Lord Kartikeya: The Celestial Kundalini Master and The Ruling God of Kaliyuga

 

Pictorial Depiction of Lord Kartikeya

THE NEED OF SKANDA-SHAKTI IN SPIRITUAL SADHANA( Part 1) 

Lord Kartikeya is  also known as Shanmukha, is adored, and worshipped with intense faith and devotion throughout South India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Singapore and Malaysia, South Africa. Naturally it will be of great interest to all his devotees in particular and rest of the people of the present-day world to know more about him, the significance of his birth and his life and career as a victorious general specially in present age of Kaliyuga. We may even say that He is Personified supreme power of Lord Shiva himself.

This great Avatars of Kartikeya is of deep significance and of very special importance to us, who have dedicated ourselves to the spiritual ideal, who have, by the Grace of God, begun to feel that the real purpose of life is not to be attained by enjoyment of the perishable objects of this physical world, but by striving to achieve the realisation of the spiritual ideal, by the attainment of the Eternal, the Imperishable; for the manifestation of the Lord as Skanda has been in the nature of a practical demonstration of the laws that operate upon the inward path of ascent unto divinity.

Lord Kartikeya is the son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, and is a much-revered deity especially in South India. He is known by various names like Murugan, Shanmukha (Shanmuga), Subramanya, Shadanana, Guha, Sanat Kumara, Saravana, Kumara Swamy and Skanda. Kartikeya is quintessentially brave, intelligent, and perfection personified because of which he is worshipped as the god of war and victory. He is also the brave leader of god's forces and was created to destroy demons.

In the Skanda Avatara (Incarnation) is brought out the fact of the eternal struggle between Avidya and Jnana, between the lower Asuric (Demonic) and the higher divine forces, that operate both upon the cosmic scale as well as within the individual Prakriti; and the resolution of this eternal struggle and its consummation in supreme triumph to the divine forces is brought out in the Skanda’s Life.

We are told that Tejas burst forth from the Ajna Chakra of Lord Siva, which assumed the form of Lord Skanda. Thus, He is the Jnana Jyoti. A very significant fact is there that ultimately, He was taken out of six lotuses by Goddess Parvati from the Saravan Lake, in Himalayan region(the lake where reeds were growing).

We know that the supreme spiritual experience is attained, in Yogic parlance, through Shat-Chakra-Bheda or by piercing the six plexuses. It is the emerging out of the six lower lotuses that finds the Jiva ultimately in a state of perfect Yoga or Wisdom in the Sahastrara Chakra. Thus, in Skanda we have the ultimate product of an emergence out of the six lotuses or Shat-Chakras and this we know to be Supreme Wisdom. Therefore, Lord Skanda is a mass of ultimate transcendental Supreme Knowledge that has to destroy ignorance and rise of pure consciousness. Ignorance or darkness, represented upon the plane of manifest cosmos in the form of the Demonic or devilish forces.

Origin of Kartikeya:

According to the Skanda Purana, Shiva's first wife Sati angrily immolated herself after she felt insulted by her father Daksha when he didn't invite Lord Shiva for a Yagna Ceremony and further insulted him. An irate Lord Shiva then destroyed the Yagna with the help of ganas. Sati was reborn as Uma, or Parvati the daughter of the Himalaya mountain’s king Himavaan. Shiva withdrew himself from the universe and engaged himself in yogic meditation in the Himalayas.

In the meanwhile, the demon Surapadma ravaged the earth and tormented its beings. It was realized by the gods that only the son born of Shiva and Parvati could lead the gods to victory over Tarakaasura, Surapadman, Simhmukha and their demon companions. They plotted with Kaama, the lord of desire, to shoot a flower arrow at Shiva, as he sat in meditation, so as to make him fall in love with Parvati. When Kaama aimed his arrow at Shiva, he opened his third eye and burned him to ashes instantly. Upon hearing the pleas of Kama's wife Rati, he brought back Kama to life, in flesh and blood for her sake, and in a formless state for others.

His penance disturbed; Shiva fell in love with Parvathi. However, the sparks of the fiery seed of Shiva were unbearable; even the fire God Agni could not bear them; this fire was then transported by the river Ganga into the Sara Vana forest lake. These six fiery seeds changed into six babies. Kartikeya was cared for by six goddesses, symbolizing Pleiadean Stars (Kritika in Sanskrit) and thus got the name Kartikeya. Mother Parvati combined these six babies into one with six faces.

These six faces have a great amount of deep significance. Out of these six faces, five faces represent five elements which are the rudimental building blocks of entire universe. These six faces are Sadhyojatha- The Earth or Prithvi Tattva has evolved from this face, Vamadeva- The Water element or Jal Tattva has originated from this face,  Aghora- The Fire or Agni Tattva  has emerged from this face,  Tatpurusha- The element  Air or Vayu Tattva has evolved from this face, Ishana- The Ether element or Akasha(Sky) Tattva has originated from this face and AdhoMukha- This face represents the ultimate supreme consciousness Pragynam which is known in Kundalini Tantra as the Para Shakti or Transcendent supreme power or unmanifested primordial serpent power and hence got the name Shanmuga or Shadanan. Kartikeya got the name Sara Vana Bhava because he was born in forest of Saravana. Kartikeya the supreme general of the devas, led the army of the devas to victory against the demons.

The six sites at which Kartikeya sojourned while leading his armies against Surapadman are ; Tiruttanikai, Swamimalai, Tiruvavinankudi (Palani), Pazhamudirsolai, Tirupparamkunram and Tiruchendur.

Spiritual Depiction of Lord Kartikeya

Guru is Skanda-Shakti :

Upon this human plane, the Guru or the spiritual preceptor or guide, who is to help us and to lead us to victory in our battle with Avidya or our lower nature, is the counterpart of Lord Skanda. He is the personification of Skanda-Shakti. Skanda is the personification of the total Sadhana-Shakti or Yoga-Shakti in this world. It is through Yoga-Shakti that one can attain perfect victory over all the forces of darkness that comprise Ajnana or ignorance and attain the fullness of wisdom. The law which has been demonstrated by the Skanda Avatara is, in actual life, brought out by the representation of Skanda in the form of the Guru, by the representation of the Devas or the celestial party in the form of the aspirant who has purified himself and attained the Sadhana and thus has become eligible in order to approach the Guru and try to get his Grace.

The Sadhana-Shakti or the awakening impulse to the Jiva, slumbering in the powerful sleep of nescience or ignorance or Ajnana is imparted by means of the Diksha (initiation) given by the Guru. By Diksha we do not necessarily mean the imparting of a particular Mantra secretly into the ear of the disciple or any actual transfer of spiritual power or any outward act at all. It may merely by the resolving power of the Guru. It may be by a passing glance, a simple gaze, a touch or a single word, or a thought. The mysterious way in which this Sadhana-Sakti is made to enter into, indwell and work in the nature of the disciple, in the inwardness of the personality of the seeker, only the Guru knows and only the realised ones perceive.

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