Citraketu Upākhyāna

Citraketu was a king of Śūrasena, the region of Mathurā. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells his account in Chapters 14 to 17 of the sixth skanda. It is Śuka Maharshi’s answer to a question from Parīkshit: how did Vṛtrāsura come to have such deep bhakti? The account follows Citraketu through the grief of losing a son, the teaching of Aṅgiras and Nārada, a mantra, the vision of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa, ten billion years as a jīvanmukta, a meeting with Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī at Kailāsa, and a śāpa (a curse) which he accepted with perfect calm. It ends with his birth as Vṛtrāsura.

Parīkshit’s question

At the start of Chapter 14, Parīkshit Mahārāja asks: “O Maharshi! Vṛtrāsura was a rākshasa. How did he come to have such strong bhakti toward Bhagavān Vishṇu? How could a being born in an asura birth hold such great ātma-jñāna (knowledge of the Self) and bhakti?” Śuka Maharshi answers by telling the whole account of Citraketu.

The grieving king (Chapter 14)

Citraketu was king of Śūrasena, in the area of Mathurā. He had ten million wives but no son. This was his one sorrow. The ṛshi Aṅgiras came to his palace. Citraketu received him with full honour and told him of his grief.

Aṅgiras performed a yajña (a fire ritual) to Tvashṭā Deva. From the yajña fire a son was born to the chief queen, Kṛtadyuti. The kingdom was full of joy. The other wives grew jealous and had the baby poisoned. The child died. Citraketu’s grief was complete. He lay down beside the dead body as if he were dead himself. The grief of Kṛtadyuti was just as deep.

The teaching of impermanence (Chapter 15)

Aṅgiras and Nārada came together. They asked Citraketu:

• “O Mahārāja! In the countless births before this one, and those still to come, what tie has this child had with you, or will he have? In how many births was this being your son?”
• As grains of sand carried by a current meet and part, so living beings (jīvas) meet and part by the force of kāla (time).
• As seeds make seeds, which then perish, so beings rise and pass away, and there is no promise that anything continues.
• Before birth and after death we do not exist. So even now, in the highest truth, the separate “I” does not exist.
• All the things we hold to are anityam (not lasting): wife, house, wealth, empire, rule, servants, ministers and friends. They are like a gandharva-nagara (a city in the clouds), a dream, an illusion, or a rope mistaken for a snake.

Then Aṅgiras told Citraketu the key truth: “When I came to your home before, I could have given you the highest ātma-jñāna. But your mind was set on having a son. I gave you only that. Now you have felt the duḥkha (sorrow) that sons bring. That sorrow itself is my true teaching to you.”

Nārada then gave Citraketu the highest Saṃkarshaṇa mantra, the Catur-vyūha mantra:

Oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya pradyumnāyāniruddhāya saṃkarshaṇāya

Nārada said: “The sādhaka (seeker) who holds this mantra for seven nights will receive the darśana of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. Even Bhagavān Śiva and the earlier ones reached moksha by taking refuge at the feet of Saṃkarshaṇa and letting go of the false idea that the world is real.”

The dead child speaks (Chapter 16)

Nārada called the jīva of the dead child. In its subtle form the jīva spoke to the family who had gathered:

“O Bhagavān Nārada! Why do you show me these people? I see beings whom kāla has made parents and relatives in countless births. In which of those births were these people my parents? As gold passes from one person to another, so the jīva passes among parents. As long as a jīva lives in a body, it joins ‘I’ and ‘mine’ to that body, and no more. The eternal nature of the jīva is beyond bodies. The deha (body) is a cause of sorrow through its heat, while the dehī (the one who lives in the body) alone is eternal.”

When they heard this, all the relatives let go of their hold on the dead child. The grief lifted. The queens who had poisoned the child did prāyaścitta (a rite of repair) by bathing in the Yamunā.

Nārada and Aṅgiras went away to the dhāma (realm) of Brahmā. Citraketu bathed in the Yamunā, offered tarpaṇa (water offerings), practised prāṇāyāma and formally gave himself to Nārada for the teaching of the mantra. With his mind under control and taking only water as food, he did steady japa of the Saṃkarshaṇa mantra for seven days. By the seventh day he had gained rule over all the vidyādharas. His mind became very pure.

The darśana of Saṃkarshaṇa (Chapter 16)

After some days, Citraketu came to Bhagavān Ādi Śesha, Saṃkarshaṇa-Ananta. He found Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa among the siddheśvaras (lords of the siddhas). He was white like a lotus stalk and wore dark garments. He was adorned with a crown, shoulder ornaments, the sacred thread and bracelets. His faces were calm and his eyes were tinged with red.

