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 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