Chitraguptaji

Chitragupta

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.

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).

Lord Chitragupta is considered omnipresent and omniscient, believed to keep meticulous, complete and accurate records of the actions of all human beings from their birth till death. Shree Chitraguptjee creates log of the lives of all living beings, judges their lives based on good-deeds and misdoing, and decides, upon ones death, whether they will attain Nirvana, i.e., 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".

In the Garud Puran, Chitragupta is hailed as the first man to give the script.

"Chitragupta namastubhyam vedaksaradatre"
(Obeisance to Chitragupta, the giver of letters)

In the legends of Chitragupta as well as in the Vedas, he is referred to as the greatest king, while the rest are "Rajakas," or little kings.

चित्र इद राजा राजका इदन्यके यके सरस्वतीमनु । पर्जन्य इव ततनद धि वर्ष्ट्या सहस्रमयुता ददत ॥ RIG VEDA Book 8/ Hymn 21/ Stanza 18

The Rig Veda mentions an invocation to be made to Chitragupta before offering sacrifice. There is also a special invocation to Chitragupta as Dharmraj (Lord of Justice) to be made at the performance of shradh or other rituals. "Om tat purushaya vidmahe Chitragupta dhimahi tena lekha prachodayata."

The priests also pay reverence to Shri Chitragupta:

"Yamam Dharmarajya Chitraguptaya vain namah."'

Lord Chitragupta is the Athi Devathai for Kethu, one of the Navagrahas, and those who worship Chitragupta, would be bestowed with prosperity. Also the evil effects of Kethu during its transit period would be mitigated.

The birthday of Shree Chitraguptaji is celebrated on Yamadwitiya and Chitraguptajayanti Puja is performed on this day

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 paper & put before Chitragupt Ji.



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.