. In Rig-Veda, The name Subrahmanya occurs several times as an invocation before the beginning of sacrificial rituals. Lord Subrahmanya is associated with the Vedic fire, Agni. Rig-Veda speaks of Agni, the divine fire, as the youngest of the gods; he is the divine child known as Kumara.
Rig-Veda begins with a prayer to Agni' (1-1-1 to 9)
"Agnimeele purohitam yajnasya deva mritvijam
Hotaaram ratna dhaatamam (1-1-1)
meaning
"I praise Agni, the priest of the house, the divine ministrant of sacrifice, the invoker, the best bestower of treasure."
Rig-Veda ends with a prayer to Agni', too.
Yajurveda' quotes
"Krittikaa nakshatramagnirdevataa (4-4-10-26)
meaning
(Thou art) Krttikas, the Nakshatra, Agni, the deity; you are the radiances of Agni'. Kaartikeya is the son of Krittikaas.
The Chandogya-Upanishad speaks of Shanmukha as Sanatkumaara. (7-26.2)
"When the intellectual aliment has been purified, the whole nature becomes purified. When the whole nature has been purified, the memory becomes firm. And when the memory (of the Highest Self) remains firm, then all the ties (which bind us to a belief in anything but the Self) are loosened.
'The venerable Sanatkumaara showed to Naarada, after his faults had been rubbed out, the other side of darkness. They call Sanatkumaara Skanda, Skanda they call him.
Sanatkumaara initiates Narada into Brahma Vidya'. He is identified as Subrahmanya.
.One of the 108 Upanishads, Skanda Upanishad', is named after Lord Skanda Himself.
Skaanda Puraana' composed of 30,000 verses, the thirteenth in the list of eighteen puranaas' is a sacred book devoted to Skanda. It reveals that
"'Mu' kaarostu mukundah syaat, Ru' kaaro rudra vaachakah
Ka' kaaro brahma vaadicha, Muruko guha vaachakah
meaning,
Muruka or Muruga, a word of expression of the Supreme Knowledge (Brahma Jnaana), is a manifestation of the preceptor Guru Guha'
Maha Narayanam' of Taittireya Aranyakah' presents Shanmukha Gayatri' as
"Tatpurushaaya vidmahe mahaasenaaya dheemahi,
Tannahshanmukhah prachodayaat
meaning,
"Let us know that Supreme Being and meditate upon Him, the Supreme General of the great deva army. May He enlighten us and lead us to be one with Him, Lord Skanda.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Sri Krishna declares
"Senaaneenaamaham Skandah (10-24)
meaning,
Among commanders, I am Skanda'.
In Lalita Sahasranamastotram', the Divine Mother is described as
"Guhajanma bhooh (601)
meaning,
She who is the birth place (Mother) of Lord Subrahmanya'
Adi Sankara explains that the word Skanda' means a wise person, in his adoration of Shanmukha, Sri Subrahmanya Bhujangam' (a hymn of 33 verses), of extraordinary merit, revealing the efficiency of prayer to and meditation on Lord Subrahmanya.
Kalidaasa's Kumarasambhava' is a famous Sanskrit work on the birth of the war-god.
Nakkira's Tirumurugatrupadai' is famous as an immortal poem on Arupadai' about the six-temple pilgrimage' to six pilgrim centers of Lord Shanmukha
Why Parvati is Skanda mata the real mother of Kartikeya ?
Another version of the story tells the reason.
Siva took Parvati to a cave and asked her to meditate. As they both meditated, a ball of fire emerged out of their cosmic energies.
In the mean time, the other Gods being insecure from Tarakasura, sent Agni or the God of fire to get hold of the ball of fire. But even Agni couldn't bear the heat of the energy of Shiva and Parvati. So, He handed over the ball to Goddess Ganga. When even Ganga couldn't bear the heat, She deposited the fire ball into a lake in a forest of reeds
Then Goddess Parvati took the form of this water body as She alone could bear the energy of Shiva and Shakti
. Finally the fire ball took the form of a baby with six faces. Hence, Kartikeya is also known as Shanmukha or the God with six faces. He was first spotted and taken care of by six women who are called the Kritikas. So, the divine child was known as Kartikeya or the son of the Kritikas.
The Ramayan version also substantiates this fact. When Ganga throws the fire to the shores and the mountain arises a lake actually catches hold of that tejas and Parvati is the Sakti that finally held Shiv tej and let that transform into a boy.
goddess Ganga is foster-mother to Karttikeya(Subrahmanya, Murugan), who was actually a son of Shiva and Parvati.She is a mother to Ganesha also.
Parvati created an image of Ganesha out of her bodily impurities but which became endowed with life only after immersion in the sacred waters of the Ganges. Therefore Ganesha is said to have two mothers Parvati and Ganga and hence called Dvaimatura and also Gangeya(the son of Ganga).
