Murugan

Murugan Invocation
Omkaram bindu samyuktam nityam dhyayanti yoginah Kamadam mokshadam chaiva Omkaraya namo namah

Murugan - Introduction
Gayatri Mantras of Lord Kartikeya Om Thatpurushaya Vidhmahe Maha Senaya Dhimahi Thanno Skanda Prachodhayath

The birth of Murugan is celebrated in the vedic month of Vaisakha by which the full moon coincides with the Vishakha Star. It is said Vishakha star is mystical star found in the heavens. It has its head in Mars Sign
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Murugan Scarpio and its body and lower extremities in the Venus Sign Libra. Therefore who is born during this period displays the inner balance and harmony between inner spiritual and the outer worldly realms. The word Murugan comes from the root Muruga meaning beautiful. And this is symbolic. Thus Murugan means the beautiful. Love and beauty are synonyms. In fact they are two sides of the same coin. In certain expressions love becomes beauty. While in other moment beauty becomes love. And in love the love object becomes the embodiment of beauty. And when you see beauty surrounding love naturally blossoms and flourishes. Murugan is one such embodiment where love and beauty blend together to reveal the ultimate the truth. Love and beauty are two wings of truth. Or two doors to reach the inner temple of truth. Murugan is popularly known by the Tamils as Arumurugan one with six faces. And he is worshipped by Tamils as their chief deity. It is believed that he taught the Tamil language and sat as the leader of the academy of poets. As a result language got divinized. Murugan is worshipped as the
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Murugan principle male deity in Tamil speaking regions of South India Chennai, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and Mauritius. Murugan is also perceived as the lord of destruction because he assumed embodied form simply to remove the atrocities of the demons that were supported by their guru Sukracharya. Therefore it is believed by the ardent followers that by worshipping Murugan one will be able to overcome the negative influences. Negative influence may have many outside influences like sickness, marriage, psychological, Debts, or any other kind. When there are such problems your mind begins of attract many influences because of a weaker consciousness. With your constant aspiration, and meditation an understanding comes that removes all kinds of negative influences. Traditionally the worship can be done on Tuesday or Friday. As part of ritualistic worship you fast as well. You can worship Murugan either with a spear or in the form of a small boy as bal-mura. Whatever the fprm may appeal to you will not matter really. The most important thing is your devotion
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Murugan

Why is Murugan remains unknown in English Speaking Regions?

This is related Muruga. to the tale of Palani

It so happened once that on Mount Kailas Murugan was playing at the feet of Shiva and Parbati while Ganesh was dancing with his trunk. It was the atmosphere of gaiety. The same time the wandering sage Narad appeared displaying the Veena and playing the insignia tune Sriman Narayana Narayana Narayana Shiva welcomes Narad gracefully. Afterwards Narad gave a special mango fruit. Both Ganapati and Murugan waited anxiously for the fruit. At this Shiva decided for a contest to choose the right person for the fruit. Accordingly Shiva explained one who completes circling the universe faster and returns first shall get the fruit. Ganesh

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Murugan Si Murugan began the journey riding the Blue peacock as it fluttered its wings like the golden chariot and flew across. In the meantime Ganesh realizing his disadvantage started circling around his parents worshipping them. When Shiva enquired about this act Ganesh spoke: It is because of you alone this world arises and falls. Indeed the father and the mother are the universe. This pleased Shiva and Prbati and thus they gave the fruit to Ganesh. Later when Murugan arrived to claim the fruit he realized that it was already given to Ganesh. Murugan got very angry and his lips turned red and he sat on his peacock. No amount of explanation from Shiva could pacify Murugan. Then Parbati intervened and addressed him lovingly Kathirvela another name for Murugan. Parbati let him sit on her lap. Ganesh remain bewildered watching Murugan as he rode his peacock out of anger and reached the southern part and landed at Tiru Avinankudi Hill.And as he landed there on the hill his anger cooled off. Both Shiva and Parbati followed and
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Murugan tried to persuade Murugan to return but he refused instead chose to stay in the South. Thus the legend Palani Murugan states that Murugan remained in South India.

