Who is Lord Karthikeya?

As part of this blogging, now as today is skanda shasti – A sacred day for the worshippers of Lord Karthikeya or Muruga as is known in the south, I write here some thoughts which I gained during the purascharana of Subramania Mantra.

I used to think, as many others, Lord Karthikeya is worshipped about only in South india. When I came here I understood, this to be in contrary with my belief. There is an Akada (group of sannyasis, who are created in the later part by Sri Madhusudana Saraswatiji to protect the hindu sadhus from the muslims with the blessings! Of Emperor Akbar)  which has as its presiding deity, Lord Karthikeya. The difference between the belief of the South and North being, in south Lord Ganapathi is accepeted as a celibate and Lord Karthikeya to have two wives, but in the north this situation is reversed. There is a mountain called Karthikeya Parvath in uttarkashi on the road to gangotri from rishikesh, in which the ladies when they climb to gather some grass or wood remove the footwear on the foot hills.

Lord Karthikeya worship though is performed prior to the Navratri in Bengal, we don’t see the same fervent in the north as in the south. This is because here Karthikeya is replaced with Krishna, and the similarity does not end in just that they both seem to be having two wives, or being linked to peacock, or being extolled as the God of beauty or for initiating their father or for  Karthikeya being taken care of by other nurse maids called karthikaipengal, as too is Krishna by a Yashoda. Here in the case of Krishna the birth was because of the Demon king Kamsa, and of that of Karthikeya is Soorapathma.

Many who worship Karthikeya ask for any citation from the Sruthi, though name Skanda comes in a place in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. We should understand wherever there is a description of Fire (Agni) or of Sun (Savitr) it denotes only Karthikeya. Karthikeya is born of the fire from the forehead of Shiva (from the third eye), which is thrown in the pond called Sharavana, which incidentally is none other than Parvathi, who fearing Basmasura took the form. This is the reason Karthikeya is called as Sharavanodbava or Shivashaktitanaya. This idea can be backed up with the worship of Sun God in the northern Ganges belt called Chat Puja, where the women folk, fast the whole day and in the night sitting in the banks of the ganges in groups perform bhajan, and in the dawn after bath and performing prayers to the Sun God, break the fast. Logically too, something born of the fire cannot be anything else (remember, agni kunjondru kanden by Saint poet, Mahakavi Bharati, in the end he says ilamendrum moopendrum undo -  is there a small or big, in the fire).

Really Saravana pond is Ganga materializing in that pond, we can see Karthikeya being called Gangeya for this reason. But all this story relating Karthikeya to Fire god etc is just an empherical way of stating the truth. The truth being, Sharavana is nothing but Shravana – listening (and apabramsha – misconstrued word), and from this is born the Fire of Knowledge, which is inclusive and exclusive all the six sense organs (six faces) with Lord Shiva being the Guru Dakshinamurthy (Dakshina – Gnana,  Knowledge, Murthy – Form, embodiment) his third eye being the eye of knowledge. This is just a pointer.

Talking about Karthikeya, I remember this experience. This one is not about the time of purascharana, but during someother period when I had been to Nagerkoil. My hosts in Nagerkoil took me to nearby area called Maruthuvalmalai. We travelled to the peak, and in the top there is a cave in which stayed many a sadhu. One of them in the recent past is Sri Narayana Gura. Opposite this cave there is a small altar, like a shelf, which they said had a Karthikeya statue. When I went there was no statue. I was sitting on a rock, just opposite this altar outside the cave enjoining the scenic beuty of th land surrounded almost by the Ocean.  One of the two boys who took us, I had gone with my disciple Vasu,  was smoothening the surface of the altar, where some sand was spread. After some time he told me when asked what he was doing, that, when one spreads the sand or smoothens it, it is said they will be able to see the foot prints of the Cock, which is a emblem of Karthikeya. And he added, whenever he comes to this place he does that, and till date has not seen any mark, and is on the verge of non-believing. He requested me to do it, and so, I went to this place and as asked waved my hand on top of the sand smoothening it, to our Surprise, we could see the mark of the footprint of the Cock. I told him, this is nothing and he also could get it, if we pray to Karthikeya before doing it. So, before he tried his hand the second time, we paryed, I prayed for him, and sure we say the same footprint running across the altar surface.

Let us pray to Lord Karthikeya the bestower of Knowledge to shower his Grace on us.