Skanda and Ganesha:

In the Puranas, Ganesha has a brother

who has several well known names

such as Skanda, Kumāra (the child),

Kumaraswamy, Subramanya, Shanmugha

(the six-faced one) and others.

Is there a Vedic counterpart to this deity?

The answer is yes. This aspect is mentioned by Sri Aurobindo and is discussed in great detail by Sri Kapali Sastry (KS), (Collected Works, Vol. 1, pp. 84-88). The counterpart of Skanda in Veda is Agni. "But the Puranic story of Skanda, Kumāra, the Child, closely follows the Vedic account and almost keeps intact the Vedic symbolism.

In the Puranas, apart from the slightly different versions, the Kumāra is an effulgence of the great God, Father Shiva. He is born in the growths of the Earth, sharavana, placed in the Waters, Ganga,

who increase him in stature; he is nourished with milk by the fostering

Lights of Krittikas, in the Vedas, they are referred to as cows. He reaches the heights of the hill of being, the Mind Divine, called mānasa shaila

(Mahabharata, Vanaparva, Ch. 222). He extends help to Indra, gives battle to the asuric forces, victorious, cherished and adored by the gods returns to his Father.

We need not enter into the details of the

story, which are at every turn quite significant; but the difference between the Vedas and the Puranas lie in the number of Mothers who foster him. The Vedas mention seven sisters or rivers, while the

Purana mentions only six mothers; perhaps the Mother associated with

the highest plane is omitted, making the number six." (Kapali Sastry)

"If a doubt is entertained that we are rather ingenious in trading the Puranic Skanda to the Vedic Kumāra Agni, it vanishes if we refer to the Mahābhārata in which we find a link that connects the Vedic account with that in the Skanda Purana, other Puranās and Shankara Samhita, and the shorter account given in Ramayana.

There is one feature that arrests our attention while perusing the Añgirasa legend, followed by chapters on the birth of Kumāra Skanda in the Vanaparva of the great Epic. While elaborating the story in the later Puranic way, it retains to some extent the Vedic tradition and uses certain Vedic words and names not without significance. The narrative runs from Chapter 222 to 230 in the Vanaparva.

We find it plainly stated in the course of the account that Indra God-Mind

stands on the summit of the manasa hill in deep contemplation waiting for the arrival

of help, Agni, and that the rivers are the fostering mothers of Agni and

other details which support the view that the symbolic imagery of the Vedas is maintained in the Mahabharata account of Skanda. But the most important of all is that it refers to many forms or manifestations of Agni and names them and their functions, the last that is mentioned is called "The wonderful, adbhuta" of whom the Child Kumāra

Skanda is a special manifestation.

Here we are most concerned with

this term, for there is a line here in the introduction, to the story of Skanda's birth. "The greatness of Adbhuta as sung in the Vedas, I shall tell you" (221-30), says the story-teller. Now who is the Adbhuta, whose greatness is praised in the Vedas? If Agni is called Adbhuta in the Vedas, then we accept without hesitation that the narrative of Skanda in the Mahābhārata is based on the Vedas themselves; but ordinarily we do not know this name as specially applied to Agni, just as we know him as Purohita, placed in front or Hota, priest of the Call or Jatavedas, knower of all that is born or saptajihva the seven-tongued, and similar appellations that unmistakably refer to Agni.

Nevertheless, if we examine the texts of the Veda, wherever this word occurs we find it generally applied to Agni and rarely to any other God such as Soma or Indra. Even then, when it is applied to the latter it is associated with attributes which are recognised terms for Agni. The word occurs about thirty times in the Rig Veda, and in four of them it is part of a compound word. If we carefully look into these passages, we can see that the term Adbhuta is almost exclusively applied to Agni.

Adbhuta in the Veda as in classical Sanskrit means 'wonderful', but it also means in the Veda, mahat the great, Supreme as admitted by the commentator Sāyaṇa in some places supported by

Nirukta. And because it is the Supreme it transcends our comprehension, and therefore it is used in the sense of the Transcendent which is the Supreme and the Wonderful. Sri Aurobindo has translated the word 'adbhuta' in the sense as explained above."

[Kapali Sastry, CWKS, Vol. 1, pp 84-85]

Commonality between Agni and Skanda

Note that the word Agni has the meaning of one who leads in front (agre nayati), RV (1.189.1), TS (1.1.14.10).

"Lead us by the good path to felicity." RV (1.189.1), TS (1.1.14.10)

This meaning fits the role of Skanda as the commander of the army of gods (devasenani). Agni battles the foes of darkness and ignorance as explicitly stated in many mantras such as RV (6.60.1), TS (4.2.11.2), RV

(6.16.34), TS (4.3.13.1) etc.

'He will pierce the vṛtra foe and conquer the plenitude'. RV (6.60.1)

The one difference between Agni and Skanda is that Agni has seven faces, whereas Skanda has only six faces. This feature is explained by noting that, Agni has all the six faces of Skanda and also the one highest, the supreme state. (KS).

The epithet 'Subrahmanya' usually applied to Skanda especially in southern India is assigned to Indra in the Rig Veda (10.47.3). A common name for Skanda is guhan, one who resides in the cave; this epithet is assigned to Agni in numerous manträs of Rig Veda.

Mayūra:

In the folklore the vehicle of Skanda is the peacock (mayūra). The symbolism behind this bird can be understood by understanding the meanings of the 2 component words in it namely 'mayu' and 'ra'. 'Maya' or 'mayu' in Rig Veda means bliss; ra means to move; Thus mayūra is the vehicle which carries the bliss of Skanda to the devotees.

Skanda in the Upanishad:

Note that the Chhandogya Upanishad mentions the god Skanda as the one who reveals the shore of immortality after crossing the ocean of ignorance.

"The blessed Sanatkumara shows the same beyond darkness (1); Him they call Skanda (2), Yes, they call him Skanda (3)." (Chh. U. 7.26.2)

This teaching is addressed by the sage Sanatkumāra to Nārada. For

details, see CWKS, Vol. 1, pp. 170-182.

🙏 Mahasena arpanamastu🙏

🙏 Namo Narasiṁha 🙏