Chitragupta (Sanskrit: चित्रगुप्त, rich in secrets) is a Hindu god assigned with the task of keeping complete records of actions of human beings on the earth, and upon their death, deciding as regards sending them to the heaven or the hell, depending on their actions on the earth. Chitragupta Maharaj (Chitragupta the King) is the patron deity of Kayasthas, a Hindu jāti of India.
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The legend
Mythology believes that the entire world, that was created by Lord Bramha, the Creator. Lord Bramha first created 16 Sons from various parts of his own body. Shree Chitraguptjee, his 17th creation, is believed to be the creation from Lord Bramha's belly. Thus, Shree Chitraguptjee is the divine incarnation in human form. Called Kayastha since he is the only one created in entirety [Kaya] from the Lord Bramha's body. The Hindu mythological tradition states that Yama, the Hindu god of death, used to get confused when deciding the fate of dead people and sending them to hell or heaven, in the absence of any records of their actions on earth. Yama narrated his predicament to Brahma and prayed for assistance.Hindu Dharam is based on a multiple phase life cycle involving re-birth. It is believed that those who do not attain a balance between their good-deeds and misdoing, have to attain re-birth in any living form , to complete the life cycle.At the insistence of Brahma, Lord Shiva commanded Chitragupta maharaj to assume responsibility for this task. Lord Chitragupta is considered a perfect professional and is believed to keep meticulous, complete and accurate records of the actions of all human beings from their birth till death. The primary duty awarded to Shree Chitraguptjee is to create log of the lives of all living beings, judge their lives based on good-deeds and misdoing, and decide, upon ones death, whether they will attain Nirvana, ie, the completion of their life cycle & redemption from all worldly troubles or, receive punishment for their misdoing in another life form.We also know this in theosophical parlance as the "Akashic Records".
Birth
Lord Chitragupta came into being after Lord Brahma, the Creator, having established the four varnas — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra — ordained Dharamraj ( also called Yamraj, the god of death) to keep record of the deeds — good and evil — of all life-forms born and yet to be born on earth, in the heavens above and in the lands below. Dharamraj, however, complained, "O Lord, how can I alone keep record of the deeds of the beings born into 84 lakh yonis (life-forms) in the three worlds?"
Lord Brahma went into meditation for 11, 000 years and when he opened his eyes he saw a man holding pen and ink-pot in his hands and a sword girdled to his waist. Lord Brahma spoke: “Thou hast been created from my body (Kaya), therefore shall thy progeny be known as the Kayasthas. Thou hast been conceived in my mind (Chitra) and in secrecy (gupta), thy name shall also be Chitragupta.” Brahma then enjoined him to dispense justice and punish those who violated the dharma (duties).
In the Garud Puran, Chitragupta is hailed as the first man to give the script.
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- "Chitragupta namastubhyam vedaksaradatre"
- (Obeisance to Chitragupta, the giver of letters)
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Chitraguptajayanti Puja
Chitraguptaji was born on Yamadwitiya and his birthday is celebrated as Chitraguptajayanti. Puja including yajna is done on this day. The greatness of this yajna is that whoever performs it, is spared the punishments of hell, whatever his records of deeds be!
The process of Puja (worship rituals) starts in a similar fashion as other worships of Hindu gods and goddess. The various steps and observations are detailed below.
