The Hindu : Embodiment of knowledge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 15, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Embodiment of knowledge

CHENNAI, MARCH 15 . The Kanda Puranam, which describes the glory and deeds of Skanda, known as Muruga (Subramanya, Kartikeya) in the Tamil tradition, has a special status in the genre of Puranas as it is hailed as the "third eye" of Lord Siva. Muruga is the very embodiment of knowledge as Siva's third eye is the eye of intuition. The Lord Himself is believed to have initiated Kachiappa Sivacharya by giving the opening lines to compose this work. The Tiruvilayadal Puranam describing the gracious deeds of Lord Siva and the Periya Puranam, which is a hagiography of the Saiva saints, are considered as His two eyes, the three works together making a Saiva Purana trilogy.

In his discourse, Nagai Sri Mukundan said the Kanda Puranam opened with the description of the birth of Parvati as the daughter of Himavan. He performed intense penance and it was as a result of this merit that he found Her as a divine baby while bathing in the Manasarovar lake. She was an extraordinary child as even at the age of five She expressed her desire to perform austerities and her mother tried to dissuade Her by uttering "Uma", by which name She came to be known from then on. The parents then allowed Her to retire to the Himalaya for doing penance with the intention of marrying Lord Siva.

Why should She who is the Mother of all created beings choose to be born as a child to human parents? Human beings take birth in the world to work out their Karma so that they can be liberated from rebirths. But in the case of the Lord and His consort, their births in the world are to enable human beings to get over bondage. When Uma was performing austerities, Lord Siva was also engaged in meditation in Kailas in the form of Dakshinamurti and in this form taught the truth in silence through the sign "Cinmudra" to the four mind-born sons of the creator, Brahma. This is symbolic of the fact that truth has to be experienced and cannot be expressed in words. The Cinmudra signifies that communion of the soul with the Absolute is possible only when ego, Karma and Maya are overcome.

It was when the celestials appealed to Brahma that the atrocities committed by Surapadma, Tarakasura, Simhamukasura and others were increasing that he advised them to approach Manmatha to interrupt Lord Siva's penance so that He would marry Parvati and the birth of Muruga would enable these evil forces to be vanquished. The Purana then proceeds to describes the birth of Kartikeya and His valorous deeds.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Miscellaneous

News Update

Stories in this Section

The Hindu Crossword 7931

Solution to puzzle 7930

Embodiment of knowledge

dated Marth 15, 1954: French offensive

dated Marth 15, 1954: Vijayalakshmi Pandit

dated Marth 15, 1954: Sri Sankaracharya

dated Marth 15, 1954: High denomination notes

Weather