Murugan - (Subrāmaṇya, Skanda, Saravanabhava, Kārttikeya, Kumāra)

Murugan  - (Subrāmaṇya, Skanda, Saravanabhava, Kārttikeya, Kumāra)

As the second son of Lord Śiva, Murugan the embodiment of skilful action, just as Gaṇeśa is the personification of wisdom. Skilful action (kuśala karma) is that which is direct at Ātmā bodha —self-realization. The several and collective human perfections are all personified in Murugan. When all the five senses and the mind as the co-ordinating factor are sublimated and directed towards enlightenment then one attains super-consciousness.

Lord Murugan was born from the Tejas or intense energy of Lord Śiva in order to relieve the gods of the oppression of Tārakāsura who had gained a boon of invincibility from Brahmā.

Tāraka-asura means the “demon-of-salvation” and he represents those factors which hinder real progress in both material and spiritual terms. The demon personifies our selfish delusions of what we think is in our own self-interest but is actually not.

A person with a migraine headache for example may think it in their best interest to have a hole drilled in their head to relieve the pressure —a misadventure which would surely result in death!!

So we as individuals and as a society are addicted to the pursuit of short-term self-interest goals which in the long term are detrimental to us. We see this in the environmental and economic policies of short-sighted administrators.

Skilful Means and real Universal Wellbeing requires that this demon of short-term self-interest be dispatched — requiring immense effort!

The 6 heads represent a number of concepts associated with spiritual growth and progress.

1. the organs of knowledge (jñānendriyas) i.e. touch, taste, hearing, smell, sight, and the mind as the 6th.

2. the six seats of consciousness in the subtle body — known as the Chakras: Mūlādhāra, Svādhiṣṭhāna, Maṇipura, Anāhata, Viśuddhā and Ājñā. The path of sādhana is a journey through these states of ever expanding consciousness.

3. They represent the 5 states of matter (earth, water, fire, air and ether) and the jīva.

4. The 6 qualities of the Supreme Being — omniscience, non-attachment, omnipotence, sovereignty, grace and glory.

He was born as 6 separate beings and was the coalesced into a single entity with six heads and twelve arms.

This is also indicative of the 5 kośas or sheaths and the jīvātman: The food sheath, the vital sheath, the mind, the intellect, and bliss sheath and the individual Self.

The 12 arms are symbolic of the skill and talent to perform multiple tasks and to progress skilfully materially. Both spiritual and material progress are inseparable from a well harmonised and integrated vision of the world and our place in it.

Murugan has many forms each one depicting a different aspect of his complex personality.

As Skanda or Kumāra he is the embodiment of chastity (brahmacārya) and conservation of the vital essence (retas) considered as essential for spiritual practice. In this form he appears as a young lad, a religious student clad only in a loin-cloth (kaupinam) and carry his spear.

As Ṣaṇmukha or Subrāmaṇya he is married to two wives:—

Valli (the earth) was the daughter of a humble farmer, unsophisticated and uneducated. She represents the casual or informal means of progress and growth. Through intuition and common-sense one can sometimes become more wise than an highly educated professor.

The other wife was Devasenā (army of the gods) or Devakunjari (divine celestial elephant) — these names are suggestive of ability and power of action. The Devas rose to their high position through sheer endeavour. Indra became king of the gods through the skilful performance of 100 yajñas. The eminence of the celestials is due to skilful means alone.

Symbols

Among many weapons of Murugan the most important is the Spear. The spear (kunta or vēl in Tamil) represents the focussed mind directed at the goal to be obtained or the enemy to be slain in the form of self-referent desire (kāma), anger (krodha), delusion (moha), arrogance or feeling of superiority (mada), niggardliness (lobha), and malicious envy (mātsarya).

A weapon which is unique to Murugan is the tanka or chisel used by sculptors and stone-masons — śilpis. It represents the work that needs to be done on ourselves in order to manifest our true essence nature. – The figure is already present in the stone, but it takes the skill of the sculptor to liberate it. In the same way the Jīvātman is present within the body/mind casing, it takes the skill of a sādhaka to reveal it.

Murugan’s vehicle the Mayūra — 

peacock which represents pride, arrogance and notions of superiority which need to be controlled in order to cultivate skilful means.

Another creature associated with Murugan is the insignia of cock which appears on his standard. The cock always symbolizes the immanent dawn of realization. The tame snake too is his companion, indicating the taming of anger and maliciousness.