Citraketu Mahārāja's Journey from Attachment to Enlightenment

This article presents a thematic survey of Citraketu Mahārāja's journey from material despair to spiritual realization, his profound prayers to Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, and his exemplary behavior when cursed. It organizes the profound teachings found in the Vaniquotes category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Citraketu Mahārāja.

Citraketu Mahārāja was a powerful emperor of the earth whose life illustrates the transformative power of the association of great sages. Initially overwhelmed by the distress of childlessness, he was enlightened by the sages Aṅgirā and Nārada. After receiving a special mantra, he attained the direct audience of the Supreme Lord in His form as Ananta Śeṣa (Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa). Citraketu's prayers to the Lord contain the essence of Vedānta philosophy, distinguishing between the temporary material world and the eternal nature of the soul. Later, due to a misunderstanding, he was cursed by Pārvatī to become a demon, a destiny he accepted with total surrender, eventually reappearing as the great devotee Vṛtrāsura.

Misery of Attachment (Desire for a Son)

Before his enlightenment, King Citraketu was consumed by the desire for an heir. Despite possessing an empire and all material opulence, he felt incomplete and miserable. His opening verses describe the futility of material wealth without the specific object of one's attachment.

Agony of Childlessness

Citraketu expresses that without a son, his kingdom brings him no pleasure, just as food means nothing to a man suffering from thirst. He pleads with the sage Aṅgirā to save him from the hellish condition reserved for those without progeny (Put).

  • "As a person aggrieved by hunger and thirst is not pleased by the external gratification of flower garlands or sandalwood pulp, I am not pleased with my empire, opulence or possessions, which are desirable even for great demigods, because I have no son."
  • "O great sage, please save me and my forefathers, who are descending to the darkness of hell because I have no progeny. Kindly do something so that I may have a son to deliver us from hellish conditions."
  • "O great soul, you are aware of everything, yet you are asking me why I am full of anxiety. Therefore, in response to your order, let me disclose the cause."

Spiritual Awakening from Nārada and Aṅgirā

After his son dies and is temporarily brought back to life to speak philosophy, Citraketu realizes the illusory nature of material relationships. He approaches Nārada and Aṅgirā again, this time seeking spiritual knowledge rather than material benedictions.

Recognizing the Sages

Citraketu acknowledges that he was previously blinded by ignorance, comparing himself to a village animal. He asks the sages to light the torch of knowledge.

  • "You can give me real knowledge because you are great personalities. I am as foolish as a village animal like a pig or dog because I am merged in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, please ignite the torch of knowledge to save me."
  • "You have both come here dressed like avadhūtas, liberated persons, just to cover your identities, but I see that of all men, you are the most elevated in awareness. You know everything as it is. Therefore you are the greatest of all great personalities."
  • "O great souls, I have heard that among the great and perfect persons wandering the surface of the earth to instruct knowledge to people covered by ignorance are Sanat-kumāra, Nārada, Ṛbhu, Aṅgirā, Devala, Asita, Apāntaratamā (Vyāsadeva), Mārkaṇḍeya, Gautama, Vasiṣṭha, Bhagavān Paraśurāma, Kapila, Śukadeva, Durvāsā, Yājñavalkya, Jātukarṇa and Aruṇi. Others are Romaśa, Cyavana, Dattātreya, Āsuri, Patañjali, the great sage Dhaumya who is like the head of the Vedas, the sage Pañcaśikha, Hiraṇyanābha, Kauśalya, Śrutadeva and Ṛtadhvaja. You must certainly be among them."
  • "Whatever is predicted by the great sage Nārada Muni cannot be otherwise. In other words, I have obtained Your audience as a result of being trained by Nārada Muni."

Nature of Material Existence

Citraketu Mahārāja begins to understand that the living entity wanders through happiness and distress based on past deeds and that friends and enemies are merely instruments of karma.

