A Play by VISVAKARMA DASA
Senior Disciple A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
“Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all”
Bhagavad-Gita As it is 2:29 A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
List of Characters
King Citraketu – Head of the kingdom and family
Queen Krtadyuti – Queen, Wife and Mother of Citraketu’s only son
Angira – Friend and Great Mystic Yogi
Narada Muni – Powerful Guru and well wisher of Citraketu and his family
Son of Citraketu – Prince with a million mothers
Maidservant
Queen 2
Queen 3
Queen 4
Queen 5
Kings Entourage
Member 1
Member 2
Member 3
Kings Guard
Guard 1
Guard 2
Background
This play is derived from a story in the Srimad Bhagawatam translated and commented on by my spiritual master A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most complete and authoritative exposition of Vedic knowledge in the modern times. This timeless knowledge from India is expressed in the books of his Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. His specific translation of the Bhagawatam into English is a spiritual gift of liberation to humanity. The Srimad Bhagawatam is known as “the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic literature”, and the scientific principles of reincarnation found in it’s pages do not change with the passage of time; they remain constant, and forever enlightening to the human society. One of the goals of this play is to inspire and illuminate the minds of our audiences on these very important spiritual matters and the goal of human life.
King Citraketu’s son is revived from the dead by the great saint Narada. His dramatic soliloquy in the last Act of the play instructs his Father and Mother and the audience about the imperishable nature of the soul and the science of reincarnation. It is this powerful speech that brings complete closure to his premature death.
His Father King Citraketu had many wives, and although he was capable of producing children, he did not receive a child from any of them, for his beautiful wives were all barren. Blessed by his friend Angira his wife Krtadyuti finally bore him a son. He was so inspired that he King forgot about his other wives and focused primarily on Krtadyuti. His other Queens became envious and very angry and plotted to kill his only son. Thus the stage is set for the science of reincarnation to be spoken by the Son of Citraketu.
ACT 1 – Meeting with Angira
King Citraketu is sitting in his office in his mansion thinking out loud on the state of affairs in his life.
King Citraketu Speaks: As a king I have permission to keep a full court of woman. To my chagrin none of my wives have been able to deliver me a son. They are all barren. A son is critical to the future of my legacy.
Suddenly a knock is heard at his office door.
Critaketu beckons: Come in
The door swings open and in walks his close friend and advisor Angira.
He sits down in the guest chair and asks:
Angira: How are you?
Citraketu: I’m sad worried about my future. He gazes deep into the eyes of his dear friend.
Angira: I can see that you’re disturbed. The face is the index of the mind. As I look into your pale face it reflects your deep anxiety and stress my friend. For a person who has everything money can buy, what is it that you are missing in your life. (Pause)Be truthful (Pause) and maybe I can help.
Critraketu: Brother, a starving man cannot be satisfied with a garland of flowers. My vast empire and immeasurable wealth mean nothing for I am bereft of a Kings true wealth. I do not have a son.
He pauses then he asks.
Citraketu: Is there anything you can do to help me?
Angira immediately agrees.
Angira: Yes I can help
I will perform a special sacrifice to the demigods and then offer the remnants of the sacrificial food to your most perfect queen Krtadyuti. She will become pregnant when you make love and the son born to the both of you will be a source of great joy and (PAUSE) great pain.
Citraketu: Thank you so much for your help Angira. By the way, what do you mean my son may also be a source of great pain. Will he become proud and disobedient being born into wealth and power. Angira is a disobedient son better than no son at all?.
Angira: My dear friend time reveals all
Lights dim end of ACT 1
ACT 2 – Happiness of family life…..
Setting the scene: Critraketu is home in the bedroom of his first-born son and his wife…he is extremely happy to see his wife and son together….his deepest material desire had been fulfilled…he speaks….
Critraketu: I cannot contain my joy and my love for both of you.
He stares intently at his wife and son sitting together. He continues to address both of them.
Critraketu: This is what I have wanted more than anything else and by God’s mercy my greatest desire has been fulfilled. I must really thank my good friend Angira. He provided the special prayers that made a stone turn to fertile soil and brought about the birth of my beautiful and very intelligent son. I have an heir to my wealth, power and kingdom.
THE QUEEN: You have changed so much since the birth of our son. I feel your love for both of us growing by the day leaps and bounds each year. Thank you my love for your protection and affection.
Critraketu: I am so fortunate. HE EMBRACES THEM WITH GREAT AFFECTION.
THE QUEEN: (SPEAKS INTO HIS EAR DURING THE EMBRACE) I am concerned how your other wives are accepting their new roles as the years past and our son grows up. HE LOOKS AT HER WITH GREAT CONCERN.
THE QUEEN CONTINUES: Since the birth of our son I know the other Queens feel very neglected by you. They treat each other now, like maidservants, and not Queens of a great King..
Critaketu: Do you see any danger to yourself or our only son from them?
