Request for meaning of "Sri Subrahmanya Ashtottara"

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vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

Request the meaning of 108 Ashtottara of Lord Subrahmanya Starting from

skandaya namah;shanmukhaya namah;devasenApathaye namah ; etc; etc;

(PS: Some of them are little complicated: for eg., dambaya namah;parama dambaya namah;....)

It will be nice to have the meanings for the whole ashtottara.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

I have attempted this exercise with the AnjanEya aStOttara satanAmAvaLi and learnt a lot from it, besides familiarizing myself with the nAmAvaLi itself. Also, some namas open out into stories from our purANAs that are not commonly known.

I'm sure this will be a wonderful experience. I will contribute as little/much as I know and will learn from everyone else as well.

Thanks vs_manjunath for creating this excellent opportunity.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »


vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

karthik76 wrote:I have attempted this exercise with the AnjanEya aStOttara satanAmAvaLi and learnt a lot from it, besides familiarizing myself with the nAmAvaLi itself. Also, some namas open out into stories from our purANAs that are not commonly known.

I'm sure this will be a wonderful experience. I will contribute as little/much as I know and will learn from everyone else as well.

Thanks vs_manjunath for creating this excellent opportunity.
I'm also equally happy that U have found this to be a wonderful experience.

Since u have mentioned that you have learnt a lot from similar exercise on "AnjanEya aStOttara", please share this useful info for all the rasikas. Parallely please provide meanings to Subrahmanya aStOttara.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

My apologies for not being able to post during the last few days.

I am looking forward to sharing whatever little I know or can find out on the names in the suBrahmaNya aStOttara. I see this as a great opportunity to learn through the grace of suBrahmaNya from researching on this topic and reading posts from everyone else in the forum.

I prefer to keep my experience on the AnjanEya aStOttara as a separate post, merely for reasons of clarity and continuity of thought. I shall post a new article on the topic soon.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

SadAnanam kunkuma raktha varNam
mahAmathim divya mayUra vAhanam
rudrasya sUnum sura sainya nATham
guham sadhAham SaraNam prapadhyE

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

1. Om skandAya nama:

Sri Kripananda Variyar swamigal, in his skanda purAna upanyasam, quotes from the niGhanTu - "SatrUn SoSayati iti skanda:", meaning - "He weakens / causes-to-wear-away His enemies, hence skanda". He incarnated to be the commander of the dEva armies. Sri krSNa says in the Bhagavat gIta - "sEnAninAm aham skanda:" - "Of commanders, I am skanda".

The viSNu sahasranAma has a Sloka -

skanda: skandadharO dhuryO varadO vAyuvAhanah |
vAsudEvO bruhadbhAnu: AdidEvah purandarah ||

where viSNu is extolled by the nAmA - skanda. Adi Sankara, in his commentary on the viSNu sahasranAma defines skanda as -"skandati iti skanda:", meaning - "He melts (like butter) and flows (like sweet nectar) in the minds of devotees, hence skanda".

I haven't had any success in finding the niGhanTu on the internet. The sanskrit dictionaries are good, but more often than not, I am left wanting on details when I search. I appreciate anyone who can post any references or links.

Thanks
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:31, edited 1 time in total.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

It's nice that u r providing meanings and also connected commentaries from various sources.I'm sure we will have an wonderful experience as we proceed.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

Thank you. It is your interest that 's keeping my effort up.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

2. Om guhAya nama:

The nAma 'guhA' means 'the One who dwells in the cave (of the heart)'.

Adi Sankara uses this nAma a few times in his suBrahmaNya Bhujangam, but one Slokam is appropriate here -

yaThAbDhestarangA layam yAnti tungAs taThaivApada: sanniDhou sEvatAm mE |
itIvOrmipankIrnrNAm darSayantam sadA BhAvayE hrt sarOjam guham tam ||

SlOka 5 - http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/subrabhujanga.pdf

Just as the leaping waves in the ocean calm down when they reach the shore, so do my unsettling worries get absorbed when I take refuge in You. O guhA, You provide refuge to the human minds (troubled by waves of worries) who see You as the lotus shining in their hearts.

Adi Sankara praises guhA as the lotus shining in the caves of devotees' hearts.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:31, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

3. Om ShaNmuKhAya nama:

ShaNmuKhAya - the six faced One

As the skanda purAna says - 'Shadvaktram dvAdasha Bhujam aShTAdasha vilOchanam' - the One with six faces, twelve hands and eighteen eyes. Siva revealed his sixth face 'aDhO muKham" (in addition to his five faces - ISAna, tatpuruSa, aGhOra, vAmadEva and sadyOjAta) when manifesting skanda.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:31, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

4. Om PAlanEtrasutAya nama:
son of the One that has an eye on His forehead.

5. Om praBhavE nama:
the opulent One
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:33, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

Karthik great job!
I thought that prabhava/prabhavE meant distinguished/excellent and not opulent which to me has a sort of negative connotataion.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

Bhava iti sarvEshvara shivaH |
tasmAt jAyatE iti prabhavaH ||
(Bhava is the Lord of all viz., Siva (refer rudram). Since he emanated (pra) from Him he is prabhava)

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

rshankar,

My use of the word 'opulence' was to indicate omnipotence or infiniteness. Now that I think about it, the word 'opulence' is imprecise in this context and could definitely convey mere 'richness' or 'abundance'. I stand corrected. Thank you for your question.

cml,

Could there be a better explanation for this? Interestingly enough, the same nAma also appears in the AnjanEya AShTOttara shatanAmAvaLi. AnjanEya is also considered an amSa of Siva.