At that moment all the pāpas (sins) of Citraketu were destroyed by the darśana. His antaḥkaraṇa (inner mind) became pure. He wept with love, and the hair of his whole body stood up. He bowed down and wet the footrest (pīṭha) of Saṃkarshaṇa with his tears. For a long time he could not speak.

When he recovered, he sang a deep stotra. In it he spoke of the greatness of bhakti that sees all as equal (sama-darśana). He spoke of bhakti without desire (nishkāma) as the bhāgavata-dharma, which plants no seed for rebirth. He spoke of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa as the highest meaning (paramārtha) of all that is, from the atom (paramāṇu) to the mahat-tattva (the great principle). He said that countless brahmāṇḍas (universes) float in Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa like specks. He ended by saying that the darśana of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa itself removes all pāpa, and that Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa knows everything, so there is nothing new to say before the Supreme.

Saṃkarshaṇa’s teaching (Chapter 16)

Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa taught Citraketu the Advaita tattva. All beings are Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. The Ātman is Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. The cause of all beings is Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa. He is the form of the Veda (veda-rūpa) and also the Brahman to which the Veda points. The world rises from Brahman, rests in Brahman and merges into Brahman, as clay is the base of all pots. The Ātman is the witness of the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. In deep sleep there is an awareness that knows “there was no world”. That awareness is ānanda-ghana (a mass of bliss), nirguṇa Brahman, the true nature (svarūpa) of Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa.

He told Citraketu to remember this teaching. Through it, he said, Citraketu would quickly gain ātma-jñāna, ātmānubhava (direct experience of the Self) and jīvanmuktatva (the state of being free while alive). Then Bhagavān Saṃkarshaṇa vanished.

The meeting at Kailāsa (Chapter 17)

For ten billion years Citraketu travelled freely through the three worlds in a vimāna (a flying vehicle) given to him by Bhagavān Vishṇu. He was the ruler of the vidyādharas. He taught his vidyādhara women to sing Hari-kīrtana (songs in praise of Hari). Maharshis and siddhas praised him.

One day he passed over Kailāsa. He saw Bhagavān Śiva sitting in a great assembly of ṛshis, with Pārvatī on his lap, held in his arm. Citraketu had grown proud because of his long state as a jīvanmukta and his belief that he had conquered his mind. He laughed loudly and mocked Bhagavān Śiva: “This one is called the father and teacher of the worlds and the upholder of dharma. Yet he sits without shame in an assembly of ṛshis, embracing a woman. Even ordinary people show such affection only in private.”

Bhagavān Śiva heard him and smiled, and said nothing. The assembly did the same.

Pārvatī was angry. She said to Citraketu: “Is this the one who is to punish the shameless? Not one of these ṛshis, Brahmā, Bhṛgu, Nārada, Sanatkumāra, Kapila or Manu, stopped Śiva. They all worship his feet without a break. Yet this proud kshatriya comes to instruct the teacher of the universe. Let him be born in a rākshasa birth. That will teach him never again to speak ill of great souls.”

Citraketu accepts the śāpa (Chapter 17)

Citraketu came down from his vimāna, bowed to Pārvatī and spoke calmly:

“O Jaganmātā (Mother of the world)! With folded hands I receive what you have ordered. The devas are only instruments that point to what prārabdha (karma already begun) has set. In the saṃsāra of the flow of the guṇas, where is a śāpa? Where is a blessing (anugraha)? Where is svarga, naraka, joy or sorrow? Bhagavān Vishṇu is the same toward all. He has no attachment or dislike, no one dear and no enemy. He has no kin and no friend, and no clinging to joy. Where could anger arise in such a Being? Yet his māyā-śakti (power of illusion) makes all the appearance of two-ness for those who live in a body. I do not ask to be freed from this śāpa. I have nothing to ask in return.”

He bowed down and went back to his vimāna.

Śiva teaches Pārvatī (Chapter 17)

After Citraketu had gone, Bhagavān Rudra spoke to Pārvatī: “The devotees of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa fear nothing. Svarga, naraka and moksha are all the same to them. They see Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa as the highest truth everywhere. Citraketu is a dear follower (priya-anucara) of Śrī Hari. He sees Brahman equally in all. He could have sent your śāpa back to you, for a true devotee of Hari has that power, but he chose not to. That itself is the mark (lakshaṇa) of a good person (sat-purusha). I too am dear to Śrī Hari, and he is dear to me. One must never show pride toward the devotees of Purushottama.” Pārvatī’s pride melted and her mind became calm.

The rebirth

Citraketu was born as Vṛtrāsura from the dakshiṇāgni (the southern fire) of the yajña of Tvashṭā. In that asura body he showed great bhakti, discernment (viveka) and clear understanding in battle.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 6th Skanda, Chapters 14–17