Favorite Wife: I couldn’t imagine anyone in yours or my circle that would do something, anything wrong to either your son or myself. But I am worried. My intuition tells me things are not right.
Citraketu: You might be right darling, as the politician Canakya said, “Trust no future however pleasant and never trust a woman.”
The lights dim end of Act 2…….
ACT 3 – The murder of his only son……
As the King carefully raised his son, his affection for Queen Krtadyuti increased daily, and he gradually lost affection for his barren wives.
The other queens continuously lamented their fate, for a wife who has no sons is neglected at home by her husband, and her co-wives treat her exactly like a maidservant.
The barren queens burned with anger and envy. As their envy increased, they lost their intelligence, and their hearts became hard like stone. They met secretly and decided that there was only one solution to their dilemma, one way to regain the love of their husband: poison the child.
The King had 5 Queens. The four neglected queens discuss the killing of the only son.
Queen Number 2: It is very difficult for me to speak these words to all of you. Since the birth of Ctiraketu’s son he has hardly shared a moment with myself or any of you in the last five years.
Queen Number 3: Yes He has forgotten that we even exist it seems. It’s terrible I am so depressed. I don’t know what to do?
Queen Number 2: I do. I know what to do.
Queen Number 4: Ok tell us what you think we should do.
Queen Number 5: Yes please tell me. I know we all feel neglected and none of us are happy since the birth of the King’s son to Queen Krtadyuti.
Queen Number 2. There is only one solution to our dilemma, one-way to regain the love of our husband: poison the child.
Everyone agrees…
Queen Number 2: We will slip poison into the child’s lunch and he will die feeling no pain…..
Later in the afternoon, as Queen Krtadyuti walked in the courtyard of the palace, she thought of her son sleeping peacefully in his room. Because she loved the child dearly and could hardly bear to be without him for a moment, she ordered the nurse to awaken him from his nap and bring the boy to the garden to play.
But when the maidservant approached the child, she saw that his eyes were turned upward, and there were no signs of life.
Horrified, she held a swab of cotton beneath the boy’s nostrils, but the cotton did not move. Seeing this, she cried out,
MAIDSERVANT: “Now I am doomed!” and fell to the ground. In great agitation, she struck her breast with both hands and wept loudly.
The Queen heard her scream and ran into the child’s bedroom. She saw her son’s body lifeless. No movement, no motion, no breathing! She could see that the soul had left his body, had passed from this world.
In great lamentation the Queen fell to the ground unconscious.
When the King heard the news of his son’s sudden death, he became nearly blind with grief. His lamentation grew like a conflagration, as he ran to see his dead son.
Surrounded by his entourage, the King enters his only son’s room and collapses at the child’s feet, his hair and dress scattered in all directions. When he regained consciousness, he was breathing heavily, his eyes were filled with tears, and he was unable to speak. When the Queen saw her husband merged in great lamentation, she began to curse the Supreme Lord.
The Queens spoke “It is because of you My Lord that my only son has died. I feel you have abandoned me and my husband O Lord of the Universe by allowing my son to die prematurely. God above I say this is not right. This is not fair. Why us?
The Queen’s flower garlands slipped from her body, and her smooth jet-black hair became tangled. Falling tears smeared the cosmetics beneath her eyes.
The Queen Speaks: ”O Providence! During the lifetime of the father, you have caused the death of his son. You are certainly the enemy of the living beings and are not at all merciful.”
Turning to her beloved child, not willing to believe he has died she speaks to the dead body as if he can hear her words….
“My dear son, I am helpless and aggrieved.
You cannot give up my company.
How can you leave me?
Just look at your lamenting father!
Listen to me you have slept for a long time. Wake up. I said Wake up..
Your playmates are calling you to play.
You must be very hungry, so please get up immediately and take your lunch.
My dear son, I am most unfortunate, for I can no longer see your sweet smiling face. I love you more than myself and now you have closed your eyes forever.
You have been taken from this planet to another place, from which you will not return.
My dear son, unable to hear your pleasing voice, I can no longer maintain my life.
Hearing the words of his grieving wife the King barely able to speak utters the following plea for help……
Ctiraketu: I can’t stand the pain. My heart is breaking please call Angira we need help…..
The lights dim to bring to a close Act 3…
Act 4 – Resurrection by Narada
When the great sage Angira learned that the King was almost dead in an ocean of sorrow, he immediately came to him with his friend, Narada a powerful sage. The two enter the room where the King, overwhelmed by lamentation is lying like a dead body beside the corpse of his only son.
Angira addressed him sharply,
Angira: Wake up from the darkness of ignorance O King, Angira: What relationship does this dead body have with you, and what relationship do you have with him?
You may say that you are now related as father and son, but do you think that this relationship existed before his birth? Does it truly exist now?
Will it continue now that he is dead? O King, as small particles of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes separated due to the force of the ocean’s waves, living entities who have accepted material bodies sometimes come together and are sometimes separated by the force of time.
