SKANDA SASHTI

SKANDA

Skanda known as Karthikeya in the northern parts of India and Muruga in the south is the son of the supreme godhead Shiva and Parvathi.  In the north he is considered to be the elder son and a brahmachari and in the south he is the second son of the divine couple and has two consorts. He is widely worshiped as the warrior god who heads the army of the Devas  (Deva Sena Pathi or Senani) and annihilates the evil forces of Asuras and brings victory to the Devas.  The Skanda Purana speaks about Skanda, His manifestation as the son of Shiva – Shakti and His valour.  Kumara sambavam is a classical work of poet Kalidasa which narrates the coming of the God to lead the devas in their battle with the terrible demon Tarakasura.  Skanda is very dear to the people of the South where He is worshipped as Murugan, the personification of beauty of various dimensions. His abode is the hill top and the saying is that wherever there is a hill there is Kumaran.

The backdrop of Skanda’s advent is the conquest of the Devas by the demon Tarakasura who performed severe austerities and obtained the boon of invincibility from Lord Brahma. Not being able to get the boon of eternal life, he got as boon that he could only be killed by the son of the mighty Lord Shiva, who at that time, had withdrawn into deep penance after the immolation of His consort Sati at the sacrifice of Dhaksha prajapathi. Sati had subsequently taken the form of Parvathi, the daughter of Himavan, the king of the mountains and Mena, his queen, and was serving the tapasvi Lord Shiva with dedication with an yearning to be united with Him.  The Devas, having been routed in battle with Tarakasura and unable to bear the torture of the wicked demon prayed to Lord Vishnu, the protector, to help them.  Maha Vishnu told them that the time had come for the union of Shiva and Parvathi and the son born of them would lead them to victory. With Lord Shiva absorbed in contemplation and in no way inclined to marry Parvathi, the Devas turned to the god of love Kamadeva (cupid) to induce love into the stone like Lord Shiva.  Not realizing what he was upto, the insolent cupid shot his arrow of flowers at the Lord who opened His third eye instead of His normal eyes and burnt Manmatha to ashes.

The other Devas approached Lord Shiva and pleaded with Him for deliverance from the  oppression of the demon Tarakasura and requested Him to take the beautiful Parvathi as His consort. The wedding of the divine couple was celebrated in a fitting manner and the Devas prayed to the Lord to bring forth His son who could only conquer the wily demon as per the boon given by Lord Brahma. Lord Shiva assumed His form with five faces and from each face blazed forth a spark along with another one from His mind (the inner face) The six sparks joined together and presented an awesome spectacle. Devi Pavathi assumed the form of a pond called Saravana Poigai, which was fed by the perennial river Ganga, and the Lord commanded Agni (fire) and Vayu (air) to carry the conjoined sparks and leave them in the cool waters of the pond. When the sparks touched the water, they turned into six beautiful children who were taken by Parvathi in Her arms and cuddled to Her bosom. The six merged to form a child with six faces and was called Shanmugha. The six Karthiga maidens assumed charge of the son of the divine couple and tended Him for six days in Saravana poigai thereby giving the name Karthigeyan to the child. 

There is another story on the advent of Lord Skanda in this manner. Our Mahaperiyaval, the seer of Kanchi has narrated this from an upanishadic story. Sanathkumara is one of the sons of Lord Brahma who has attained perfection in all respects and is always absorbed in the state of the Pure Conciousness Bliss (Sad Chit Ananda) Brahman.  Lord Shiva and Parvathi came to Sanathkumara and blessed him and told him that he could ask for any boon that he wished. The young sage turned to the father and mother of the universe and replied that he craved for nothing as he was always in the state of Sadchitananda and if it would please the divine couple, they may ask for a boon.  The supreme god Lord Shiva and Parvathi immediately requested Sanathkumara to become their son, which he readily agreed but on condition that he would not be born out of their union through a normal process of birth.  The boon was granted and when the time came for his manifestation the sage came out of His father Siva as six sparks and was brought together by his mother Parvathi and was called Subrahmanya, the manifestation of the supreme Brahman.

Kumara was ready to assume charge as the commander of the army of the devas on the sixth day of his advent. He prayed to His mother in Her form of Durga and was blessed with the spear weapon called Shakti or Vel.  The valorous Skanda was attended upon by six veeras who were aspects of Lord Rudra Himself.  Skanda rode at the head of the Deva army and confronted Tarakasura. Like a forest fire burning out vast tracts of a forest without any effort, the huge armies of the demon were consumed by the fire of Shiva Kumara. Finally Taraka engaged the little boy in a personal combat and was felled by the spear.

Surapadman who was a cousin of the demon Tarakasura now began tormenting the devas and again the devas took refuge in Lord Karthigeya. The kind lord led the army of the devas to the gates of Mahendrapuram and challenged Surapadman and his brothers Simhamukan and sister Ajamukhi. The vast army of the demons were shattered by the army of the devas under the command of Veerabahu and five others called the six veeras (heroes). In the personal combat that ensued between Surapadman and Skanda, the demon was laid low by the unparalleled valour of Shiva Kumara.  Surapadman resorted to black magic and assumed various forms of a lion, an elephant, a goat and when each such form was destroyed by the valiant Karthigeya, he assumed the form of a massive tree which was split into two by the mighty spear of the Lord. From the two halves came two birds, a cock and a peacock. Muruga took the cock as His banner and the Peacock as His mount.

The victorious Lord was praised by the Devas who regained their position and their king Indira gave away his beautiful daughter Devayanai in marriage to the Valiant son of Lord Shiva, Subrahmanya, the personification of the highest order of spiritualism, valour and beauty all rolled into one form.

Puranas are the means for the common man, uninitiated in the process of spiritual pursuits to understand the intrinsic truth propounded by the scriptures. Outwardly they appear to narrate a story which is more palatable and easy to comprehend but when we analyse the story part deeply we find that they carry a lot of intrinsic meaning which would uplift us in our spiritual pursuits.

The process of evolution takes us step by step to the higher realms of spiritualism till we attain the supreme Brahmanhood. The path is strewn with a lot of obstacles which needs to be conquered and one has to fight ones way at each step.  We are supported in this endeavour by our good qualities which show us the light (Devas) and are pulled back by the bad tendencies (Asuras). In the fight between the good and the evil, sometimes evil triumphs at which time we turn inwards to pray for the advent of the Supreme in some form to deliver us.

Shiva – Shakti is the ultimate source of all creation representing the static and dynamic forces in the universe. The static force has within itself the potential to discharge and manifest its prowess as creation when induced to do so by its kinetic aspect. Shiva as static and potential energy remains passive (sthanu) in deep contemplation and when kindled by Parvathi, the kinetic energy, He brings forth the six sparks of wisdom which unite into one to dispel the six dark elements (Shat adhva) of lust, anger, etc., that block our spiritual progress. The light force of Kumara pierces the darkness through the Shaktivel the embodiment of gnana shakti, the knowledge that is required to remove the veils of ignorance.  Coming into contact with the Gnanavel, the latent tendencies (vasanas)  that were earlier clouding the truth and blocking our progress are converted into positive energies (the cock and peacock) to aid us in our progress.

OM TAT SAT