Soora Samharam.

[Guest guest]

Om Namah Shivaya.

 

Soora samhara - the last (sixth ) day of Skanda Shasti was celebrated

in Tamilnadu Yesterday in all Murugan ( Subramanya ) temples.

 

The Story behind the celebration of Soorasamharam goes as follows -

 

According to Skanda Puranam, the longest of the 18 Mahapuranas, the

demons under the leadership of Surapadma, Simhamukha and Tarakasura

defeated the Devas and took over the earth. They found immense

pleasure in torturing the Devas and humans. They went on a massive

rampage and destroyed anything that belonged to Devas.

 

Devas approached Indra for help, but Indra said only Lord Shiva can

help in this regards, so devas approached Shiva. But at that time,

Shiva was lost in a deep state of meditation and none of the Devas

dared to disturb him.

 

Brahma saw their plight and suggested that they ask for the help of

Shiva's Consort Parvati and that of Kama, the God of Love. When

Parvathi heard the devas' woes, she agreed to help and did severe

penance to attract Shiva's attention. Kama too agreed to help rouse

Shiva from his meditative state. He shot his arrows of love at the

Destroyer. When Shiva opened his eyes to see who had dared to disturb

his penance, the fire of anger that emanated from his third eye burnt

Kama into ashes.

 

But it all paid off and Shiva was aroused from his penance. But no

one could bear the sparks of His fiery seed. It fell into the mouth

of Agni, who unable to retain it, threw it into the Ganges, which in

turn threw it into a reed forest (Sara Vana ), where Lod Muruga was

born and took the name Saravanabava. There He was raised by the six

mothers of the divine constellation of Krithikai.

Karthikeya divided himself into six babies to be nursed by six

mothers. When Parvathi came and gathered all the six babies, He

became Shanmukha, one with the six faces and one body.

Skanda received from his mother Parasakthi an all powerful lance. He

engaged the army of Tarakasura in battle and vanquished him.

 

 

Sashti is the day the Lord Subramanya defeated the demon Soorapadma

and saved the Earth from his evils. . The kind went on a war against

Soorapadman. The war was waged for six days, at the end of which the

Lord vanquished the asura. He threw his weapon at him and Soorapadman

was split into two halves. One half became a peacock, which He took

as His vaahana. The other became a cock and was transformed into his

flag.

 

" " " " Lord Subramanya is an incarnation of Lord Siva. All incarnations

are manifestations of the one Supreme Lord. Lord Subramanya and Lord

Krishna are one. Lord Krishna says in the Gita: " ....of army

generals, I am Skanda " . The Lord manifests Himself from time to time

in various names and forms, for the sake of establishing

righteousness and subduing the wicked " " " " "

 

SWAMI SIVANANDA COMPARES THIS WITH THE SADHNA AND MENTAL OBSTRUCTIONS

AS FOLLOWS.

 

The inner life of the spiritual aspirant is precisely such a constant

struggle between the divine and the demoniacal aspects in him. The

seeker's Sadhana is this determined battle against the Asuric forces

that try to drag him down into deeper darkness and take him away from

his ideal. At times he becomes so totally helpless under the violent

attacks of his lower nature that it seems as if all hope of progress

is doomed to failure. He feels that he has fallen, never to rise

again. But, let all Sadhakas take heart that the compassion and grace

of the Divine Lord is never-failing. It will never let you down. `Nil

desperandum' should be your guiding motto, for, the eternal law

is " darkness cannot stand before light. " Make a whole-hearted

surrender at the feet of the Divine even as the Devas surrendered to

Lord Siva. And like them pray earnestly with Bhava and sincerity. The

divine help will surely come, and in your heart there will spring up

the routing torrent of Divine Sakti. The Lord's grace will become

manifest to you in the form of inner Soul-force. This power is the

Skanda manifest in inner being to aid in your battle against the

lower Asuric self with its devilish minions like passion, anger,

greed, jealousy, falsehood, deceit, cruelty and thousand other

aspects of evil. No more are you helpless! The descent of the Divine

Grace with this Atma Bala, with this Skanda Sakti, will vanquish all

the undivine forces that attack you on the spiritual path and emerge

triumphant and victorious. You achieve your life's goal.

 

Therefore Lord Karttikeya is the very embodiment of the Divine Grace.

He is the personification of the Daya Sakti, or Kripa Sakti of the

Lord. The grace of the compassionate Lord, when prayerfully and

sincerely invoked, manifests as such irresistible Divine Power that

all Asuric forces fly away in holy terror at its mere approach. The

Lord's Grace is the ultimate resort and unfailing support in the

inner warfare of everyone's spiritual life, of all struggles. The

significance and the spiritual message embodied in Skanda Avatara is

the message of Supreme importance of self-surrender, the Supreme

efficacy of sincere prayer and the unfailing compassion of the Lord.

If you truly surrender yourself to the Lord with Bhava, He will at

once shower His Grace upon you. No real prayer from the bottom of

your heart will remain unanswered. If you obtain the Lord's grace,

you will certainly succeed and overcome all obstacles and annihilate

the force of darkness, that stand against you. There is no force that

can stand against the Supreme Power of Divine Grace.

 

Take shelter at the Lord's feet Pray to Him earnestly and invoke His

aid and obtain His grace and compassion. Emerge triumphant and

victorious. Attain the lofty and glorious spiritual state of freedom,

perfection and bliss. Upon this joyous occasion of Skanda Shashthi,

when you are all celebrating the victory of the Lord over the demon,

Tarakasura, the powerful leader of the Asuras, remember these great

truths and be courageous. Surrender yourself afresh at His feet.

 

May the glorious Lord, Skanda, inspire you all and infuse in you with

inner spiritual strength! May He lead you all to victorious triumph

against the demons of nescience and worldliness

 

Shivaya Namah Aum.

Thiruchitrambalam.

[Guest guest]

, " Senthil " <senthil_sym wrote:

>

> Om Namah Shivaya.

>

> Soora samhara - the last (sixth ) day of Skanda Shasti was celebrated

 

 

Thanks Senthil... i had heard the story in bits and pieces but not

complete. Thanks for sharing

 

Aum

[Guest lalitha ravichandran]

thank for yur time u devoted in explaining the soora samharam in a nice way And relating it to the spiritual awakening in human.keep up yur good job.we will be pleased to read more in this site.thank u