  • "Deluded by ignorance, the living entity wanders in the forest of this material world, enjoying the happiness and distress resulting from his past deeds, everywhere and at all times. (Therefore, neither you nor I am to be blamed for this incident)."
  • "In this material world, neither the living entity himself nor others (friends and enemies) are the cause of material happiness and distress. But because of gross ignorance, the living entity thinks that he and others are the cause."
  • "This material world resembles the waves of a constantly flowing river. Therefore, what is a curse and what is a favor? What are the heavenly planets, and what are the hellish planets?"
  • "What is actually happiness, and what is actually distress? Because the waves flow constantly, none of them has an eternal effect."

Prayers to Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa (The Vision of God)

Upon chanting the mantra given by Nārada, Citraketu achieves the darśana of Lord Ananta (Saṅkarṣaṇa). He offers a magnificent set of prayers that blend high philosophy with pure devotion. These prayers explore the relationship between the soul, the Supersoul, and the material world.

Supremacy of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa

Citraketu glorifies the Lord as the controller of the senses, the source of all opulences, and the master of the universe.

  • "O Lord Pradyumna, Lord Aniruddha and Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, I offer You my respectful obeisances. O reservoir of spiritual potency, O supreme bliss, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, who are self-sufficient and most peaceful."
  • "You are the supreme controller of the senses, and Your expansions of form are unlimited. You are the greatest, and therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."
  • "My dear Lord, this cosmic manifestation and its creation, maintenance and annihilation are all but Your opulences."
  • "The mind, intelligence, senses and living force can neither touch Him nor know Him. I offer unto Him my respectful obeisances."
  • "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one. Unaffected by the conditions of the material world, He creates all the conditioned souls by His own personal potency."

Mustard Seed Cosmos (Creation)

Citraketu Mahārāja describes the inconceivable greatness of the Lord, upon whose heads the millions of universes rest like insignificant mustard seeds.

  • "The Supreme Personality of Godhead holds all the universes on His heads like seeds of mustard. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, that Supreme Personality, who has thousands of hoods."
  • "There are innumerable universes besides this one, and although they are unlimitedly large, they move about like atoms in You. Therefore You are called unlimited (ananta)."
  • "Every universe is covered by seven layers - earth, water, fire, air, sky, the total energy and false ego - each ten times greater than the previous one."
  • "You exist in the beginning, middle and end of everything, from the most minute particle of the cosmic manifestation - the atom - to the gigantic universes and total material energy."
  • "Nonetheless, You are eternal, having no beginning, end or middle. You are perceived to exist in these three phases, and thus You are permanent. When the cosmic manifestation does not exist, You exist as the original potency."

Physics of Consciousness (Iron and Fire)

Citraketu uses the analogy of iron and fire to explain how the material body appears to act. Just as iron burns only when in contact with fire, the senses function only when empowered by the consciousness of the soul and Supersoul.

  • "As iron cannot burn unless heated by fire, the bodily senses cannot act unless favored by the Supreme Brahman."
  • "As iron has the power to burn when made red-hot in the association of fire, so the body, senses, living force, mind and intelligence, although merely lumps of matter, can function in their activities when infused with a particle of consciousness by the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
  • "My dear Lord, it is after You endeavor that Lord Brahmā, Indra and the other directors of the cosmic manifestation become occupied with their activities. It is after You perceive the material energy, My Lord, that the senses begin to perceive."

Bhāgavata-dharma vs. Material Religion

Citraketu distinguishes between bhāgavata-dharma (pure devotion) and other religious systems. He argues that any religion promoting envy or material gain is impure and temporary.

  • "Being full of contradictions, all forms of religion but bhāgavata-dharma work under conceptions of fruitive results and distinctions of 'you and I' and 'yours and mine.'"
  • "There are other, low-class religious systems, which are contemplated for the killing of enemies or the gain of mystic power, but such religious systems, being full of passion and envy, are impure and temporary."
  • "How can a religious system that produces envy of one's self and of others be beneficial for oneself and for them? What is auspicious about following such a system? What is actually to be gained?"
  • "Persons who have no material desires, like the Kumāras, who are self-satisfied sages, worship You to be liberated from material contamination. In other words, they accept the process of bhāgavata-dharma to achieve shelter at Your lotus feet."
  • "My dear Lord, one's occupational duty is instructed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā according to Your point of view, which never deviates from the highest goal of life."

