Karthikeya, the Son of the Neelkanth!!!

Lord Karthikeya, the second son of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi, is known as the God of War & Victory. The below post discusses his birth, his fight & victory against evil and his marriage with Devasena & Valli.

The Wait for a Saviour

Maya, a demoness, transformed herself into a beautiful woman & married Sage Kashyapa, not revealing to him, her true identity. Her intent was to give birth to children who would rule over the three worlds, since they would be born with yogic powers from the Sage. Maya & Sage Kashyapa gave birth to three sons & one daughter – Surapadma, Simhamukha, Taraka & Ajamukhi, respectively.

The Asuras (demons) – Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka, were ambitious to take over the throne of Indra and rule the three worlds. Having understood the power of the Devas, they devised plans of obtaining boons first before they attacked the Devas.

The brothers performed severe penance and won boons from the Creator of the World, Lord Brahma. The boons stated that they would face death at the hands of none other than the Son of Shiva. Since Sati had immolated herself at Daksha’s Yagna (refer to The Story of Shakthi & Shiva), the Asura kings decided that there would be no way they could die.  They thought that Shiva did not have a wife in the first place, leave alone having a son. (Another story goes that, they obtained a boon of immortality).

With growing arrogance, the Asuras started terrorizing the Devas and Rishis (godly men). They aimed at conquering the Devas and ruling over them by seizing Indra (King of the Devas) of his throne. With their immense power, the Asuras captured and imprisoned many of the Devas. The Devas ran to Lord Shiva for help, having realized that He was the only person who could save them from Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka. This was exactly the time when Shiva remarried Shakthi, in the form of Goddess Parvathi.

The Birth of Karthikeya

Realizing that he had to do something about the Asuras, Lord Shiva, opened his Third Eye, out of which six sparks arose and handed over them to Agni, the God of Fire. But the sparks were of such heat, that even the God of Fire could not withstand it and he left the sparks in the River Ganga. The flowing river carried the sparks up to the Sharavan, forest of reeds (Shara – Reeds; Van – Forest). It was here that the six sparks turned into six beautiful babies in lotuses. The Kritika women, again six in number, found these babies and each of these women took care of one child.

The babies grew into young boys and the time came closer when they had to be handed over to Shiva & Parvathi. The six boys merged to form one boy with six heads – Lord Karthikeya.

**The boy came to be known as Shravan – since he was born in Sharavan; as Karthikeya – as he was brought up by the Kritika women; as Shanmuga & Aarumuga – as he had six faces.

The End of the Asura Trio

At the appropriate time, Lord Shiva called upon Karthikeya and asked him to vanquish the Asura brothers, Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka. Lord Shiva appointed Veerabahu as the chief of Karthikeya’s army and Goddess Parvathi gifted him with the divine spear. With his parents’ blessings, Karthikeya left the abode with the motive of liberating the Devas. After fierce battles with the Asura brothers & their army, Karthikeya emerged victorious after getting over with the three Asura brothers, with the help of his chief & loyalist, Veerabahu. The story which says that Lord Shiva granted them boons of immortality, believes that Surapadma was severed into two, one part of which took the form of a Peacock (Karthikeya’s Vaahan/Vehicle) and the other part took the form of a Rooster (the emblem in Karthikeya’s flag), thereby ensuring he did not die.

Marriage with Devasena

Indra was pleased with Lord Karthikeya on his victory over the Asuras. As a token of gratitude for having restored the dignity of the Devas, Indra offered his daughter, Devasena’s (Deivanai/Devayani) hand to Lord Karthikeya and requested him to accept her as his wife. Lord Karthikeya willingly accepted and the marriage took place in the heavens, amidst much splendour.

The Princess of Vallimalai

Valli was born to Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi in the form of a deer. When the baby was born, it was laid in a pit dug by the tribal folks. The chief of the tribe, Nambi and his wife found the baby and decided to adopt the baby as their daughter. They named their daughter Valli (a type of yam which is grown under the earth; since Valli was found in a pit dug up, she was named so) and brought her up with love and affection.