The Hindu epic, Mahabharata tells that the Vasus, cursed by Vashishta had requested Ganga to be their mother. Ganga incarnated and became the wife of King Shantanu on condition that at no stage shall he question her actions, or she would leave him. As seven Vasus were born as their children, one after the other, Ganga drowned them in her own waters, freeing them from their punishment and the king made no opposition. Only when the eighth was born did the king finally oppose his wife, who therefore left him. So the eighth son, Dyau ncarnated, remained alive, imprisoned in mortal form, and later became known in his mortal incarnation as Bhishma(Devavrata), who is one of the most respected characters of the Mahbhrata.
Apart from these Devi Bhagawat tells a different story where Ganga is linked with Krishna or Vishnu.
It really is logical according to me to think that Ganga who is born at Vishnu's feet dwells in Brahma's Kamandalu till she is brought down to earth by Bhagiratha. In that process she made her place in Shiva's jatas. This version is told to Rama and Lakshmana in Ramayana by Viswamitra.
Ganga being Himavan's daughter looks more symbolic than realistic because Ganga first fell on Himalayas at Bindusaras from Shiva's jatas.
Similarly Ganga's status as Shiva's wife also is more spiritual than physical in my view. Due to her devotional bond with Shiva she became the mother of his two sons .( not biological )
Ganga's role in the birth of both Ganesh and Kartikeya made her the mother of both by chance.
Shiv Puran upholds Ganga's status as the mother of both thus.
Matta Matanga vadano Ganga Uma Sankaratmajah.
The son of Shiva Uma and Ganga , Ganesh possessed the face of an intoxicated elephant
Shanmukha: Sivasambhuta: Saktivajradhara: ...
Agnescha tanayo devo Aparna tanaya: Puna:
Gangayacha ...Krittikanam tathaiva cha...
The six faced son of Shiva is also the son of Aparna,Agni,Ganga and Krittikas He holds a Shakti given by his mother and vajra.
So Ganga also is considered the mother for the brief role she played.
The story of the descent of Ganga from Ramayan looks believable to me because it was written by Adi Kavi Valmiki the first poet of India.
Lakshmi
Katyayini Devi
sixth form of Nav Durgas is Katyayini .the daughter of Katyayana
According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Parvati took the form of Katyayani to annihilate the demon Mahishasura. Katyayani is the fiercest facet of Goddess Parvati as She appears as a Warrior Goddess. In Shaktism references like Shakti, Durga, Bhadrakali and Chandika are also dedicated to Her.
Katyayani is believed to have taken birth in the home of Sage Katyayan (or Katya) in the avatar of Maa Durga, therefore, She came to be known as Katyayani. Scriptures like the Kalika Purana also state that the Sage Kaytyayan was the first to worship Her, hence She is called Katyayani. Seated riding a powerful lion, She is depicted carrying a sword and the lotus flower in Her right hands while keeping Her left hands in Abhaya and Varada mudras.
The Goddess appears in various Holy Scriptures as a symbol of Shakti (strength), knowledge, victory of good over evil and courage. She holds a prominent place in Hindu mythology and inspires devotees, especially female worshippers to face challenges and perceive the inherent strength within. One of the earliest references to Her have also been found in the Taittiriya Aranyaka part of the Krishna Yajurveda.
She is also depicted in holy texts like Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Devi Mahatmyam, a section of the Markandeya Purana. Texts attributed to Buddhism and Jainism, Kalika Purana also mention Her vividly.
The Chapter 22 in the10th Canto of the Bhagavata Purana speaks of Katyayani Vrata, where young marriageable gopis of Vrindavan would take bath in the river Yamuna and worship Katyayani. They observed a vrata throughout the month of Margashirsha to get Lord Krishna as their husband. Katyayani-vrata, a fast for a whole month is also observed and offerings like sandal, flowers and incense are made by girls to marry the person they want.
It is said that Andal,who is also called Godadevi did Katyayini vrat with her friends and got married to Sri Ranga Nath of Srirangapuram. She is the daughter of a Krishna temple priest in Sri Villi Puttur and always dreamt of Krishna as her beloved. She used to make garlands wear it first and then offer it to Krishna. The famous Tiruppavai of Tamilnadu is the collection of poems sung by her to wake up her friends for Katyayini worship.
Devi Mahatmyam describes the slaying of Mahishasur by the great Goddess Katyayani. . Goddess Durga (Katyayani), equipped with powers and weapons from Gods, confronted the demon and fought with him. He began changing his forms, one of which was that of a buffalo. Goddess Durga sprang on the back of Mahishasura from Her lion and struck his head and killed him.
This legend has also been narrated in different ways, but the end result and the moral remain the same. The world and the gods were saved from annihilation in the hands of Mahishasura and a great divine female personality came to be worshipped devotedly.She is the sixth Durga Katyayini Devi.
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