Chapter 44

Janamejaya said, “Thou hast described the merits of the Sarasvati, O bestof Brahmanas! It behoveth thee, O regenerate one, to describe to me theinvestiture of Kumara (by the gods). Great is the curiosity I feel. Tellme everything, therefore, about the time when and the place where and themanner in which the adorable and puissant lord Skanda was invested (withthe command of the celestial forces). Tell me also, O foremost ofspeakers, who they were that invested him and who performed the actualrites, and how the celestial generalissimo made a great carnage of theDaityas!”

Vaishampayana said, “This curiosity that thou feelest is worthy of thybirth in Kuru’s race. The words that I shall speak, will, O Janamejaya,be conducive to thy pleasure. I shall narrate to thee the story of theinvestiture of Kumara and the prowess of that high-souled one, since, Oruler of men thou wishest to hear it! In days of yore the vital seed ofMaheshvara coming out, fell into a blazing fire. The consumer ofeverything, the adorable Agni, could not burn that indestructible seed.On the other hand, the bearer of sacrificial libations, in consequence ofthat seed, became possessed of great energy and splendour. He could notbear within himself that, seed of mighty energy. At the command ofBrahman, the lord Agni, approaching (the river) Ganga, threw into herthat divine seed possessed of the effulgence of the Sun. Ganga also,unable to hold it, cast it on the beautiful breast of Himavat that isworshipped by the celestials. Thereupon Agni’s son began to grow there,overwhelming all the worlds by his energy. Meanwhile (the six) Krittikasbeheld that child of fiery splendour. Seeing that puissant lord, thathigh-souled son of Agni, lying on a clump of heath, all the sixKrittikas, who were desirous of a son, cried aloud, saying, “This childis mine, this child is mine!” Understanding the state of mind of thosesix mothers, the adorable lord Skanda sucked the breasts of all havingassumed six mouths. Beholding that puissance of the child, the Krittikas,those goddesses of beautiful forms, became filled with wonder. And sincethe adorable child had been cast by the river Ganga upon the summit ofHimavat, that mountain looked beautiful, having, O delighter of theKurus, been transformed into gold! With that growing child the wholeEarth became beautiful, and it was for this reason that mountains (fromthat time) came to be producers of gold. Possessed of great energy, thechild came to be called by the name of Kartikeya. At first he had beencalled by the name of Gangeya. He became possessed of high asceticpowers. Endued with self-restraint and asceticism and great energy, thechild grew up, O monarch, into a person of highly agreeable features likeSoma himself. Possessed of great beauty, the child lay on that excellentand golden clump of heath, adored and praised by Gandharvas and ascetics.Celestial girls, by thousands, conversant with celestial music and dance,and of very beautiful features, praised him and danced before him. Theforemost of all rivers, Ganga, waited upon that god. The Earth also,assuming great beauty, held the child (on her lap). The celestial priestBrihaspati performed the usual rites after birth, in respect of thatchild. The Vedas assuming a four-fold form, approached the child withjoined hands. The Science of arms, with its four divisions, and all theweapons as also all kinds of arrows, came to him. One day, the child, ofgreat energy, saw that god of gods, the lord of Uma, seated with thedaughter of Himavat, amid a swarm of ghostly creatures. Those ghostlycreatures, of emaciated bodies, were of wonderful features. They wereugly and of ugly features, and wore awkward ornaments and marks. Theirfaces were like those of tigers and lions and bears and cats and makaras.Others were of faces like those of scorpions; others of faces like thoseof elephants and camels and owls. And some had faces like those ofvultures and jackals. And some there were that had faces like those ofcranes and pigeons and Kurus. And many amongst them had bodies like thoseof dogs and porcupines and iguanas and goats and sheep and cows. And someresembled mountains and some oceans, and some stood with uplifted discsand maces for their weapons. And some looked like masses of antimony andsome like white mountains. The seven Matris also were present there, Omonarch, and the Sadhyas, the Viswedevas, the Maruts, the Vasus, theRudras, the Adityas, the Siddhas, the Danavas, the birds, the self-bornand adorable Brahman with his sons, and Vishnu, and Shakra, all wentthither for beholding that child of unfading glory. And many of theforemost of celestials and Gandharvas, headed by Narada and manycelestial Rishis and Siddhas headed by Brihaspati, and the fathers of theuniverse, those foremost ones, they that are regarded as gods of thegods, and the Yamas and the Dharmas, all went there. Endued with greatstrength, the child possessed of great ascetic power, proceeded to thepresence of that Lord of the gods, (Mahadeva), armed with trident andPinaka. Seeing the child coming, the thought entered the mind of Siva, asit did that of Himavat’s daughter and that of Ganga and of Agni, as towhom amongst the four the child would first approach for honouring him orher. Each of them thought, ‘He will come to me!’ Understanding that thiswas the expectation cherished by each of those four, he had recourse tohis Yoga powers and assumed at the same time four different forms. Indeedthe adorable and puissant lord assumed those four forms in an instant.The three forms that stood behind were Sakha and Visakha and Naigameya.The adorable and puissant one, having divided his self into four forms,(proceeded towards the four that sat expecting him). The form calledSkanda of wonderful appearance proceeded to the spot where Rudra wassitting. Visakha went to the spot where the divine daughter of Himavatwas. The adorable Sakha, which is Kartikeya’s Vayu form proceeded towardsAgni. Naigameya, that child of fiery splendour, proceeded to the presenceof Ganga. All those forms, of similar appearance, were endued with greateffulgence. The four forms proceeded calmly to the four gods andgoddesses (already mentioned). All this seemed exceedingly wonderful. Thegods, the Danavas, and the Rakshasas, made a loud noise at sight of thatexceedingly wonderful incident making the very hair to stand on end. ThenRudra and the goddess Uma and Agni, and Ganga, all bowed unto theGrandsire, that Lord of the Universe. Having duly bowed unto him, O bullamong kings, they said these words, O monarch, from desire of doing goodunto Kartikeya. ‘It behoveth thee, O Lord of the gods, to grant to thisyouth, for the sake of our happiness, some kind of sovereignty that maybe suitable to him and that he may desire. At this, the adorableGrandsire of all the worlds, possessed of great intelligence, began tothink within his mind as to what he should bestow upon that youth. He hadformerly given away unto the formless ones (gods) all kinds of wealthover which the high-souled celestials, the Gandharvas, the Rakshasas,ghosts, Yakshas, birds, and snakes have dominion. Brahma, therefore,regarded that youth to be fully entitled to that dominion (which had beenbestowed upon the gods). Having reflected for a moment, the Grandsire,ever mindful of the welfare of the gods, bestowed upon him the status ofa generalissimo among all creatures, O Bharata! And the Grandsire furtherordered all those gods that were regarded as the chief of the celestialsand other formless beings to wait upon him. Then the gods headed byBrahman, taking that youth with them, together came to Himavat. The spotthey selected was the bank of the sacred and divine Sarasvati, thatforemost of rivers, taking her rise from Himavat, that Sarasvati which,at Samanta-panchaka, is celebrated over the three worlds. There, on thesacred bank, possessing every merit, of the Sarasvati, the gods and theGandharvas took their seats with hearts well-pleased in consequence ofthe gratification of all their desires.”