Chitragupta Puja: Process
Saamgri (Articles Consumed in Worship of Lord Chitrgupt)
1. Vastra (new cloth) 2. Kalash (A pitcher/pot) 3. Sakkar (Sugar) 4. Deep (Light) 5. Ghee 6. Cotton 7. Dhoop (Scent stick) 8. Phool mala (Flowers and garlands) 9. Chandan 10. Haldi (Turmeric powder) 11. Akshat (Raw rice, a scared article in Hindu Worship) 12. Agarbatti (Scent stick) 13. Ganga Jal (Water from the Holy Ganga) 14. Raksha (A pious red colored thread tied on wrist after worship) 15. Kumkum (A color used for [tilak]) 16. Shankh 17. Mango Foliage 18. Camphor 19. Sweets 20. Fruits 21. Kasora (earthen bowl; could also use metal) 22. Pan (Betel leaf) - it should be with the petiole 23. Supari (Betel nut), whole 24. Pen and Inkpots
Preparations
1. Wash the place for God and spread a cloth (desk or any other place)
2. Wash and clean the God's idol or any other representation such as portrait
3. Respectively put Lord Chitragupta's idol and other Gods as per devotion after washing
4. Place kalash and kasora with sugar, put mango foliage between kasora and kalItalic textash
5. Put Pan & Supari
6. Wrap rakhsha on all the pen & ink pot (ancient and new ones) ahead of placing before God
7. Put [swastika] on papers
Conducting the Pooja
1.Bath the Gods and decorate with tilak of Chandan, Haldi and Roli followed by Akshat
2.Offer flowers, deep, dhoop and praise Lord Chitragupt with agarbatti
3.Offer fruits and sweets
4.Start with Lord Chitragupta's Katha (the mythological story)
a.After completing the decorations, hold your hands and do a Naman before the God. b.Take the katha book and a flower in your hand and give a flower each to all listeners c.After completing the Katha, ask listeners to offer their flowers in the service of God
5.Following the katha, start Chitragupta Chalisa[1]
6. Do the Aarti of Lord Chitragupta
7. Write names of Gods (5 or 7 or 11) on the papers with Swastik (Two thoughts per kalam shayan has resulted in ambiguity in the order of this assignment. While the western hypothesis silence the pens after Diwali pooja, easterners do it after Yum-Dvitiya pooja. Written assignment should find an order w.r.t. kalam shayan)
8.When the writing assignment is over, put all the papers in the offering to God. It is followed by kalam-shayan (which literally means "Resting of the Pens"). This ritual is not homogeneous as different rituals are observed in east and west part of north India.
a. In the western hypothesis, pens are put to rest post worshiping the goddess Lakshmi on Diwali b. In the eastern part of India (further east of Varanasi), pens are continued with writing; however, they are put on reast following the Chiragupta pooja.
9.Do the Hawan (the holy fire). Organize and structure woods/stick in a hawan-kund or organize on open earth
a.Lit a Camphor in a spoon, drop it in the hawan kund chanting Gayatri Mantram b.Put three/five Aahutis of cotton plugs in the hawan chanting Gayatri Mantram c.Next, offer hawan-Saamagris in the Hawan kund chanting names of all Gods and Goddess starting with Ganesh followed by Chitragupt, Home God and village God d.Chant “Om shri Chitraguptay namah Swaha” during rest of the Hawan
10.Do the aarti with camphor chanting the ‘Chitragupt Aarti’
11.The main person performing this worship (usually head of the family in home or the priest in temple) ties rakhsha, put tilak on his forehead and that of other participants, and then take God’s blessings and Prasaadam
Chitragupta Katha
The ancient story related to this, is now told. There was a mighty King, who had subjugated the whole world by his ambition to be the supreme King of kings. The stories of his cruel deeds had spread to all the corners of the world. His name was uttered only with great respect and a greater fear at heart, for everyone knew that his deeds were vile and extreme. His name was Sudass, the King of Saurastra, his capital, from where he ruled his vast empire with an iron fist. He was known to be one of most ‘Adharmi’ (nearest meaning: ‘irreligious and one who crosses the threshold of Dharma’) and perpetrator of ‘Paap’ (nearest meaning: ‘sins’). All thorugh his infinite kingdom, it was known that their King had never ever done a ‘Punya’ in his evil life. This King was fond of hunting and once on a hunting spree, was lost in the jungle. Unable to find his way out, and unknown to the fears of anykind, he decided to see what his jungles were like. He went on exploring the jungles when he heard the sound certain ‘Mantras’ coming from North, he headed for the place where the mantras where being chanted. There he found a few Brahmins performing a yajna and few common people sitting to witness this. The King lost his cool on seeing a puja being performed without his consent. He thus spoke with thunder in his voice:
“I am King Sudass, the King of Kings. Salute me you foolish men. Who are you and what are you doing here? I demand an answer.”
The group of priests kept on chanting their mantra and paid no heed to the angry king, all the while people sitting at some distance and witnessing the yajna being performed kept mum, being afraid of the King. On being so ignored the king lost his cool and raised his sword to hit the head priest. Seeing this, the youngest of the priests stood up and spoke thus:
“Stop! King Sudass, stop! Don’t turn this opportunity into a disaster. You have been sent here not to be condemned but saved.”
On hearing these words the King got interested and said, “You, young boy have got great courage and knowledge for your age, will you elaborate on what you have just said.”
