Cātakas

viracaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīna-bandho dayāṁ vā

viracaya mayi daṇḍaṁ dīna-bandho dayāṁ vā
gatir iha na bhavattaḥ kācid anyā mamāsti |
nipatatu śatakoṭir nirmalaṁ vā navāmbhas
tad api kila payodaḥ stūyate cātakena ||
(Stava-mālā: 1.16.1)

“O Friend of the poor, you may punish or grace me, but [regardless] I have here [i.e., in this world] no shelter other than you whatsoever. A cloud may cast down a thunderbolt or pure, fresh water. Regardless, it is still praised by the cātaka.”

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śrotāro’tha nirūpyante śrīmad-viṣṇu-kathāśrayāḥ

śrotāro’tha nirūpyante śrīmad-viṣṇu-kathāśrayāḥ |
pravarā avarāś ceti śrotāro dvi-vidhā-patāḥ ||
pravarāś cātako haṁsaḥ śuko mīnādayas tathā |
avarā vṛka-bhūruṇḍa-vṛṣoṣṭādyāḥ prakīrtitāḥ ||
akhilopekṣayā yas tu kṛṣṇa-śāstra-śrutau vratī |
saḥ cātako yathāmbhoda-mukte pāthasi cātakaḥ ||
haṁsaḥ syāt sāram ādatte yaḥ śrotā vividhāc chrutāt |
dugdhenaikyaṁ gatāt toyād yathā haṁso’malaṁ payaḥ ||
śukaḥ suṣṭhu mitaṁ vakti vyāsam śrotṝṁś ca harṣayan |
supāṭhitaḥ śuko yadvat śikṣakaṁ pārśvagān api ||
śabdaṁ nānimiṣo jātu karoty āsvādayan rasam |
śrotā snigdho bhaven mīno mīnaḥ kṣīra-nidhau yathā ||
yas tudan rasikān śrotṝn vrauty ajño vṛko hi saḥ |
veṇu-svana-rasāsaktān vṛko’raṇye mṛgān yathā ||
bhūruṇḍaḥ śikṣayed anyāt śrutvā na svayam ācaret |
yathā himavataḥ śṛṅge bhūruṇḍākhyo vihaṁgamaḥ ||
sarvaṁ śrutam upādatte sārāsārāndha-dhīr vṛṣaḥ |
svādu-drākṣāṁ khaliṁ cāpi nirviśeṣaṁ yathā vṛṣaḥ ||
sa uṣṭro madhuraṁ muñcan viparīte rameta yaḥ |
yathā nimbaṁ caraty uṣṭro hitvāmram api tad-yutam ||
anye’pi bahavo bhedā dvayor bhṛṅga-kharādayaḥ |
vijñeyās tat-tad-ācāraiḥ tat-tat-prakṛti-sambhavaiḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 4.10–20)

“Now, listeners focused on Śrīmad Viṣṇu-kathā are examined. Listeners are set down in two categories: superior and inferior. The superior are called the cātaka, swan, parrot, fish, and so forth, and the inferior are [called] the wolf, bhūruṇḍa, bull, camel, and so forth. One who is avowed to listening [only] to Kṛṣṇa-śāstra with indifference towards all [else] is a cātaka, as the cātaka [bird] is avowed [exclusively] to water released by clouds. A listener who extracts the essence from various śāstras, just as a swan extracts pure milk from water that has been combined with milk, shall be [known as] a swan. A parrot [i.e., the class of listeners known as a parrot] speaks [i.e., recounts what has been heard] superlatively and concisely, delighting the expounder [i.e., the speaker of the Bhāgavatam] and the [other] listeners, just as a well-trained parrot delights his teacher and passers-by. A listener who never makes a sound or blinks, tastes the rasa [i.e., the rasa of the Bhāgavatam], and is affectionate [alt., lustrous] shall be [known as] a fish and is like a fish in the ocean of kṣīra. One who troubles and barks at rasikas and other listeners and is ignorant is a wolf, like a wolf who barks at and troubles deer in the forest fixated upon the rasa of the sound of a flute [played by a hunter]. The bhūruṇḍa will instruct others after listening but not practice himself [what he has heard and instructed others], just as the bird known as the bhūruṇḍa is found on the peaks of the Himalayas [where it listens to the talk of the sages there but does not practice those teachings itself]. The bull, whose mind is blind to [the distinction between] essence and non-essence, takes in everything that is heard, just as a bull indiscriminately takes in tasty grapes and oil-cakes as well. One who leaves aside what is sweet and enjoys the opposite [i.e., bitter things] is a camel, just as a camel grazes on neem and avoids even mangoes beside it. There are many other divisions of these two [i.e., superior and inferior listeners], such as the bee and the mule. They are to be known by their respective behaviors arising from their respective natures.”

