lord muruga
The Skanda Purana is one of the eighteen Puranas, and it contains the details of Lord Skanda, who is the son of Lord Shiva and Mata Parvati. The text is considered as very holy by the Kaumara sects of people, who worship Lord Muruga as their chief god. This text describes his war with the demons such as Surapadman, and about his wonderful miracles performed in the life of his devotees, and it also mentions about his brother Vinayaka, and about his parents Shiva and Parvati.
Lord Skanda is also called as Muruga, Kumara, Vadivela, Senthil Andava and by various other names, is worshipped mainly by the Tamil speaking people. His six main temples are situated in Tamil Nadu, and they are considered as very sacred temples of Lord Muruga. In this Purana, his marriage with Valli and Devasena is also mentioned, and this famous Purana was written by the great sage Sri Veda Vyasa and Lord Murugan’s vehicle is the divine peacock.
STORIES FROM SKANDA PURANA
STORY NO.1
As per Skanda Purana, Veerabahu is the Army Chief of Lord Muruga. Lord Muruga is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. Through the power of Goddess Parvathi, nine soldiers were born to help Lord Muruga in the battle field. Among the nine commanders, Veerabahu is the main commander of Lord Muruga’s army.
Veerabahu acted as a mediator between Lord Muruga and the Asura King Soorapadman. Veerabahu has advised Soorapadman to avoid the war, and asked him to act in a friendly manner with Lord Muruga. But Soorapadman arrogantly behaved with Veerabahu, and started the war with Lord Muruga. Veerabahu occupied an important role in winning the battle with Soorapadman.
STORY NO.2
As per Skanda Purana, Lord Muruga received the Vel (Divine Spear) from his mother Ma Shakti Devi in order to win in the battle, which was held between him and the Demon Surapadman.
The purpose of Muruga’s birth is to destroy the evil and to protect the good ones. Since Surapadman was supposed to be killed only in the hands of Lord Muruga, he was born out of the third eye spark of Lord Shiva. The Divine weapon “SPEAR” also known as “VEL” in Tamil, contains the powers equivalent to Lord Muruga, and that’s why, in some of the temples of Lord Muruga, the divine spear is installed in the main shrine, in place of the idol of Lord Muruga, and puja would be done for that divine spear.
STORY NO.3
As per the Holy Skanda Purana, the important army generals who served under Lord Veerabhagu Devar are as follows:-
Veera Kesari is a courageous person and roars like a lion during the time of the war with devas and aruras, and is a great divine helper of Lord Muruga.
Veera Mahendra is a powerful person, who strictly obeys his master Muruga’s instructions, and helped Lord Indra during his fight with the demons, and he contains powers similar to Lord Indra.
Veera Maheswara is a great warrior and contains the powers of Lord Shiva and Shakti and waits for his master’s instructions, and carries his task with much ease and destroys the forces of the enemies.
Veera Purandhara is the destroyer of the places of enemies, and gives great victory to the demigods during their fight with the demons.
Veera Rakkadha is a humble servant of Lord Muruga and helped him during the battle of devas and asuras, and also protected the demigods from the demons.
Veera Marthanda is another warrior and divine servant of Lord Muruga, who is capable of defeating the enemy forces within a few seconds of time.
Veera Anthaka is a most confidential and a loyal servant of Lord Muruga, who always used to praise the glory of the lord by chanting his various names, and will immediately follow the instructions given by Lord Muruga.
Veeradheera is a great warrior who had made a major contribution in the battle between Muruga and Surapadhma and destroyed the army forces of Surapadhma.
STORY NO.4
As per Skanda Purana, Sumukha and Sudeha are the mighty sons of Lord Veerabahu, who is worshipped as the protector guard, and he is the army chief of the army of Lord Muruga. His sons Sumukha and Sudeha were participated in the war along with him, and defeated the demon king Surapadman. They also attended the marriage ceremony of Lord Muruga, when Muruga was married with Ma Valli and Ma Devasena.
Sumukha and Sudeha were married with chaste and pious princesses, and after living a full-fledged life in the earth for many years, finally they went to the abode of Lord Muruga, the Skanda Loka, along with their wives, and they are serving there as divine gate keepers of Lord Muruga. No one can enter into the Skanda Loka, without getting the permission of Sumukha and Sudeha.
The details of Sumukha and Sudeha are found in ancient holy texts of Hinduism, and they are described as handsome and noble warrior gods. They have got the opportunity to serve Lord Muruga itself, due to their good karmic deeds, and they would be present forever in the Skanda Loka, and there is no end for them.
They used to allow the holy sages and saints like Agastya and Narada, inside the Skanda Loka, only after getting the permission from Lord Muruga. These divine messengers would fulfill our wishes and bestow various boons to us, based on our sincere bhakti on them. Similar to worshipping Lord Muruga, we have to worship these holy divine gate keepers, in order to lead a tension-less life. They would protect us from our enemies, and would act as a guardian to us, and also would come with us, in all walks of our life.
“OM MURUGA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR