanā of the deva-vibhūtis (powers of the devas) receive only what those devas can give. Their gains perish with the devas.
The five bhūtas (elements) and the seven tattvas are all Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. This brahmāṇḍa is held in Him like a bud.
Bhāgavata-dharma, which is nishkāma bhakti, carries no bīja (seed) for a future birth. It leads to the ānanda (bliss) of ātma-sākshātkāra (direct sight of the self).

Citraketu ended the stotra with these words: “O Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa, Your darśana removes all pāpa. Even a cruel person is freed from the bondage of saṃsāra by hearing Your name once. O Ananta, You know all of this. I have nothing new to tell You, just as a firefly lights nothing before the sun.”

The teaching of Saṃkarshaṇa

Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa answered Citraketu with a teaching on the Ātman and Brahman:

All beings, the Ātman and the cause of all beings are Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa alone.
The jīva appears in a body through prārabdha-karma (the karma now bearing fruit). For that time it takes “I” and “mine” to belong to that body. Then it moves on, as gold passes through ornaments.
The world arises from Brahman, rests in Brahman and merges back into Brahman, as clay is the basis of all pottery.
The Ātman is beyond manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), the jñāna-indriyas (organs of knowing) and the karma-indriyas (organs of action). It is the witness of all three states: waking (jāgrat), dream (svapna) and deep sleep (sushupti).
In deep sleep the experience of the absence of the world is itself witnessed by the awareness of the Ātman. That witnessing awareness is Brahman. That Brahman is His own svarūpa (true form) in the saguṇa aspect, the aspect with qualities.
A person who forgets this truth stays bound in saṃsāra. Only the human birth (manushya-janma) gives the chance to realise the true nature of the Ātman.

Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa said to Citraketu: “Do not forget my teaching. Through it you will soon gain ātma-jñāna, ātmānubhava (direct experience of the self) and jīvanmuktatva (freedom while living).” Then He vanished.

Kailāsa and the curse

Citraketu then travelled freely through the three worlds for ten billion years as the king of the vidyādharas. He rode in a vimāna given by Bhagavān Vishṇu. The vidyādhara women, inspired by him, sang the glory of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Ṛshis and siddhas praised him.

One day he passed over Kailāsa in his vimāna. He saw Bhagavān Śiva sitting in a great assembly of ṛshis, with Pārvatī on his lap and held in his arm. Citraketu was proud of his long rule over the vidyādharas and sure that he had conquered his mind. He laughed loudly and said: “This is Śiva, teacher of the worlds and upholder of dharma. Yet he sits in an assembly embracing a woman, without shame. Even ordinary people show such affection only in private.”

Bhagavān Śiva said nothing and smiled. Pārvatī was furious. She said: “Is this the one who punishes the shameless? Brahmā, Bhṛgu, Nārada, Sanatkumāra, Kapila and Manu did not stop Śiva, and they all worship his lotus feet. This proud kshatriya comes to teach even the teacher of the universe. Let him be born as an asura as his punishment.”

Citraketu came down from his vimāna, bowed humbly to Pārvatī and took the curse calmly. He said: “O Jaganmātā (Mother of the world), I receive with folded hands what you have ordered. The devatās are only instruments that point to what one’s prārabdha has already fixed. Saṃsāra is a flow of the three guṇas. In it, where is śāpa (a curse) and where is anugraha (grace)? Where is svarga and where is naraka? Parameśvara is the same in all beings, with no rāga (liking) and no dvesha (dislike). He has no beloved and no enemy. It is His māyā-śakti (power of illusion) that makes duality appear.”

Citraketu did not ask to be freed from the curse.

Śiva explains to Pārvatī

After Citraketu left, Bhagavān Śiva spoke to Pārvatī. He said: “The devotees of Nārāyaṇa fear nothing, anywhere. Svarga, naraka and moksha are all the same to them. They see Parameśvara as the highest truth in all. Citraketu is a beloved attendant of Śrī Hari. He sees Brahman equally everywhere. He could have answered your curse, but he chose not to. It is the nature of the great to cause no harm to others. I too am dear to Śrī Hari, and He is dear to me. One should never show pride toward the devotees of Purushottama.”

Rebirth as Vṛtrāsura

Citraketu was then born as Vṛtrāsura through the yajña of Tvashṭā. He carried into that asura birth both paroksha ātma-jñāna (indirect knowledge of the self) and aparoksha ātmānubhava (direct realisation). Vṛtrāsura showed deep bhakti and viveka (discernment) although he was born among asuras.

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 6th Skandha, Chapters 14–17
Chapter 14: the king, Aṅgiras, the yajña and the poisoning
Chapter 15: the teaching of Aṅgiras and Nārada, and the Saṃkarshaṇa mantra
Chapter 16: the dead child, the sādhana, the darśana, the stotra and the teaching of Saṃkarshaṇa
Chapter 17: Kailāsa, the curse, Śiva’s words and the rebirth as Vṛtrāsura