Coconut and ritual worship

Coconut is purest fruit that can be offered for ritualistic worship. It symbolizes spiritual maturity. The sweet nectarine water of coconut is natural nourishment. It has all the nutrients that are found in Mothers Milk that nourishes the young one. When the coconut is young its water is sweet nectarine. And the soft gel is attached to the inner lining of the nut. It cannot be taken out intact. According to Hindus this symbolizes attachment. As the coconut matures the sweet nectar thickens to form white jelly. However it still remains attached to the inner lining. And the two cannot be separated. When the coconut dries the inner lining or jelly separates from the inner wall of the shell. However when dried the specks of oil surfaces and the whole nut be obtained.
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Murugan

The dried coconut symbolizes maturity as the inner and outer are now separable. The outer layer of the dried coconut is coarsely knit fiber. It represents human mind engrossed in jealousy, greed, lust, selfishness, and other vices. These must vanish so that the seer attain to inner purity. It is for this reason a dried whole coconut is offered to the sacrificial fire of the yagna. Dried Coconut fruit has three distinct eyes symbolizing creation-preservation-and dissolution. The eyes also symbolize the two physical eyes of a human and the third the mystical eye that lies between the two physical eyes. Symbolically coconut represents three aspects: 1. The hard dried outer shell symbolized physical composition of the skull. It is hard to crack. This symbolizes human mind. Human mind is full of unwanted thoughts. 2. The inner lining represents human psychology

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Murugan 3. And the untouched, uncontaminated spiritual layer. The dried coconut with husk is offered to the sacrificial yagna fire while the dried nut is cracked to burst open and nectarine juice is offered th the seekers present as blessings and the divine vibrations that brings blessings and prosperity and inner contentment.

Birth of Murugan
Kartikeya, the second son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati or Shakti, is known by many names Subramaniam, Sanmukha, Shadanana, Skanda and Guha. In the southern states of India, Kartikeya is a popular deity and is better known as Murugan. He is an embodiment of perfection, a brave leader of divine forces, and a war god, who was created to destroy the demons, representing the negative tendencies in human beings.

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Murugan Kartikeyas other name, Shadanana, which means one with six heads corresponds to the five senses and the mind. The six heads also stand for virtues that enable him to see in all the directions - an important attribute that ensures that he counters all kinds blows that can hit him. The war imagery and the six heads of Kartikeya indicates that if humans wish to lead themselves efficiently through the battle of life, they must always be alert lest they are shown the wrong path by crafty people with the six demonic vices: kaama (sex - desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (passion), mada (ego) and matsarya (jealousy). Kartikeya carries in one hand a spear and his other hand is always blessing devotees. His vehicle is a peacock, a pious bird that grips with its feet a serpent, which symbolizes the ego and desires of people. The peacock represents the destroyer of harmful habits and the conqueror of sensual desires. The symbolism of Kartikeya thus points to the ways and means of reaching perfection in life.

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Murugan The references to Murugan in Sanskrit literature can be traced back to the first millennium BCE. There are references to Subrahmanya in Kautilyas Arthashastra, in the works of Patanjali, in Kalidasa's epic poem the Kumarasambhavam and in the Sanskrit drama Mricchakatika. The Kushanas, who governed from what are today Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a republican clan in the Punjab, struck coins bearing the image of Skanda. The deity was venerated also by the Ikshvakus, an Andhra dynasty, and the Guptas. The worship of Kumra was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. The Shanmata system propagated by him included this sect. In many Shiva and Devi temples of Tamil Nadu, Subrahmaya is installed on the left of the main deity. Sati, the consort of Shiva immolated herself at the Daksha Yagna, sacrificed her in yagna. Sati was reborn as Uma, or Prbati the daughter of the mountain king Himavaan (the Himalayas). Shiva withdrew himself from the universe and engaged himself in yogic meditation in the Himalayas.
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Murugan In the meanwhile, Surapadman (an asura) ravaged the earth and tormented its beings. It was realized by the gods that only the son born of Shiva could lead the gods to victory over Tarakasura, Surapadman and their companions. They plotted with Kamadeva, to shoot a flower arrow at Shiva, as he sat in meditation, so as to make him fall in love with Prbati. When Kama aimed his arrow, Shiva opened his third eye and burned Kama to ashes instantly. The sparks of the fiery seed of Shiva were unbearable; even the fire God Agni could not bear them. This fire was then transported by the river Ganges into the Saravana forest into a pond called the Saravana Poigai (located at mouths of river Ganges), where the sparks became six children. They were raised by the six Krittika or Kartika - the stars that make up the Pleiades, earning the name Karthikeya. However Prbati combined these six babies into one with six faces, i.e. Shanmukha or Arumugan. Since he was born in the Saravana he was also called 'Saravanabhava'.

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Murugan He was brought up by Ganga until he attained the teens. On return Murugan became the supreme general of the demigods then escorted devas and led the army of devas to victory against the asuras. The six sites at which Karthikeya sojourned while leading his armies against Surapadman are Tiru-tta-nikai, Swamimalai, Tiruva-vinankudi (Palani), Pazhamudirsolai, Tirupparam-kunram and Tiruchendur. All these sites have ancient temples glorified by the Tamil poems of Tiru-muruga-atruppadai of the Sangam period - 3rd century AD. And these six sites collectively came to be known as Arupadai Veedu - Tamil, it means the six battle camps of the Lord.