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vana-mālini yādṛśāśayo mama tādṛṅ na kapāla-mālini

vana-mālini yādṛśāśayo mama tādṛṅ na kapāla-mālini |
asite mudire yathā śikhī mudam abhyeti tathā na pāṇḍure ||
devyas taṭinyas tridaśās taḍāgā viśveśvaro’yaṁ saritām adhīśaḥ |
tṛṣṇāharaḥ ko’pi kṛṣṇa-meghaṁ vihāya cintāmaṇi-cātakasya ||
(Cintāmaṇi Dīkṣita; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

“My heart does not find delight in he who wears a skull-garland [i.e., Śiva] as it does in he who wears a forest garland [i.e., Kṛṣṇa]; a peacock does not find delight in a white cloud as it does in a dark cloud. The devīs are [like] rivers, the devas are [like] ponds, and this Viśveśvara [i.e., Śiva] is [like] an ocean, but no one is the remover of the cātaka Cintāmaṇi’s thirst except the cloud Kṛṣṇa.”

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re re cātaka sāvadhāna-manasā mitra kṣaṇaṁ śrūyatām

re re cātaka sāvadhāna-manasā mitra kṣaṇaṁ śrūyatām
ambhodā bahavo vasanti gagane sarve’pi naitādṛśāḥ |
kecid vṛṣṭibhir ārdrayanti vasudhāṁ garjanti kecid vṛthā
yaṁ yaṁ paśyasi tasya tasya purato mā brūhi dīnaṁ vacaḥ ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 51)

“Oh! Oh! Cātaka! My friend, listen with an attentive mind for a moment. Certainly many clouds reside in the sky, although all of them are not like this [i.e., not all of them are supporters of cātakas, as the cātaka stated in the previous verse]. Some saturate the earth with their showers, and some [merely] rumble frivolously [and do not shower any rain at all]. [So,] Do not speak piteous words before every single one you see.”

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re re cātaka sāvadhāna-manasā mitra kṣaṇaṁ śrūyatām Read on →

kṛta-niścayino vandyās

kṛta-niścayino vandyās tuṅgimā nopabhujyate |
cātakaḥ ko varāko’yaṁ yasyendro vārivāhakaḥ ||
(Pañcatantra: 2.147)

“The resolute are worthy of respect. Such [status] is not enjoyed [just] by one who is tall [i.e., large in size]. Who is this low [i.e., short and apparently insignificant] cātaka for whom Indra is a water-porter?”

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eka eva khago mānī

eka eva khago mānī cirañjīvatu cātakam |
mriyate vā pipāsārto yācate vā purandaram ||
(Pañcatantra)

“Long live the cātaka, the bird of unparalleled self-respect. When afflicted with thirst, it either dies or begs from Indra [but will never drink water from anywhere but a raincloud, that is, from anywhere beneath him on the ground].”

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haṁsaḥ padma-vanaṁ samicchhati yathā nīlāmbudaṁ cātakaḥ

haṁsaḥ padma-vanaṁ samicchhati yathā nīlāmbudaṁ cātakaḥ
kokaḥ koka-nada-priyaṁ prati-dinaṁ candraṁ cakoras tathā |
ceto vāñchati mām ekaṁ paśupate cinmārga-mṛgyaṁ vibho
gaurīnātha bhavat padābja-yugalaṁ kaivalya-saukhya-pradam ||
(Śaṅkarācārya‘s Śivānanda-laharī: 59)

“As the swan longs for the lotus cluster,
The cātaka for the dark blue cloud,
The cakravāka for the sun,
The cakora for the moon, day after day,
So, my heart hankers only for your lotus feet,
Which are the goal of the spiritual path,
And which grant the joy of kaivalya,
O all-pervading One, O Lord of all beings, O husband of Gaurī!”

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haṁsaḥ padma-vanaṁ samicchhati yathā nīlāmbudaṁ cātakaḥ Read on →

nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam arti-bhārān

nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam ārti-bhārān
meghaṁ vinā prāvṛṣi cātakānām |
rātrau viyogāt sva-pate rathāṅgi-
vargasya cākroṣaṇavat pratīhi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.167)

“Know saṅkīrtana of the names [of Bhagavān] to arise from a profusion of heartache like the loud cries of cātakas during a monsoon devoid of clouds or [the loud cries] of cakravākīs at night separated from their husbands.”

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