Divine Experiences
There is an extraordinary story surrounding the birth of Lord Muruga in the Shiva It is extraordinary precisely because it is so beautiful. There was a time when the Devas (Gods) were unable to defeat the demon
Tarakasura. Conquered by the demon, the Gods were soon expelled from Devaloka (their plane of existence). Thanks to a boon Tarakasura had secured from Lord Brahma, he could only be killed by a son born of Lord Shiva.
Shiva’s seed in the form of six rays emanating from his third eye – it is said – was first borne by the earth and later by Agni (fire), then by the wives of the seven Rishis, and in turn by a mountain, the river Ganges, a bank of sara grasses in a vana or forest of Saravana, (this is why he is also known as Saravanabhava) and later the golden child was nursed by the six Krithikas (the Pleides). When he was eventually brought to
Kailasa to see his father Shiva and his mother Parvati, the child was embraced by Agni deva the god of fire, who embraced the young boy and called him “My son”. Seeing this Lord Shiva joyously declared: “As your son, he will be known as Mahasena and Agneya; as Uma’s son, he is Skanda; as Ganga’s son Kumara; Karthikeya as the Krithikas’ son and Guha as mine. As the son of the sara seeds he is Sharadvata; six faced, he is Shanmukha!”
Karthikeya received a spear of fire from Agni, the King of the Gods,
Indra gave him an elephant born of Airavata,
Yama gave him his own staff,
Varuna a parasol of white silk and a necklace of pearls, Surya the Sun God gave him a vimana (aeroplane), Soma gave him an urn full of amrita (nectar of immortality), the God of love
Kama gave him an arrow of love,
Garuda gave him his son Chitabrahma, the Goddess
Lakshmi gave him a matchless necklace, Lord
Vishnuinvested him with sovereignty of the universe and Savithri gave him the entire siddhavidya (divine healing powers). Lord Shiva then declared: “Kumara shall be the master of the army of devas,
gandharvasand
kinnaras. He will kill the demons Tarakasura and Mahisha for you.”
Immensely popular in the Indian sub-continent and deeply venerated all over South India, Lord Muruga is known to ever come to the rescue of His devotees. He is revered for having taught the meaning of the Pranava Mantra (OM) to Lord Shiva himself and hence known as Swaminatha. He is worshipped throughout the Tamil year. He is cited in the sacred Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna who says: “Among generals, I am Skanda, the Lord of War!” His consorts are two deities, Valli and Devasena, who symbolize jnana (wisdom) and karma (action) respectively…
Lord Muruga represents the four Vedas, (father, mother, Guru and God) and the six vedangams or auxiliary disciplines. These include nirukta (etymology), vyakarna (grammar), siksha (phoenetics), chandas (metre), jyotisha (astronomy) and kalpa (ritual and sacrifice).