Hindu epics
The first elaborate account of Karthikeyas origin occurs in the Mahabharata. In a complicated story, he is said to have been born from Agni and Svha, after the latter impersonated the six of the seven wives of the Saptarishi (Seven Sages). The actual wives then become the Pleiades. Karthikeya is said to have been born to destroy the Asura Mahisha. However in
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Murugan later mythology, Mahisha became the adversary of Durga. Indra attacks Karthikeya as he sees the latter as a threat, until Shiva intervenes and makes Karthikeya the commander-in-chief of the army of the Devas. He is also married to Devasena, Indras daughter. The origin of this marriage lies probably in the punning of Deva-sena-pati. It can mean either lord of Devasena or Lord of the army (sena) of Devas. However the Ramayana version is closer to the stories told in the Puranas.

Vedas
The Atharva Veda describes Kumaran as Agnibhuh or son of Agni, the fire god. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to him as the son of Rudra and the ninth form of Agni. The Taittiriya Aranyaka contains the Gayatri mantra for Shanmukha. The Chandogya Upanishad refers to Skanda as the way that leads to wisdom. The
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Murugan Baudhayana Dharmasutra mentions Skanda as Mahasena and Subrahmanya. The Aranya Parva canto of the Mahabharata relates the legend of Kartikeya Skanda in considerable detail. However The Skanda Purana is devoted to the narrative of Kartikeya. The Upanisahds also constantly make a reference to a Supreme Being called Guha, the indweller.

Puranas
Though slightly varying versions occur in the Puranas, they broadly follow the same pattern. By this period, the identification of Rudra with Agni that can be traced back to the Vedas and Brahmanas, had clearly made Karthikeya the son of Shiva. The Skanda Purana narrates that Shiva first wed Dakshayani (also named Sati), the granddaughter of Brahma, and the daughter of Daksha. Daksha never liked Shiva, who, symbolizing destruction and detachment, begs for food, dances in a graveyard smeared with ashes, and has no possessions, not even good clothes for himself. Daksha publicly insults Shiva in a Yagna ceremony, and Dakshayani
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Murugan immolates herself. The Yagna is destroyed although protected by all the other Gods and the rishis. Taraka believed that, because Shiva is an ascetic and his earlier marriage was conducted with great difficulty, his remarriage was out of the question hence his boon of being killed by Shivas son alone would give him invincibility. The Devas manage to get Shiva married to Parvati incarnation of Dakshayani by making Manmatha - Kama, the God of love awaken him from his penance, but Manmatha incurred the Shivas wrath indicated by the opening his third eye Netri Kann, and being destroyed and resurrected. Shiva hands over his effulgence of the third eye used to destroy Manmatha to Agni, as he alone is capable of handling it until it becomes the desired offspring. But even Agni, tortured by its heat, hands it over to Ganga who in turn deposits it in a lake in a forest of reeds (sharavanam). The Goddess Prbati Consort of Lord Shiva assumed the form of this Water body as she alone is capable of bearing the Tejas of Shiva. The child is finally born in this forest (vana) with six faces-eesanam, sathpurusham,
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Murugan vamadevam, agoram, sathyojatham and adhomugam. He is first spotted and cared for by six women representing the Pleiades - Kritika in Sanskrit. He thus gets named Karthikeya. As a young lad, he destroys Taraka. He is also called Kumara.

Divine legends
Given that legends related to Murugan are recounted separately in several Hindu epics, some differences between the various versions are observed. Some Sanskrit epics and Puranas indicate that he was the elder son of Shiva. This is suggested by the legend connected to his birth; the wedding of Shiva and Prbati being necessary for the birth of a child who would vanquish the demon named Tarakasur. Also, Kartikeya is seen helping Shiva fight the newborn Ganesh, Shivas other son, in the Shiva Purana. In the Ganapati Khandam of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, he is seen as the elder son of Shiva and Ganesh as the younger. In South India, it is believed that he is the younger of the two. A Puranic story has Ganesh obtain a divine mango of
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Murugan knowledge from Narada winning a contest with Murugan. While Murugan speeds around the world thrice to win the contest for the mango, Ganesh circumambulates Shiva and Prbati thrice as an equivalent and is given the mango. After winning it, he offers to give the mango to his upset brother. After this event, Ganesh was considered the elder brother owing as a tribute to his wisdom. In many traditions, Murugan is seen as a bachelor. Many of the major events in Murugans life take place during his youth, and legends surrounding his birth are popular. This has encouraged the worship of Murugan as a child-God, very similar to the worship of the child Krishna in north India.

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