Skanda Janana (Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa)
The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10, tells the birth of Kārttikeya. He is also called Skanda, Shaḍānana, Kumāra and Subrahmaṇya. He was born from the seed of Bhagavān Śiva, which Agni carried and left in the river Gaṅgā. Kārttikeya was born among the reeds on her bank and raised by the six Kṛttikā stars, who gave him his name.
Śiva and Umā
Bhagavān Śiva married Devī Umā, the daughter of Himavān. The two were together for a very long time in the heights of the Himālaya. The Purāṇa says this union was beyond the ordinary. Śiva is pure consciousness, and Umā is śakti (the power of creation).
The union went on for ages, as mortals count time, and the devas grew afraid. They feared that a child of such a union would have power beyond their control and would shake the order of the worlds. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
The devas’ fear and Agni’s part
The devas, led by Brahmā, went to Bhagavān Agni and asked for his help. Agni took a form and went before the embracing couple. He was present when Śiva’s śukra (seed of creative power) was released. Its power was too great for anyone to bear. Agni took it and carried it within himself.
Even Agni, the great fire who burns all things, could not hold the seed for long. It scorched him and weakened him, and he wished to set it down. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
Gaṅgā receives the seed
Agni placed Śiva’s śukra in the sacred river Gaṅgā. She is a devī who purifies, and she could bear what others could not. The seed entered her waters, and she carried it to the reed-thicket on her banks. This is the śaravana, a thicket of śara reeds. There, in the warmth of the reeds and the nourishment of the holy waters, the divine seed grew. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
The birth and the Kṛttikās
The child Kārttikeya came out of the reeds on the bank of the Gaṅgā. He shone with a golden light. He had six faces, all bright, and twelve arms that carried divine weapons. His whole being carried the power of Agni and of Śiva.
The six Kṛttikā stars, the Pleiades, were the six divine mothers. They came down, and each took one of the child’s six faces to feed it. All six nursed him at the same time with their divine milk.
The child got three names from these events:
- Kārttikeya, from the Kṛttikās, his six mothers.
- Śaravanabhava, from his coming out of the śaravana (the reed-thicket).
- Shaḍānana (six-faced), because six mothers fed his six faces.
(Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
Skanda is named and made commander
The devas welcomed Kārttikeya with great joy and respect. Indra and the deva-gaṇas bowed to the blazing child. They saw in him the leader who would take the armies of the devas against the asuras.
Brahmā gave him the name Skanda, from the root skand (to leap, to overflow), because his power leapt beyond every limit. Bhagavān Śiva accepted him as his son. Devī Umā received him with a mother’s love, though his birth had been unusual.
He was made Devasenāpati, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the devas. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
The Acchodā apsarā
In Chapter 10, where the pitṛ (ancestor) streams linked with Kārttikeya’s birth are described, the Purāṇa brings in the Acchodā apsarā. She was born from the river Acchodā and was linked with the pitṛ line of the Barhishads. Her story from a past life connects to the narrative of Satyavatī. The ancestral lines, the apsarā lines and the cosmic genealogies are woven together across Chapters 9 to 11. (Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10)
Sources
- Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 10