Power of the Holy Name and Association

Citraketu Mahārāja affirms that even the lowest classes of men can be purified by hearing the holy name once, what to speak of seeing the Lord personally.

  • "Merely by hearing the holy name of Your Lordship only once, even caṇḍālas, men of the lowest class, are freed from all material contamination. Under the circumstances, who will not be freed from material contamination simply by seeing You?"
  • "My Lord, it is not impossible for one to be immediately freed from all material contamination by seeing You. Not to speak of seeing You personally."
  • "Therefore, my dear Lord, simply seeing You has now wiped away all the contamination of sinful activities and their results of material attachment and lusty desires, which always filled my mind and the core of my heart."

Confrontation with Lord Śiva (The Curse)

While traveling in his airplane, Citraketu sees Lord Śiva embracing Pārvatī in an assembly of sages. Not understanding Śiva's transcendental position, Citraketu criticizes this behavior, leading Pārvatī to curse him. This incident highlights the danger of judging a mahā-bhāgavata by external standards.

Citraketu Criticizes Śiva

Citraketu is astonished that such a great ascetic as Śiva would act like an ordinary lusty man in public.

  • "He (Śiva) is seated with his wife on his lap in the midst of saintly persons and is embracing her as if he were a shameless, ordinary human being."
  • "Ordinary conditioned persons generally embrace their wives and enjoy their company in solitary places. How wonderful it is that Lord Mahādeva, although a great master of austerity, is embracing his wife openly in the midst of an assembly of great saints."
  • "Lord Śiva, whose hair is matted on his head, has certainly undergone great austerities and penances. Indeed, he is the president in the assembly of strict followers of Vedic principles."
  • "He enunciates the system of religion. Yet how wonderful it is that he is embracing his wife, Pārvatī, in the midst of an assembly of great saintly persons."
  • "Citraketu said: Lord Śiva, the spiritual master of the general populace, is the best of all living entities who have accepted material bodies. He enunciates the system of religion."

Acceptance and Equanimity (The Perfect Devotee)

When Pārvatī curses him to take birth as a demon, Citraketu does not protest or retaliate. Instead, he descends from his airplane and accepts the curse with folded hands. His reaction is the ultimate proof of his realization—he sees the curse as the will of the Lord and remains equal in happiness and distress.

Citraketu Accepts the Curse

Citraketu accepts the punishment humbly, acknowledging that happiness and distress are results of past karma.

  • "Citraketu said: My dear mother, with my own hands folded together I accept the curse upon me. I do not mind the curse, for happiness and distress are given by the demigods as a result of one's past deeds."
  • "O mother (Pārvatī), you are now unnecessarily angry, but since all my (Citraketu) happiness and distress are destined by my past activities, I do not plead to be excused or relieved from your curse."
  • "Although what I have said is not wrong, please let whatever you think is wrong be pardoned."

Philosophy of Equality

Citraketu Mahārāja explains that for a devotee, there is no difference between heaven and hell, or friend and enemy, because he sees the Lord everywhere.

  • "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is equally disposed toward all living entities. Therefore no one is very dear to Him, and no one is a great enemy for Him; no one is His friend, and no one is His relative."
  • "Being unattached to the material world, He has no affection for so-called happiness or hatred for so-called distress. The two terms happiness and distress are relative. Since the Lord is always happy, for Him there is no question of distress."
  • "Living entities are subjected to the repetition of birth and death because they are conditioned by material nature, but since You are transcendental, one who is inclined to associate with You in transcendence escapes the conditions of material nature."
  • "Thus for the continuation of the materialistic way of life He creates happiness and distress, good fortune and bad, bondage and liberation, birth and death."
  • "The followers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have no such consciousness. They are all Kṛṣṇa conscious, thinking that they are Kṛṣṇa's and Kṛṣṇa is theirs."
  • "Citraketu said: O unconquerable Lord, although You cannot be conquered by anyone, You are certainly conquered by devotees who have control of the mind and senses."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Citraketu Maharaja. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.

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