Years passed by and Valli grew up to be a beautiful woman. Once when Valli was out on the fields to supervise the harvests, an old man approached her for food. As kind as she was, Valli offered him some fruits & water. The old man thanked her and told her that he was in love with her and would like to marry her. Valli was not inclined towards marrying an old man and refused his proposal. The old man was actually Lord Karthikeya who had come in disguise to tease Valli. He immediately invoked his elder brother, Lord Ganesha to help him out and Lord Ganesha appeared in the form of an elephant. The sight of the elephant terrified Valli and she ran to the old man requesting him to save her. But the old man flatly stated that he would help her only if she agreed to his proposal. Valli reluctantly agreed, upon which the Lord regained his true form and revealed his identity to her. Valli was only too pleased to have agreed to the proposal, as it was her long-cherished dream to wed Lord Karthikeya.

Nambi too agreed to give his daughter’s hand to the Lord and the marriage was held in pomp and show, with the Gods showering their blessings on the young couple.

** Devasena and Valli were the daughters of Lord Vishnu in their previous births, by name, Amritavalli & Sundaravalli. They were eager to wed Lord Karthikeya and hence performed severe penance to win over him. He had granted them the boon of marriage in their next births, which was why the Lord had two wives.

Om Thatpurushaya Vidhmahe Maha Senaya Dhimahi

Thannah Shanmukha Prachodhayath

Meaning: Let us know That Supreme Being and meditate upon Him, The Supreme General of the great Deva Army: Lord Shanmuga (Skanda), May He enlighten us and lead us to be One with Him.

** Six hills in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, have been lucky to be the chosen abode for Lord Karthikeya. The places are listed below in the order of his life’s events:

    1) Pazhani – the hill where Lord Karthikeya resigned himself to, as a kid, over a fight with his elder brother, Lord Ganesha, for a mango.

   2) Swamimalai – where Lord Karthikeya, as a young learned boy,  preached the meaning of the divine word “Om” to his father, Lord Shiva

    3)Thiruchendur – where he won the battle against the Asura brothers (Surapadma, Simhamukha & Taraka)

    4) Thiruparangundram – the hill where he married Goddess Devasena, the daughter of Indra

    5) Thirutthani – the hill where he married Goddess Valli, the daughter of Nambi

    6) Pazhamudhircholai – where he gives his darshan to devotees with Devasena & Valli

The Story of Shakthi & Shiva!

Lord Shiva, one of the three Supreme Lords of the world (the other two Lords being Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma) is known for his powers of destruction of evil forces, his anger, the Third Eye and the dance form attributed to him – Thaandava (Rudra Natya). Goddess Shakthi, on the other hand, is known to be a personification of strength, valor and courage.

Sati weds Shiva

Goddess Shakthi, the consort of Lord Shiva, was born on earth due to a curse. She was born to King Daksha (son of Lord Brahma), and was named Sati. Even as a child, she was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. When the appropriate time drew closer, Daksha decided to get her married. On consulting Sati, he understood that she would marry none other than Lord Shiva himself. She announced that she would perform severe penances and win the hand of Lord Shiva.

Sati engaged herself in meditation and prayed to Lord Shiva. Awestruck by her powerful penance, Lord Shiva appeared in front of her and asked her what boon she would want. She requested him to take her as her consort and Lord Shiva agreed (as he already knew Sati was an incarnation of Goddess Shakthi). He approached Daksha and sought his daughter’s hand for marriage. After gaining his acceptance, Sati & Shiva married. They happily resided in the Himalayas, the abode of Lord Shiva.

Once, Lord Shiva, accompanied by Sati, attended a Yagna (spiritual pyre) organized by Rishis. The yagna was attended by the Devas and other celestials. Daksha was also an invitee to the yagna. When he entered the place, all the assembled guests arose to greet him. But Daksha noticed that only his daughter and son-in-law remained seated. He was enraged at the sight and failed to realize that his son-in-law was a Supreme Lord, much above his stature. He decided to teach his son-in-law a lesson.

On returning back to his palace after completion of the yagna, Daksha decided he would host a grand yagna to which all the three worlds would be invited, except his ungrateful daughter and son-in-law. He made all suitable arrangements for the same and the grand day arrived. Sati came to know that her father was hosting the yagna and decided to attend it. She wondered why she was not invited along with her husband, but her love for her father nudged her towards attending the yagna. She requested Lord Shiva to accompany her but he refused. He said Daksha was doing this on purpose and it would not hold him in dignity if he visited the place without being invited. Since Sati kept insisting, he allowed her to go to the yagna protected with his attendants.

On reaching the venue, Sati found that, there was no one to welcome her. Her father, Daksha, welcomed all the other guests, but was oblivious to the fact that his daughter had also come. Sati felt humiliated that no one was taking notice of her. She felt ashamed that she was born as a daughter to such a conceited king. She announced that she would cast off this body of hers that was given to her by Daksha and shall unite with her Lord in her re-birth. She immolated herself and died immediately.