The young priest said to the King, “O Sudass, you call yourself the King of kings, how mistaken you are! When you die you would be subjugated to such punishments that your pride will vanish in thin air. You want to know who these men are and what are they doing and what is the purport of my speech. Then listen:
We are the sons of Lord Chitragupta, whom the great Rigveda call the true King of Kings, and who’s title you are not worth stealing. We are Kayasthas and we are performing yajna to our Lord Yamaraj and our progenitor Maharaj Chitrgupta on this great day of Yamadwitiya. O king Sudass, whoever performs this puja is spared the punishments of hell. You can be free from hell if you will only submit to Yamaraj and Chitraguptaji, who has the record of all the sins that you have done in your vile life! Nothing in this world is hidden from Him and only He could save you. On one hand is salvation and on the other is hell. Come, join us or kill us all.”
The king was left dumfounded and followed the young priest as if in a trance. He then performed the puja with full devotion and the exact procedure. Thereafter he took the ‘prasaad’ and went back to his kingdom with the other men.
With the passage of time there came the day when the Yamadoots came to take him away with them, to the Yamaloka. The Yamadoots tied the Kings soul in chains and pulled it to the court of Yamaraja. When the bleeding and dilapidated King reached the court of Yamaraj, Lord Chitragupta opened the book of his deeds and thus spoke to Yamaraj. “ O great Yamaraj, I can only see a life full of sins in his case, yet this king did perform our yajna in his life time? He performed the puja on Karthik shukla dwitiya and with full devotion and the right procedure. He performed our and your ‘vrat’ on that day. Thereby, all his ‘paaps’ have been nullified and according to the rules of Dharma, he cannot be sent to hell.” Thus the King was saved from hell and till this day whoever performs the Chitraguptajayannti puja is spared the punishments of hell.
Chitragupta puja: This is celebrated on the same day of Bhaiduj that is day after tomorrow of diwali. This is the main puja of KAYASTHA caste of hindu. This puja is famous for its value to education as it is also called as puja of KALAM-DAWAT(pen-ink).
Puja Items Sandalwood Paste, Til, Camphour/Kapoor, Paan, Sugar, Paper, Pen, Ink, Ganga Water, Unbroken Rice, Cotton, Honey, Yellow Mustard, Plate Made Of Leaves, Puja Platform, Dhoop, Youghart, Sweets, Puja Cloths, Milk, Seasonal friuts, Panchpatra, Gulal (Color powder), Brass Katora, Tulsi leaves, Roli, keasar, Betul nut, Match box, Frankincense and Deep.
Puja Process First clean the Puja room and then Bath Chitragupt Ji's idol or photo first with water, then with panchamitra/or rose water, followed by water once more. Now put Deepak (Lamp) of ghee in front of the Chitragupt Ji. Make a Panchamitra with 5 ingredients of milk, curd, ghee (clarified butter), sugar & Honey. Place Few mithais, snacks & fruits as a prashad. Make Guraadi (Gur + Adi = Molasses + Ginger). Make offerings of flowers, Abir (red colour), Sindoor (vermillion) and Haldi (turmeric). Light the Agarbatti (incense sticks) and lamps filled with Ghee. Read the holy book of Chitragupta puja. After the completion of Katha, perform aarti. Now take plain new paper & make swastik with roli-ghee, then write the name of five god & goddess with a new pen. Then write a "MANTRA (Given Below)" & write your Name, Address (permanent & present), Date (hindi date) your income & expenditure. Then fold the the paper & put before Chitragupt Ji.
File:Mantra.jpg
Chitragupt Puja and Dawat Puja Chitragupt Puja is performed by Kayastha Parivar that believes in world peace, justice, knowledge and literacy, the four primary virtues depicted by the form of Shree Chitraguptjee. The puja is also known as Dawat (Inkpot) Puja, in which the books and pen are worshipped, symbolizing the importance of study in the life of a Kayastha. During the Chitragupt Puja, earning members of the also give account of their earning, writing to Chitragupt Maharaj the additional amount of money that is required to run the household, next year.
Temples
There are several temples in India, particularly in South India, enshrining the Lord Chitragupta. The most famous of them is located at Kanchipuram [1], Tamilnadu state, India.
One of the ancient temples of Chitraguptaji is situated in Khajuraho. Pictures of this temple can be found at http://chitraguptvanshi.wetpaint.com .
References
- ^ www.chitragupt.wordpress.com
- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
(1)Chitragupta Chalisa ([www.chitragupt.wordpress.com])
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External links
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