“My dear King,” the sage continued, “when I first came to your palace, I could have given you the greatest gift — transcendental knowledge — but when I saw that your mind was absorbed in material things, I gave you only a son, who caused you jubilation and lamentation.
Now you are experiencing the misery of a person who has sons and daughters. These visible objects like wife, children, and property are nothing more than dreams.
O King Citraketu, try to understand who you really are. Consider where you have come from, where you are going after giving up this body, and why you are under the control of material lamentation.
Then Narada Muni did something very wonderful. By his mystic power, he brought the soul of the King’s dead child into the vision of everyone and immediately the room became effulgent with a blinding brightness, and the dead child began to move.
Narada then addresses the revived son and the king and his entourage
Narada: “O only son of Citraketu, all good fortune unto you. Just see your father and mother all your friends and relatives are overwhelmed with grief because of your death.
Because you died untimely, the balance of your life still remains. Therefore, you may reenter your body and enjoy the remainder of the years allotted to you in this body with your friends and relatives, and later you may accept the royal throne and all the opulence’s given by your father.”
The lights dim and bring to an end Act 4 with all eyes on Narada..
End of Scene 4
ACT 5 –The son cuts with words………
The child who had been dead sat up and began to speak, not with the intelligence of a young boy, but with the full knowledge of a liberated soul.
Son: According to the results of my material activities, I have been transmigrating from one body to another, sometimes a wealthy man, sometimes a poor man, sometimes a lower animal and sometimes in the human species.
Son: In which birth were you and your Queen my father and mother?
Son: No one is actually my father and mother. I have had millions of so-called parents in my journey through time.
Son: How can I simply accept both of you as my only father and mother? Please not lament any longer.
Son: In this material world, which is like a swiftly flowing river, all people become friends, relatives, and enemies in due course of time. They also act neutrally and in many other relationships. None of these are permanent. None of them are real in the sense of lasting. Time and Tide wait for no man.
Son: Just as gold and other commodities are continually transferred from one place to another through buying and selling, so peoples souls, as a result of their karma, wander throughout the universe, being injected into various bodies in different species of life through the semen of one father after another.
Son: In the Bhagavad-gita, it is explained that it is not by any father or mother that the living entity is given birth. The living entity’s or persons true identity is completely separate from the so-called father and mother.”
Son: By the laws of nature, the soul is forced to enter the semen of a father and be injected into the womb of a mother. You cannot directly control the kind of father you will get; this is automatically determined by your activities in previous lives. The laws of karma force us to go to different fathers and mothers, just like a commodity that is bought and sold.
Son: The living entity sometimes takes shelter of an animal father and mother and sometimes a human father and mother. Sometimes he accepts a father and mother among the birds, and sometimes he accepts a demigod father and mother in the heavenly planets. As the soul transmigrates through different bodies, everyone, in every form of life — be it human, animal, tree, or demigod — gets a father and mother. This is not very difficult. The real difficulty is to obtain a spiritual father — a bona fide spiritual master. Therefore, the duty of a human being is to search out such a spiritual master, for under his guidance one can become free from the cycle of reincarnation and return to his original home in the spiritual world. My dear parents and well wishers please understand the individual is eternal.
Son: The individual has no relation with so-called fathers and mothers. He falsely accepts himself as their son and acts affectionately. After he dies the relationship is finished. Under these circumstances, one should not be falsely involved with jubilation and lamentation. The individual is eternal and imperishable, he has no beginning and no end, nor does he take birth or die.
Son: The individual is equal in quality to the Supreme Lord. Both are spiritual personalities. But because the individual is so small, he is prone to be illusioned by the material energy, and thus he creates bodies for himself according to his different desires and activities.
The Vedas tell us that the soul is responsible for his lives in the material world, where he is trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, material body after material body. If he likes, he can remain suffering in the prison house of material existence, or he can return to his original home in the spiritual world. Although God arranges through the material energy to give the living beings the bodies they desire, the Lord’s true desire is that the conditioned souls get off the punishing merry-go-round of material life and return home, back to Godhead by the practice of devotional service or the science of self realization through Bhakti Yoga.
Suddenly the boy became silent, as the pure soul left the body of the child, and the body fell lifeless to the floor.
The lights are dimmed
THE END
Moral of the Play
Citraketu and the other relatives were astonished. They cut the shackles of their affection and gave up their lamentation. Then they performed the funeral ceremony, cremating the body. Queen Krtadyuti’s co-wives, who had poisoned the child, were very much ashamed. While lamenting, they remembered the instructions of Angira and gave up their ambition to bear children. Following the directions of the brahmana priests, they went to the bank of the sacred river Yamuna, where they bathed and prayed daily, atoning for their sinful activities.
Because King Citraketu and his queen had become fully cognizant of spiritual knowledge, including the science of reincarnation, they easily gave up the affection that leads to pain, fear, grief, and illusion. Although this attachment for the material body is very difficult to overcome, because they severed it with the sword of transcendental knowledge, they were able to give it up very easily.
THE END