An emperor who was childless for a long time. With Angiras’ blessing, he and his wife Kritadyuti had a child. But it soon died and the grieving parents took the dead body to Angiras. Narada too was there. Angiras revived the child and asked it to stay with its parents. But the child said that it had many sets of parents from previous births. Both Angiras and Narada were flummoxed. Finally they gave up, imparted spiritual knowledge to Chitraketu and disappeared. Chitraketu meditated for 8 days and became a gandharvi and his wife a gandharvi. They flew up into the sky and reached Kailash, where they saw Parvati sitting on Shiva’s lap. Chitraketu smiled, and Parvati, noticing it, cursed that he would be born as an asura. Thus Vritrasura was born as per Bhagavata Shashtaskanda.
Chitrakuta
A famous mountain on the banks of the Mandakini as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 85. Rama, with Sita and Lakshmana, stayed here during their exile. Bathing in the river and meditating here gets one many benefits as per Mahabharata Anushasanaparva Chapter 26 verse 29. It is situated in Banda in Uttar Pradesh. The Ramayana also has its mentions in Ayodhyakanda Sargas 56, 94.
Chitrakundaka
Also known as Deerkhalochana. A Kaurava killed by Bhima as per Mahabharata Bhishmaparva Chapter 96 verse 27.
Chitraka
Also known as Chitra or Chitrabana. A Kaurava killed by Bhima as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 137.
Chitra (4)
A Chedi warrior who fought for the Pandavas, and was killed by Karna as per Mahabharata Karnaparva Chapter 56 verse 46.
Chitra (3)
A warrior who fought for the Kauravas and was killed by Prativindhya as per Mahabharata Karnaparva Chapter 14 verse 32.
Chitra (2)
An elephant who was Subramanya’s childhood playmate as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 225 verse 23.
Chitra (1)
A Kaurava killed by Bhima as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 136 verse 20.
Chiteyu
A puruvanshi king. He was the son of Bhadrashwa and his brothers were Riksheyu, Krisheyu, Sannateyu, Khriteyu, Sthandileyu, Dharmeyu, Sammiteyu, Kriteyu, Matinara, as per Agnipurana Chapter 278.
Termite
As per Devibhagavata Prathamaskanda, once Vishnu looked at Lakshmi and laughed without any reason. Lakshmi thought he was making fun of her because he had found someone more beautiful. She cursed that he would be beheaded. Immediately, a few asuras challenged Vishnu for a duel. He took them on single-handed with his bow. The fight went on for a long time, and finally Vishnu decided he needed some rest. He fixed one end of the bow on the ground and rested his head at the end, and soon fell asleep. Meanwhile, the devas were conducting a yajna, and everyone save Vishnu reached there. Since it was necessary for him to present, the devas came searching for him to Vaikuntha. They didn’t find him there, but Brahma’s divine sight enabled them to find him finally. They didn’t want to wake him but soon became impatient. Then Brahma found a way. He created termites who were asked to break the bowstring and wake Vishnu up. But they argued that the sin would fall on them. Brahma was convinced by that and agreed to give part of the yajna’s benefits to the termites. They broke the bowstring and the bow became straight with a huge noise. The devas panicked as the earth trembled and Vishnu’s head flew up into the sky and then fell into the ocean. When Brahma and the other devas opened their eyes, they saw a headless Vishnu. It turned out to be a blessing, since the asura Hayagriva had received a boon that only a being with a horse’ head would be able to kill him. The devas kept a horse head on Vishnu and he asked the termites to break Hayagriva’s bowstring as well. Soon Vishnu was able to kill the asura as per Devibhagavata Prathamaskanda.