Re-Birth as Parvathi

Himavan, the king of Himalayas and his wife, Menadevi were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. They had a son by name Mainaka. However, Menadevi had a deep desire for a girl child. She wanted the girl to be blessed with all virtues, eligible to be the consort of Lord Shiva. Upon severe penance, they were blessed with a girl child, whom they named Parvathi.

Parvathi, again, was a strong devotee of Lord Shiva and was always seen worshipping the Shiv Lingh.  When Himavan approached her to decide on her marriage prospects, she declared that she would win Lord Shiva and would marry none other.

She began her penance to invoke his blessings. But Lord Shiva never arose from his meditation. He wanted to lead the life of an ascetic after the death of Sati. The Gods of all the three worlds were dumbstruck at the severity of her penance. Lord Kama, the God of Love, thought he should try to help her. He shot arrows of love at the meditating Shiva, so that he would fall for Parvathi. Disturbed by Kama’s arrows, the furious Lord Shiva opened his “third eye” and burnt him to ashes. He continued with his meditation. But Parvathi’s penance was growing so powerful, that he had to bend to it.

He enquired with the Devas about the reason for Parvathi’s powerful penance and came to know that she was performing them to win his hand. To test her love for him, Lord Shiva disguised himself as an old man, rugged and fearsome in appearance and appeared before her. Just as she was about to start her penance for the day, He came up to her and asked her the reason behind her prayers. She replied that she was doing it to win her Master - Lord Shiva. The “old man” laughed aloud and commented that she was wasting her life for a mere ascetic, who did not equal her in charm and beauty. Parvathi grew enraged at this comment and asked him to leave her sight immediately. She warned him of bad consequences if he spoke another disgracing word against her Lord.

Lord Shiva was pleased with her devotion and love towards him and appeared before her in his true form and agreed to marry her. He realized this was his Sati indeed who had, true to her word, taken re-birth as Parvathi and come back to him.

Himavan was only too pleased to give his daughter’s hand to one of the Supreme Lords and immediately arranged for their marriage. After marriage, Lord Shiva escorted his wife, Goddess Parvathi, to the Himalayas. After a few years, the Two became Four, with Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthikeya forming a part of the four-member family!!

Maata Cha Paarvati Devi, Pitaa Devo Maheshvara
Baandhavah Shiva Bhaktaacha, Svadesho Bhuvanatrayam

Meaning: Goddess Parvati is the Mother of all and Lord Shiva is our Divine Father. Their devotees are all relatives. The world we live in is the creation of such divine beings.

** Shiva and Shakthi – the names become one – in the form of “Ardhanareeswara”; This form has two halves – one half of Shiva & the other half of Shakthi; indicative of the fact that Men & Women are equal.

The story behind this form goes like this:

Once a war of words was triggered between Goddess Shakthi & Lord Shiva on who among them was a superior. Each of them proclaimed their superiority and declared the world would not function without them. Shakthi challenged that she was capable of doing whatever he did. 

They decided on a simple dance competition, wherein each had to replicate the other’s steps. The ensuing competition was aggressive and finally as a masterstroke, Shiva raised his leg and touched his ears. Shakthi had to give up as it was not right and possible for a woman to raise her legs above knee level. She felt it was not right to determine their equality on an unfair means like this. Out of anger, she burnt herself to ashes to make Lord Shiva realize her importance. Once Shakthi disappeared, the world plunged into darkness; there was no life and everything came to a standstill. All the Gods were horrified at this development and prayed to Lord Shiva to call upon Shakthi.

Lord Shiva brought her back to life and agreed that she was an integral part of the functioning. He stated that men and women were equal and no one was superior to the other. This story and the famous Tamil line, “Shakthi illayel Shivam illai; Shivam illayel Shakthi illai!” (meaning: Shivam does not prevail without Shakthi and Shakthi does not prevail without Shivam), was given to the world to show men and women the equality principle. For those who believe that our culture is too repressive  or oppressive, here it goes, our culture traditionally did not encourage the Man vs. Woman war!!

The Birth of the Enchanting God, Krishna!!

Ideally, this post should have come in later, when I post stories of the Ten Avatars of Lord Vishnu. But, here it comes before all, the birth of my favorite and enchanting little God!!

