In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Maarkandeya concluding the discussion on the meat vendor and how he is explaining very important points pertaining to “Dharma” along with Sage Kaushika. Of course, it is not that Sage Kaushika doesn’t know what the meat vendor knows. Sage Kaushika indirectly wants all the aspects of “Dharma” to come out of the mouth of the meat vendor because, he is a common man, unlike Sage Kaushika, who is a Maharishi. Therefore, instead of a Maharishi explaining the various aspects of “Dharma”, the impact would be more if a meat vendor explains them. Thus, with this, Sage Maarkandeya moves on with the next part of his discussion, which is quite a long one here. This is about Bhagawan Skandha (Bhagawan Muruga), how He was born and the purpose of His incarnation in this world.
Once upon a time, Goddess Parvati Devi and Bhagawan Shiva were together and they wanted a baby. At this time, Bhagawan Ganesha was already there as their first child and after a few years, they wanted their second son for a specific purpose. There was a Raakshasa by name “Soora-Padma” who was wreaking havoc in this world. Nobody, including the Devas were able to defeat him and with this, he had captured Indra and Co. and was torturing them. At this point in time, all the Devas went to Bhagawan Shiva and asked for a solution. Hence, Bhagawan Shiva and Goddess Parvati decided that they would have a son, who will be the person to destroy this Soora-Padma. However, as both of them were together, the “Garbha” in which the child was growing was somehow stolen by Agni Bhagawan and Mother Ganga, and hence, six children were born out of it. Subsequently, as six children were born, a group of “Karthigai” women adopted them and were bringing them up with great love and care. They knew that these six children were divine incarnations and with this, they poured all their love and respect to them. After some years, Bhagawan Shiva understood what was going on and with His divine “Anugraha”, all the six children were united into one child! This child was none other than Bhagawan Muruga.
Bhagwan Muruga is a very famous deity in South India, who is worshipped in different names – Bhagawan Skanda, Bhagawan Kaarthikeya (Since He was brought up by the “Kaarthigai” women as we’ve seen earlier), Bhagawan Aaru-Muga (Since He had six faces), Bhagawan Kumara (Since He is worshipped as a little boy), etc. As Bhagawan Muruga was growing up, as many of us might know, there was a competition between Bhagawan Ganesha and Bhagawan Muruga as to who will complete one full revolution around the world. Bhagawan Ganesha was smart enough to circumvent his own parents (Bhagawan Shiva and Goddess Parvati) and proclaimed that he had completed the task successfully, since circumventing both of them is equivalent to circumventing the whole world! Bhagawan Shiva and Goddess Parvati were convinced with the explanation given by Bhagawan Ganesha and it was declared that He had won the contest! However, Bhagawan Muruga was literally going around the world in His peacock (Divine Vaahanam of Bhagawan Muruga) and when He finally came back, He saw that His brother had been declared the winner! Getting angry over the foul game that his brother had played with him, Bhagawan Muruga decided to “quit” his home by abandoning his parents and his brother! He walks away to a small cliff even though his parents and his brother requested him to stay back! But Bhagawan Muruga had made up his mind firmly! He’s not going to come back again so easily!
Little boy as he was, Bhagwan Muruga was deeply hurt by this “foul game” and the small cliff over which he went and stood, is today known as “Palani”, which is one of the six important temples for Bhagawan Muruga today. Palani is amidst the Western Ghats in the South-Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is a very famous Muruga Temple, worshipped by thousands of people. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall continue this story narrated by Sage Maarkandeya in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 