Murugan,
the undying 'Tender Youth' and boon-granting patron and
of the Kali Yuga, has been adored, praised and worshipped
by uncounted millions of devotees since Vedic times. A great
body of related cult lore survives and flourishes among
rural and urban devotees, especially among the Tamil community.
In
the following article, a 96-year old retired ayurvedic physician
surveys the origin myth of Karttikeya-Murugan and concludes
with suggestions for fellow enthusiasts eager to contact
the playful divinity within themselves
The
Hindu religion rests upon a vast canon of Puranas, Vedas,
and Agamas including srutis (revelation) and smritis (inspiration).
The Puranas (meaning 'ancient') are the encyclopedias of
sacred lore. Scientists and scholars are only beginning
to appreciate the deep psychological and metaphysical wisdom
preserved and transmitted in the form of puranic legend.
Puranic
traditions maintain that there was once a period when there
lived among the people a class of very advanced yogis called
the munivars (Skt. muni 'sage') who could see through an
inner eye the past, present and future. They could even
see the devas and asuras, the demigods and titans of mythic
accounts who also inter-married and waged war very much
as human beings do.
Inter-Planetary
Influences
The celestial bodies, like the seven planets (Sun, Moon,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, and Venue and the unseen
forces of Rahu and Kethu), influenced the minds and bodies
of these two races. These heavenly bodies revolved about
the Sun and once in sixty years they would resume their
original positions.
There
are twelve houses in the zodiac, and through these houses
the planets individually and jointly influence all things
and all living tissue, plant, animal or human. These 'planets'
or forces influence every thought that man conceives, every
word he speaks and every motion or action he performs. They
determine the course of life, the stations of life and the
tonic of health for each living being according to the karma
derived by him from his own actions and their effects. Their
multifarious variety of influences were systematically studied
and revealed long ago by renowned rishis or seers like Agasthyar,
Vasishta, Visvamitra and Parasara in ancient days.
Today
we are astonished by the perfect correctness of their revelations
which also neatly describe modern-day phenomena as accurately
as any modern prediction. These sciences, which are only
just emerging in the light of modern thought, strike us
with wonder and admiration for the scientific capability
of the ancients. We have such revelations in the Old Testament
of the Bible as well and we find their fulfillment word
for word right up to events in recent times.
Skanda
Is Born And Comes Down to Earth
The devas and asuras were rivals and each had recourse to
the subtle powers of the planets as personified in mythology.
Thus Jupiter and Venue quarreled by taking sides with these
rivals, and so we have reference to Jupiter being the king
of the devas while Venus was the kind of the asuras.
There
were three asura brothers--Soorapadman, Tarakasuran and
Simhasuran--who were the sons of a great rishi named Kashyapa.
Their mother Maya was an asura lady who by her womanly wiles
had won the heart of Kashyapa and begot these sons by him.
When Kashyapa preferred to teach them the principles of
dharma, ahimsa and ethics, his wife Maya countered and taught
them the mantras or incantation for obtaining powers to
conquer the devas and become rulers of the world.
Thus
the asuras fought and subdued the devas and became the rulers
of the world with the power of the planet Venus. Their tyranny
over the conquered devas was such that the devas, with Vishnu
and Indra at their head, went to appeal to God Siva. Siva
who had already promised eternal life to Soorapadman, would
not intervene but entered yogic trance (samadhi) instead.
However,
when the cruelties of the asuras became unbearable, the
devas again appealed to Siva. This time Siva opened his
third eye and out of it came six rays of light. These were
received by Agni and diverted into a marshy lake called
Saravana or 'forest of reeds', where each ray turned out
to be a child. Hence, we hear of the six syllables Saravana-
bhava, 'born in the forest of reeds'.
This
extraordinary event happened in the month of Karttika or
November, and hence the child Murugan is called Karttikeya
after the six Krittika maidens who found and nursed the
six divine infants. Later, it is said, the mother-goddess
Uma Devi gathered the six together as one so that their
six heads shared one body. Because he has six faces, he
is also called Shan-mukha, 'the six-faced one'. The six
faces have their own significance, for each has its own
purpose.
Being
a god, the child Murugan could take up any form and do anything
He pleased, anywhere and anytime. He happens to be a god
of the afflicted; hence everyone looks up to Him. The Sapta
Rishi or Seven Seers called him Kali Yuga Varada, the granter
of boons in the present Dark Age of Quarrel. Approach to
Him may done through prayers and supplication by those afflicted
by disease, sorrow, or discontents.
Siva
intended for His son Karttikeya to go South to put down
the asuras. But first He sent His ambassador to advise Soorapadman
to avoid war and release the devas. However, Soorapadman,
who had already obtained the boon of eternal life from Siva
through his very arduous penance, refused all advice.
Inter-Planetary War
So war was declared. As mythology has it, at that time many
of the stars and planets in the common were populated by
titanic races of asuras. All of these powerful beings were
destroyed and yet Soorapadman couldn't be killed or captured.
Murugan then prayed to the Cosmic Mother, Shakti, and She
sent Him the holy Vel or lance, the most advanced weapon
that could track Soorapadman and flush him our of from wherever
he hid.
Soorapadman
had fled the battlefield and was hiding in the deep sea
in the form of an enchanted mango tree in order to escape
his relentless pursuer. Lord Murugan finally hurled the
vel which split the tree and broke the enchantment. Soorapadman
surrendered to Murugan, acknowledged His Divine Majesty,
and begged Him for His limitless mercy.
Accordingly,
the Lord transformed the asura's one half into a peacock
to serve as His vahana or vehicle, and his other half into
the ensign of a cock as his vetri-kodi or victory pennant.
Lord Murugan, as Subrahmanya the Radiator of Brilliance,
hence granted such a wonderful boon even to His sworn enemy.
God
of the South
Lord Subrahmanya, along with Agasthyar Rishi, came from
the North but chose to offer his service and mercy particularly
to the people of the South. Thus, today He has many friends
and many great shrines in South India and Sri Lanka. Of
the greatest, six are in Tamil Nadu while two are in Sri
Lanka, namely Kataragama (Kathirkamam) and Nallur Kandaswami
temple. Most every worshiper at these temples has his or
her prayers answered. In almost all of these temples there
is a samadhi or final resting place of a yogi or siddha
over which is built a shrine to Lord Murugan or Karttikeya
or Subrahmanya or Skanda, the most popular of the Lord's
Thousand Names.
Each
of these thousand names has a deep significance which invokes
Him and His Power. Many of His names refer to the various
boons that He has granted and His marvelous deeds. The names
themselves are composed of syllables which, when uttered
in unbroken sequence, fortify the worshipper's invocation
so that the inner power of the Lord saturates the intended
prayer or wish.
As
many names as one learns to include in one's prayers, by
that much do the prayers gain in strength. Most of the names
are made up of short melodious syllables, e.g. Subrahmanya.
The
recitation of the Sahasra Nama or 'Thousand Names' is further
enhanced by the dropping of a flower at the feet of an image
of the tender Lord to accompany each name recited. The rewarding
effect of such worship was explained by Sri Krishna to Arjuna
on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. There it was revealed
to Arjuna that it matters not if the prayer is accompanied
by flowers, for if flowers are not available the worshipper
may use even leaves, and if even these were not available
to him it would suffice if the Lord was adored by name alone.
Speaking
from more than half a century of personal experience. I
can vouch for the efficacy of this playful god and His time-tested
modes of worship. There is no truer companion or support
than this one God of so many names. Just try and you may
also see all this for yourself.
