[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: ARTICLE : A stotra on skanda
In article <ghenDvHMEI.C8C@netcom.com>,
Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <rbalasub@ecn.purdue.edu> wrote:
>There are many important kshetras like pazani (our kula devata BTW),
> pazamuthir
>cholai, thiruththaNi, etc. The speciality of pazani is that the idol is
> made of
>paashaaNam. It was installed by a siddha, and the abishekam from it is
>credited
>with medicinal properties. The famous vaLLi malai swamigaL, who
>re-popularized
>thirupukaz recital got cured of his chronic stomach ache by pazani prasaadam.
An interesting point is that Skanda is said to have married Valli,
according to the Tamil tradition, but in the North, and even in
Karnataka for that matter, the prevailing belief is that Skanda is an
eternal brahmachaarii.
Since my query to you, I have done a little bit of reading on the
symbolism of Skanda. Skanda is said to be shhaDaanana, having six
heads, and dvishhaDbhuja, having twelve hands. The six heads represent
the five sense organs plus the mind. Another view is related to Yoga.
There are six chakras or centres in the body -- the muulaadhaara,
the svaadhishhThaana, the maNipura, the anaahata, the vishudhha, the
aajnaa. For ordinary people, the psychic energy
is said to be concentrated in the first three (ie. lower three) chakras.
But for perfect yogii's, the psychic energy flows uniformly through
all the six chakras. This perfect state of consciousness is SubrahmaNya.
The twelve hands may indicate the power and capacity to accomplish many
tasks simultaneously.
AshhaaDha shukla shhashhThii (the six lunar day of the bright half of
the month of AshhaaDha) is called SubrahmaNya ShhashhThii. Skanda is
said to have defeated the demon tarakaasura on this day. He is also
the commander-in-chief of the army of Gods, devasenaapati.
Skanda is the personification of chastity. His vehicle, the peacock is
shown as killing a snake with one of its legs. The snake represents
lust and the peacock symbolizes chastity. Hence, SubrahmaNya, the god
of chastity, is shown riding the peacock.
>An interesting thing is that the swamigaL was a kannadiga by birth and did not
>know thamiz. The thirupukaz was taught to him by none other than ramaNa
>maharshhi himself! After this the swamigaL established thirupukaz bajanai
>sabhas all over TN, and my grand mother also learnt it's recital from him!
>Another interesting place is thiru kazukunDram, where 2 eagles come at around
>noon and accept prasadam. This happens every day at around the same time and
>has been going on for atleast the past 1000 years. I have had the good fortune
>of going to this temple and witnessing this fact. The fact about the eagles is
>mentioned in "Ripley's believe it or not" also.
>Incidentally the root "skand" means to leap or go. So skanda is the person who
>helps us leap over the misery of ajnaana, by granting jnaana. Another common
>name for him is guha, signifying that he resides in the heart.
>
>Ramakrishnan.
Anand
