Thursday 15 November 2007

King Chitrakedhu turns Viruthrasuran

Om Namasivaya!!! Om Sri Sairam!!!

King Chitrakedhu was ruling his country, Surasenam. He had a queen named Krudhadhiudhi. Apart from his queen he had so many wives. Though he had so many wives he did not have a child. This made him very sad. That reflected in his face. One day Rishi Angiras visited his palace. The king welcomed the hermit paid him due respects. The hermit was very happy with his hospitality and at the same time he noted the sadness on the face of the King. Rishi Angiras asked about his sadness.

The King replied, although he had everything, he does not have an heir for his kingdome and family. The Rishi wanted to give the King a boon. So he performed one yagna with Dwashta as chief god for the Yagna. The Rishi handed over the holy rice used for the yagna as Prasad to the king. In turn it was given to Krudhadhiudhi. The Rishi assured the king that he would have a child very soon who would bring him both pleasure and worry to the king and left the palace. In due course, Krudhadhiudhi gave birth to a beautiful son. The king and the whole kingdom celebrated the birth of the prince. The king was very happy. The king was very affectionate to his queen and the baby. The other wives of the king grew jealous. They all joined together and conspired to poison and kill the baby and so they did one day. The queen unaware of the baby having being killed thought that the baby was sleeping quietly. Worried that the baby is unusually sleeping long, she ordered a servant maid to bring the child from the cradle. When the maid picked up the child she came to know that the child was dead. She screamed and ran to inform the queen. On knowing the child was dead the queen, king and others in the palace also started crying. The other jealous wives also pretended crying just to show that they were very sad at the death of the child. The king fell down on the ground and was crying.

At that time Narada maharishi and Angirasa maharishi came there to console the king and the queen. But the king was so worried that he could not recognize them. He thought some people have come to console him. Then he asked them “Who they were?” Then they introduced themselves to him and told him that they had come to give him The Gnana. Still he could not come out of his worry. So they explained him the relation between Athma and living beings in this world. They started speaking to the Athma of his son and asked it to re enter the body. But that Athma said that he had taken so many births. In Each birth he had a father and a mother. So he did not know who are his original parents and was it possible for those sages to show his original parents. More over he was not interested to re-enter the body again. The relationship between living beings will prevail only as long as the Athma is together with the body. Once they are separated there would be no feeling of relationship. So the Athma said that he had no connection with Chitrakedhu and his wife and left the place. Now the king and the queen understood the nature and value of relationship in this world, and nothing in this world is a permanent one; felt consoled.

After the king felt consoled and his sadness left him. Sri Narada Maharishi gave him the divine gnana and taught him a mantra and ordered him to chant the same continuous for seven days without break. King Chitrakedhu did as advised by the Rishi without sleep and food, took just water as food and on the eighth day Sriman Narayana appeared before him and appreciated his penance, sincerity and made him the king of the Vidyadara World. Once becoming the king of Vidyadara world, he started to enjoy life like anything, mingling with the ladies of that world and going to places in Vimanas. Once, while going in his Vimana in sky over Sri Kailash, the abode of Sri Shiva he could see Lord Shiva and Logamathaa Parvathi were sitting in front of hermits and Shiva Ganas. Sri Parvathi was sitting on the lap of Shiva and he was embracing her. The proud Chitrakedhu started talking ill of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva did not bother this but the Logamathaa grew angry on hearing what Chitrakedhu uttered, cursed him to become an Asura. Immediately, he lost his position as king of Vidyadara World, became an Asura and came out of the Yagnagundam of Dwashta as Viruthrasura. Though Chitrakedhu was in a very high position his pride and arrogance made him an Asura. But because he was a devotee of Sriman Narayana while he was king Chitrakedhu, he could reach and rest at the holy foot of Sriman Narayana after defeated and killed by the Indra.