Tags
Agni, arjun, Bhagavad Gita, celestial marriages, ganesha, indra, indrasena, Kartikeya, Krishn, Kritika, Mallikarjun temple, Murugan, Parvati, shiva, Skanda
- In Bhagwad Gita, Krishn says, ‘Amongst army commanders, I am Skanda.’ Chp 10, verse 24.
Who is Skanda, the war-God? He is aka Murugan and Kartikeya.
He was Shiva’s son and Ganesh’s bro.
He was Indra’s commander-in-chief. Also, he was Indra’s son-in-law!
Thus, Kartikeya was Arjun’s brother-in-law! While Indra and Shiva were in-laws!
- STORY: Indra’s daughter was named Indrasena. Hence, Kartikeya is also called Indrasenapati, which has 2 connotations.
1] Husband of Indrasena 2] Commander-in-chief of Indra’s sena (army).
- As expected, there are VARIATIONS to the story.
As per Skanda Puran, Devasena (Indrasena) = daughter of Vishnu. Now that means Krishn (Vishnu) and Kartikeya, both being Arjun’s brothers-in-law are also father-in-law & son-in-law to each other! Phew!
- KARTIKEYA’S BIRTH: Shiva’s vital fluids (in alternate stories , Shiva’s 3rd eye sparks) were carried by Agni. He united them with 6 Kritikas, hence the name Kartikeya to the resultant son. Thus, Agni is also partially called as ‘Father of Kartikeya’.
- MALLIKARJUN TEMPLE:
Myth has it that Kartikeya marched off to this place after a tiff with his parents. To console him, Shiva & Parvati followed him here. Hence the temple is called Mallikarjun { Mallika= Parvati, while ARJUNA= ANOTHER NAME OF SHIVA!}
Impractical Dreamer 
really informative writeup….. good job
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Thank you!
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Do you notice that Krishna didn’t say “Amongst army commanders, I am Kartikeya.” Instead he said “Amongst army commanders, I am Skanda.” Isn’t it interesting?
Neeraj and Pankaj are the synonyms of Lotus in Hindi. Do Neeraj & Pankaj have same meaning?
Likewise, Savyasachi and Gudakesh are other names of Arjun. Do Savyasachi & Gudakesh have same meaning?
You rightly explained why He is called Kartikeya. Let me tell you why He is called Skanda. Skanda is a noun derived from the verbal root skand that carries some meanings like ‘jumping’, ‘spurting’/’spilling’/’effusing’, ‘perishing’, ‘drying up’, and ‘gathering together’.
Let me give you three perspectives:
1. He was born from the ‘spilling’ of Siva’s vital fluids that got spread out through the gods of Fire and Wind.
2. In one story, at birth he was a person with six faces of six separate individuals, but was subsequently ‘lumped into one’ by the embrace of Parvati.
3. He ‘thoroughly destroys’ the external enemies or internal vices of his devotees.
Now why Krishna said that HE was Skanda. An Army Commander needs to spill over his opponents. He needs to think his multiple men in opponent army as one. He needs to destroy them all.
Deeper meaning is: Existence is unity. IT spills out in multiple forms. And in end, converges into unity. More precisely, IT always is unity. ITs appearance in multiple form is Illusion.
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Good God! Your reply deserves to be an independent post itself. Honestly.
Its always great to learn new things, new perspectives, new facets. Its amazing how precisely Krishn used words…like weapons.
Infact even during the course of B. Gita, he uses Arjun, Bharatsharbh, Parth, Purushsharbha at different times to specifically pinpoint Arjun’s various names in the form of adjectives.
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Interesting and informative post. Is this Mallikarjun Temple located on a hill? One myth has it that Lord Murugan marched off to a hill after a tiff with his parents. So the saying goes “wherever there is a hill, Lord Murugan lives there”.
What was the tiff with his parents? Naradha gave a fruit to Shiva and Parvathi. They both wanted to give the fruit to one of his sons, Ganesha and Murugan. They held a contest – whoever roams the entire universe 3 times and come back first will get the fruit. Lord Murugan immediately rushed on his chariot and started to roam the universe at high speed. By the time he returned, Lord Ganesha was already eating the fruit. Murugan got angry and questioned how he won the contest. Ganesha replied that the entire universe is within Lord Shiva and Parvathi. So, he said, he roamed around his parents 3 times and won the price. Lord Murugan did not like the outcome. He got angry with his parents and marched off to a hill..
