SKANDA-MATA

[Guest guest]

Namaste Nora!

 

The story according to the Skandapurana on the birth

of Skanda is that he was born of 6 seeds of fire that

were emitted from the third eye of Siva from each of

his six heads(Lord Siva has 5 visible heads, and an

additional head that is only visible to yogis and

jnanis).

 

Very interesting that you mentioned Kalidasa in

connection with Skandamata- his most famous work is

Kumaarasambhava dealing with the birth of Skanda,

generally not well known though.

 

Aum Namasivaya

yogaman

 

 

Message: 6

Fri, 11 Oct 2002 16:09:35 -0000

"Nora" <ashwini_puralasamy

*NAVARATRI WEEK* Skanda Mata

 

Fifth name of Durga is "Skanda Mata". Skanda Mata also

known as the

mother of Skanda. The daughter of Himalaya, after

observing penance

got married with Shiva. She had a son named "Skanda "

another

name of

Lord Murugan/Karttikeya. Skanda is a leader of the

army of Gods.

Skanda Mata is a deity of fire. Using a lion as a

vehicle she holds

her son, Skanda who is seated on her lap. She has

three eyes and four

hands. Two hands hold lotuses while the other two

hands respectively

display defending and granting gestures Its said, by

the merch of

Skandmata, even the fool becomes an ocean of

knowledge. The Legendary

Sanskrit Scholar Kalidas - "India's Shakespeare" -

created his two

masterpieces, "Raghuvansh Maha Kavy" and "Meghdoot" by

Skandmata's

grace !

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Greetings Yogaman

 

Yes ! Skanda or Murugan has a rather an interesting story didn't

he. I know there are different version. The 6 seeds of fire that were

emitted from the third eye of Siva from each of his six heads, forms

into 6 babies cared by the 6 kartigei ( celestial stars). Parvati

then came and merge the six babies into one.

 

There are several version

1. In the days when the gods inhabited the lands, Lord Shiva was to

have a son, who, it was prophesized would dispel the dark and evil

force that had taken over the planet. Some sources say the evil force

was really a powerful demon who held the world in terror. Most agree,

however, that it was three demon brothers who lived in the waters

surrounding Mt. Meru, the Mt. Olympus of the Hindu myths, and gained

control of the world by chanting powerful mantras.

But since Shiva was in no hurry to have a son, the gods decided among

themselves that they must steal his seed and bring his son to life

through their spells and magic.

 

One afternoon while Shiva was making love with his consort, Paravati,

the Fire god Agni, the Hindu form of the Western deity Mars, took the

form of a white dove and stole Shiva's seed. Altogether, reminiscent

of the twelve labors of Hercules, there were twelve different

adventures that Agni went through before the seed was fully

transformed into the god Skanda, or Karttikeya. When Agni could no

longer hold Shiva's seed in his beak, it dropped into the River

Ganges. The River Ganges carried Agni's seed to its shores where

Skanda was born and immediately adopted by the seven Rishi's

mentioned above, or the Pleiades.

 

2. Shiva purposely created Skanda, or Karttikeya, at the request of

the other gods by directing the fire of his third eye to a lake,

where six children sprung up, all of whom were cared for by the

Karttikas, or the Pleiades, hence his other name, Karttikeya. But one

day, Shiva's consort, Parvati, cuddled and squeezed the sextuplets so

hard that they merged into one body with six heads. Statues of the

war god with his six heads can still be seen across India. He is

usually depicted riding a peacock and bearing a cock on his standard

The name Karittika is derived from the Sanskrit KRITTI, which is the

word for the pelt or hide on which a disciple sits. Its root, KRIT,

suggests something divided into portions. In this sense, then,

Karttikeya then represents a mere part of a greater whole, a part of

a force greater than he.

 

And a detail version from the Bhagavad-gita is at

http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/castleton/273/sc_en.html#tatq2