Saying this, the Jivatma left the body permanently. King Chitraketu was stunned
and enlightened at the same time. He renounced the world and left home. Sage Narad
gave him the Mantra of Lord Sankarshan (Vishnu), and advised him to pray to the
Lord by offering hymns to him. When the king did Japa with this Mantra (i.e.
repeated the Mantra) for seven days with devotion, he had a vision of Lord Seshnath,
the celestial serpent on whose coiled back Lord Vishnu reclines on the ocean of milk
in the heaven. King Chitraketu was given an air-vehicle on which he used to roam in
the sky. Once he was cursed by Parvati, as a result of which he became the demon
named Vrittasur. {Refer: Srimad Bhagwat Maha-Puran, Skandha 6, Canto nos. 9-12.}(^2) The reference to “Kanakashipu”—This is the story of Prahalad, the son of the
demon Hiranyakashapu. The entire episode is narrated in Srimad Bhagwat Maha-
Puran, Skandha 7, Cantos 3—9.
When Prahalad was still in his mother’s womb, sage Narad had taught her about
the principles of spiritualism and devotion for Lord Vishnu. {Refer: Srimad Bhagwat
Maha-Puran, Skandha 7, Canto 7, verse nos. 15-55.}
Prahalad’s father was a demon and a sworn enemy of Vishnu. This led to
bitterness between the son and the father. Hiranyakashapu never derived any pleasure
and peace one expects from having a son. On the contrary, his son was a source of
perpetual pain for him. It was his son Prahalad that ultimately led to
Hiranyakashapu’s death when Lord Vishnu revealed himself as half-man and half-
lion, an incarnation known as “Narsingh”, to slay Prahalad’s father because the latter
was tormenting his son, a devotee of Lord Vishnu, and had even tried to kill him with
a sword.
The idea behind the Sapta-rishis citing these two instances was to persuade
Parvati not to heed Narad’s advice as it always led to family discord. Remember: The
Sapta-rishis were tasked by Lord Shiva to test the level of devotion that Parvati had
for the Lord, to see if she is fickle minded or has firm determination. So, the Sapta-
rishis hit at the very root of Parvati’s conviction in order to test her determination by
telling her that if she followed Narad’s advice she is bound to suffer like Chitraketu
and Hiranyakashapu.]
ŸÊ⁄UŒ Á‚π ¡ ‚ÈŸ®„U Ÿ⁄U ŸÊ⁄UË – •flÁ‚ „UÙ®„U ÃÁ¡ ÷flŸÈ Á÷πÊ⁄UËH 3H
◊Ÿ ∑§¬≈UË ÃŸ ‚îÊŸ øËã„UÊ – •Ê¬È ‚Á⁄U‚ ‚’„UË ø„U ∑§Ëã„UÊH 4H
nārada sikha jē sunahiṁ nara nārī. avasi hōhiṁ taji bhavanu bhikhārī. 3.
mana kapaṭī tana sajjana cīnhā. āpu sarisa sabahī caha kīnhā. 4.
[The Sapta-rishis continued to admonish Parvati and tried to sway her decision of
firmly following the path advised by sage Narad—‘that she should do Tapa to request
the Supreme Lord to grant her the boon of marrying Shiva as the latter was her eternal
husband’. To achieve this aim, the Sapta-rishis derided Narad and told Parvati that
anyone who had believed him and followed the path showed by him had been
deprived of his home and hearth; they had to leave the comfort of their homes to
spend the rest of their lives begging for food like wondering mendicants. So, what
happiness does she expect by following Narad’s advice? It’s insane to do so.]
‘Any man or woman who pays attention to the advice of Narad is sure to leave
his or her home to become a begger (i.e. a mendicant who begs for food). [In other
words, it is insane for you to believe that if you do as Narad had advised you, you will
get happiness in life. You want to marry and settle down with your husband in a
home. This is not possible if you do as Narad has told you for the simple reason that
whosoever followed his advice had become homeless. They had become mendicants