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Yes, all of your info is bang on. Our culture is so rich with stories and sub stories, na?
Its nice to see Gods demonstrate all of human emotions. Anger, lust, passion, envy … I was told once that truth is just the opposite – Gods don’t behave like us, but rather human beings are made in the mould of Gods. So its we who imitate all of their emotions.
Quaint stories, though.
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Dr.Shinde, if you look at the cult of Murugan it is the western ghat terrain, the land of peacock, and snakes, so Kartikeya or murgan could be the ethnofolk god who has been adopted into hinduism. In the south we have a story of Murgan and his marriage to valli the Kurvar girl. When I am a little less lazy I shall perform the dance and mail it too along with the story.
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Hey, I want to see that dance! Does the story go with a special dance form or can it be adopted to all?
Yes, we do have a story per God per region, don’t we? India is so rich in varied folktales.
I had heard of the Quick Gun Murugan ad years ago and wondered what they referred to – found out now at last.
I saw Kartikeya’s online images show 2 wives, so I guess Valli is the one apart from Indrasena?
Coincidentally, I also heard about a folktale where Arjun marries princess Alli in south India. So Indrasena’s brother & husband married to Alli & Valli respectively! Quaint.
And please remember that dance video! Do perform it soon.
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Sweety, this is a major question. 🙂 when we say “specific dance” there are narratives, and eulogies to deities where mudra’s are used to convey ideas. But there are also something else called as Kautuvam where the percussion dominates with chants and dancer recreates the mandala dedicated to a particular deity, here I would refer to ia deity as personification of energy, I used to do the shiva and Kali. both destructive ones. 😦
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Aha, I understood somewhat.
Mandala = aura? So when you recreate it, do you also imbibe that energy within you ala actors? I’ve heard of the trance into which artists dissolve, so is that the same energy that drives them? Do you feel transformed by that deity’s energy or do you use your own internal powers to feel that energy?
DANCE must be such a catharsis. I wish had learnt it.
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I still think there is a problem with your wordpress account. When I try to access it by clicking upon your comment, it says ‘Error’ The url shows http://
However, when I searched ur blog via Indieblogger, the correct url starts with https://……
So, try to rectify it please.
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oh! I need to consult someone about it, considering I am illiterate. thanks for bringing it to my notice.
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It’s such a beautiful temple. Lovely post. Thanks for sharing Sweety! 🙂
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Ur most welcome, Archana. I’m sure every temple in India has an amazing story behind it. Har temple kuch kehta hai zaroor.
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Another story has it that kartikeya settled atop Pazhani hills in Dindigal district, southern Tamil Nadu, after the quarrel over the fruit. It is believed that kartikeya, though he lost the prize fruit in the contest, attained knowledge of the self, jgaana pazham, while meditating at pazhani hill. The hill came to be called ‘pazhani’ as derivative of ‘pazham nee’, meaning ‘you are the fruit’ of jgaana or wisdom. Enjoyed you post,sweety, as also the useful inputs of others adding to the info…best wishes.
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I’m amazed, too, at the rich and varied stories I am being gifted with. Truly, our land has the most spell binding tradition of stories woven around myths and passed on across generations.
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Nice.. Doctor to Mythology – nice touch :).. Always a delight to read stories 🙂
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I’m totally a Mythology buff. Given a chance, I’d love to be re-born in that era. Especially bcos I believe our mythology was real, live History.
Yes, India is a rich source of myriad stories. I’m so glad to be born an Indian , with our traditional grandma-bedtime stories. What a lovely childhood treasure!
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He he I’m a story buff too, infact I do that for a living 😆.. Nothing beats mythology , the humor the wit and the lessons in it are really amazing 🙂
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For a living? You are an author?
Mythology is so alluring. As for Mahabharata, one can discuss it till end of eternity, and not yet completely get to its roots. What a masterpiece!
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Ha ha no .. I would like to be some day. For now I run a walking tour company focusing on stories and history and a few times mythology as well ..
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Sounds innovative and interesting. You mean, like tourist places? Monuments of historical value?
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