Lord Krishna, the Tenth Avatar of Lord Vishnu, is synonymous with beauty & love. The Hindu scriptures would be incomplete without a mention about this Avatar of Lord Vishnu, since The Bhagavad Gita, Holy Book of the Hindus, was given to us by Lord Krishna. 

The Birth of Krishna

Ugrasena, the king of Mathura, had a brother by name, Devaka. Ugrasena had a son by name Kamsa and Devaka was blessed with a daughter, Devaki. From his childhood, Kamsa had an inherent affection towards Devaki, his beloved younger sister.

When Devaki got married to Vasudeva, Kamsa was almost in tears, for his beloved sister was leaving them and moving to her in-laws' place. He volunteered to ride the chariot and drive them home, even though he was the crown prince of the state. As he drove away from Mathura, a celestial voice from above called out to Kamsa and exclaimed that the eighth child born of Devaki & Vasudeva would kill him.

The enraged Kamsa got down from his chariot and dragged Devaki onto the ground. He drew his sword out to kill her. Vasudeva fell at Kamsa’s feet and begged him to leave them alone. Kamsa did not relent on any amount of cajoling and in a bid to save his wife’s life, Vasudeva made a promise to Kamsa that he would hand over all the children that his wife gave birth to. Sensing that this would serve the purpose of saving his own life, Kamsa agreed to leave Devaki free.

A year passed and Devaki gave birth to their first child. Though a joyous occasion, Vasudeva & Devaki  were filled with grief, since they knew they had to keep up their word and hand over their child to Kamsa. With a heavy heart, Vasudeva carried his child to Kamsa. Surprised at Vasudeva’s commitment to keep his word, Kamsa thought to himself that it was only the eighth child that was going to kill him. He thought he could afford to leave the first seven children alive, since Vasudeva was also true to his word. He sent back Vasudeva with his child, saying it was enough if he brought the eighth child to him. Overjoyed by the re-birth his child had obtained, Vasudeva returned to his wife with the child. But their joy was not to last for long.

During one of his conversations with a sage, Kamsa came to know that a birth of a child was not determined by whether the child was born or not. Even an embryo that is formed within the mother’s womb but dies before birth is to be accounted as a child for the mother. He also explained that sometimes even the mother would not know that such an embryo was formed and died if it happened in very early stages.

On hearing this, Kamsa was taken aback since he would have to kill whichever child Devaki gave birth to. He immediately rode to Devaki’s place and demanded that their child be given to him. In spite of Devaki and Vasudeva resisting his demand, he snatched the child away and killed him. Kamsa also went to the extent of ordering his sister and brother-in-law to be chained in a prison cell so that he could catch hold of each child she delivered.

Years passed, and each time a child was born, Kamsa would be notified by the prison guards. He would snatch the baby from its parents and kill it immediately. Seven such children were killed by the wicked Kamsa and he began waiting for the eighth child.

The eighth child was none other than Lord Vishnu who had taken his avatar as Lord Krishna to vanquish all evil on earth. On the night of his birth, the skies thundered and there was a heavy downpour of rains. As soon as the child was born, a voice was heard from the Lord Himself, instructing Vasudeva to secretly take the baby to Gokulam and leave him in the house of Nandagopa, the chief of the Yadava clan in Gokulam. He also instructed Vasudeva to bring back the baby that was born in Nandagopa’s house around the same time.

As advised, Vasudeva escaped from the prison cell and carried the baby in a basket to Gokulam. The rains lashed and the eternal snake, Vasuki, came over to give protection to the divine baby. Soon after Vasudeva reached Gokulam, he headed towards Nandagopa’s house and laid the baby beside Yashodha, Nandagopa's wife, who had just delivered a baby girl. Vasudeva returned back to the prison carrying the baby girl and placed it near Devaki.

As soon as Kamsa was notified that Devaki had given birth to her eighth child, he hurried to the prison cell. As he drew his sword to kill the baby girl, it slipped off from his hand and in the air, the baby girl stood incarnated as Goddess Durga. She had taken birth as Yogamaya, the baby girl born to Yashodha and Nandagopa. She laughed at Kamsa and told him that his enemy was already safe in another house and it was no use trying to kill her. Saying this, she vanished into thin air.

Kamsa was infuriated at the thought that his enemy had escaped his clutches; he was determined to catch hold of the baby and kill him as soon as possible to save his own life. But far from all this commotion, little baby Krishna lay deeply asleep, safe and sound.

