tasya cayam maha-bhagas

 citraketuh priyo ’nugah

sarvatra sama-drk santo

 hy aham caivacyuta-priyah

 

tasman na vismayah karyah

 purusesu mahatmasu

mahapurusa-bhaktesu

 santesu sama-darsisu

 

Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

This magnanimous Citraketu is a dear devotee of the Lord. He is equal to all living entities and is free from attachment and hatred. Similarly, I am also very dear to Lord Narayana. Therefore, no one should be astonished to see the activities of the most exalted devotees of Narayana, for they are free from attachment and envy. They are always peaceful, and they are equal to everyone.

 

Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

It is said, vaisnavera kriya, mudra vijñeha na bujhaya: one should not be astonished to see the activities of exalted, liberated Vaisnavas. As one should not be misled by the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should also not be misled by the activities of His devotees. Both the Lord and His devotees are liberated. They are on the same platform, the only difference being that the Lord is the master and the devotees are servants. Qualitatively, they are one and the same. In Bhagavad-gita (9.29) the Lord says:

 

samo ’ham sarva-bhutesu

 na me dvesyo ’sti na priyah

ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya

 mayi te tesu capy aham

 

“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” From this statement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is clear that the devotees of the Lord are always extremely dear to Him. In effect, Lord Siva told Parvati, “Both Citraketu and I are always very dear to the Supreme Lord. In other words, both he and I are on the same level as servants of the Lord. We are always friends, and sometimes we enjoy joking words between us. When Citraketu loudly laughed at my behavior, he did so on friendly terms, and therefore there was no reason to curse him.” Thus Lord Siva tried to convince his wife, Parvati, that her cursing of Citraketu was not very sensible.

 

Here is a difference between male and female that exists even in the higher statuses of life — in fact, even between Lord Siva and his wife. Lord Siva could understand Citraketu very nicely, but Parvati could not. Thus even in the higher statuses of life there is a difference between the understanding of a male and that of a female. It may be clearly said that the understanding of a woman is always inferior to the understanding of a man. In the Western countries there is now agitation to the effect that man and woman should be considered equal, but from this verse it appears that woman is always less intelligent than man.

 

It is clear that Citraketu wanted to criticize the behavior of his friend Lord Siva because Lord Siva was sitting with his wife on his lap. Then, too, Lord Siva wanted to criticize Citraketu for externally posing as a great devotee but being interested in enjoying with the Vidyadhari women. These were all friendly jokes; there was nothing serious for which Citraketu should have been cursed by Parvati. Upon hearing the instructions of Lord Siva, Parvati must have been very much ashamed for cursing Citraketu to become a demon. Mother Parvati could not appreciate Citraketu’s position, and therefore she cursed him, but when she understood the instructions of Lord Siva she was ashamed.