The Hindu tradition celebrates his birthday as "Gokulashtami" or "Janmashtami".

Vasudeva Sutam Devam, Kansa Chaanuuramardanam
Devakii Paramaanandam Krishhnam Vande Jagad Gurum

Meaning: Krishna, the Supreme Lord, the Son of Devaki and Vasudeva,  slayer of Kamsa and Chanur. May we bow to Him and be blessed with the God’s grace. 

The Birth of the Elephant-headed God!

Every ritual in our culture is begun by invoking Lord Ganesha. Vinayaka, Vigneshwara, Mooshika Vahana, Pillayar and Ganapathy, as he is fondly called by his devotees, this God is known to bestow success on his worshippers. Here is my way of invoking his blessings for the beginning of my blogspace, “Mythology Unleashed!!”

The following story narrates the birth of Lord Ganesha and why he became the Elephant-headed God!

Birth of Lord Ganesha

Lord Shiva, one of the Supreme Gods in the Hindu culture, was married to Goddess Parvathi (also known as Shakthi) and together, they spent their days in Kailash, their abode in the Himalayan mountains.

One day, Goddess Parvathi called upon Nandi, the loyal follower of Lord Shiva, to guard their gate, while she went in to bathe. Within a few minutes, Lord Shiva walked in front of the gates and Nandi was put into a dilemma. As per his Mistress’s order, he had to stop Lord Shiva at the gate, but he was a strong loyalist of the Lord and who could think of barring the Lord from entering his own house? Thus wondering, Nandi let Lord Shiva pass the gate.

On the sight of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi was infuriated that Nandi had disregarded her commands. Over hours of thought, she realized that unless she had a loyalist of her own, there would be no soul who would respect her the way the Lord's followers respected him. She decided to create her own loyalist and sculpted an idol using a paste she had prepared for her body. She imparted life to the statue and right in front of her stood a handsome young lad, all decked in energy and valour. Goddess Parvathi was jubilant on her creation and blessed him with unique powers and strengths.

A few days down, she asked him to guard her gate as she had requested Nandi earlier. Just as on the previous day, Lord Shiva attempted to walk past the gate when he was stopped by the young lad. Lord Shiva was enraged at the thought that a random boy was opposing his entrance into his own place. The boy simply waved his staff at Lord Shiva and would not budge on any amount of cajoling that it was his own place.

Lord Shiva left the place fuming at the thoughts that he was sent out from his own abode. He sent a horde of men to fight the young lad who had insulted him. The army of soldiers led by Nandi, known for his courage and strengths, reached the place only to be defeated by the young lad in a jiffy. They hurried back to Lord Shiva and narrated the happenings. Lord Shiva felt insulted at the thought that his army had to suffer a defeat at the hands of a puny boy. He led the warpath to the place where the young lad stood guarding the gate, as cheerful as ever.

The ensuing war between Lord Shiva and the young lad was fearful. Slowly, the Lord began to realize that the lad did possess extraordinary strengths and skills. Unable to ride over his wrath, he aimed his all-conquering Trishul on the young boy. The Trishul found its mark and slew the head of the young lad and there he lay, in a pool of blood.

Hearing the commotion, Goddess Parvathi ran out, only to find her beloved creation lying on the ground, lifeless. She cried her heart out and announced to all those present that the young lad was her own son, her own creation. She declared that her son had to be brought back to life before sunset.

Lord Shiva was now filled with remorse at his actions. He agreed to bring him back to life and ordered his men to go in search of a replacement for the young lad’s head. He instructed them to slay and bring to him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The men set out in all directions and finally hit upon an elephant sleeping in the same position. They slew the head of the elephant and brought it back to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then affixed the head of the elephant to the young lad’s body and brought him back to life. 

The young lad was none other than Lord Ganesha, brought back to life with an elephant head. Lord Shiva blessed him and accepted him as his son. He announced that henceforth, Lord Ganesha would be worshipped at the beginning of all endeavors, as a remover of obstacles, as a destroyer of evils and as the God of Wisdom, Knowledge & Wealth.

Shuklam Baradharam Vishnnum Shashi Varnnam Chatur Bhujam

Prasanna Vadanam Dhyaayeet Sarva Vighnopashaantaye

Meaning: Praise be on the lord who is wearing white clothes, who is all-pervading, who is as bright as the moon and has four hands, who has a compassionate face, let us meditate on him to ward off all obstacles