Thanks.
Last edited by karthik76 on 13 Feb 2008, 02:16, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

6. Om pingaLAya nama:

the red hued One

One DhyAna SlOkA for skanda describes skanda as -

SaDAnanam kumkuma rakta varNam mahAmatim divya mayUra vAhanam
rudrasya sUnum surasainya nAtham guham sadAham sharaNam prapadyE
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:33, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

karthik76 wrote:Om pingaLAya nama:

the red hued One
Same sentiment in the kAvaDi - 'engum niraindiruppAn, eTTiyum eTTAdiruppAn, kunkuma varNanaDI kiLiyE, kumara perumAnaDI'

Very nice job!

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

pi^NgaLa actually means fire in this context. Siva's third eye is described as pi^NgaLAkSha. Since Muruga was born out of the third eye of Siva he had the firy red (effulgent) hue. It is an unnderstatement to equate him to the reddish dull colour of kumkum.

There is an interesting anecdote. PrabudadEvarAya the sponsor of AruNagiri in order to test him requested him to show him Muruga in person. However AruNagiri warned him that he could be seen only in the mind (mAnasa) and no one could stand his effulgence. But since the king insisted AruNagiri sang the famous (adaLacEDanArADA) thiruppugazh which invoked Muruga to appear dancing on the peacock. And indeed he did appear and as the king gazed he completely lost his eyesight. Finally he got back his sight through the intervention of AruNagiri after doing penance at Thiruchendur.

The Thiruppugazh has been superbly rendered by Sudha as a raagamaalika....

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

CML,

Thanks for the explanation.

I realize that while 'kumkuma rakta varNam' merely indicates the colour, pingaLa also indicates attributes like brightness, saturation, temperature, brilliance etc.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

In the rAmAyaNa, sage vishvAmitra concludes his narration about skanda to rAma saying -

skanda iti abruvan dEvA: skannam garBha parishravAt
kArtikEyam mahAbAhum kAkutsta jvalana upamAnam

He describes skanda as the One comparable or analogous to flaming fire.
Last edited by karthik76 on 15 Feb 2008, 00:48, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

In fact the firy seed of Siva was carried by Agni who deposited it with Ganga who was unable to bear its heat and ejected it from her womb (skannam garbhaprishravam (tasmAt skandaH (the dhatu skand also means to ooze out). The seed was so effulgent that all that came into contact was turned into firy gold. In fact as valmiki says gold itself got its firy brightness from contact with the seed of skanda:

jAtarUpamiti khyAtaM tadAprabh^Riti rAghava |
suvarNaM puruShavyAgra hutAshanasma prabhaM ||


(thenceforth gold itself was called 'jAtarUpaM (meaning one that got its (real) form due to its firy brilliance)

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

CML - thank you for the context. This leads us to the next nAma -

7. Om krttikAsUnavE nama:

son of the krttikA maidens

From the rAmAyaNa -

tam kumAram tato jAtam sa indra: saha marut gaNA: |
kshIra samBhAvanArtthAya krttikA: samayOjayan ||

In order to nourish with milk, the boy hence born, indra together with the marut gaNas arranged for the krttikAs.

It is interesting to note how everyone involved in skanda's birth is treated as His parent -

rudra - purArEstanUja
umA - umAsuta, parAshaktiputra
gangA - gAngEya
agni - AgnEya
krttikA maidens - kArtikEya
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:34, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

8. Om SiKivAhanAya nama:

the One who rides a peacock

SiKi, mayUra, kEkina - all refer to the peacock. I have read that the peacock symbolizes vEdas, mAya and equipoise. I wish to hear from the wise members in this forum on this.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:34, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

9. Om dviShadBhujAya nama:

the One with twelve arms
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:35, edited 1 time in total.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

It's beleived that Adi Sankara made the suBrahmaNya Bhujangam at the shrine at Tiruchendur, Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar has sung "sri subrmanYo mAm rakshathu" in Thodi at this shrine.It will be nice to have the meaning of this song also. May be it might have already been discussed in one of the threads ? I am sure it might have been discussed in the thread "Muthuswamy Dikshitar Kritis on Lord Shanmukha"
Last edited by vs_manjunath on 15 Feb 2008, 12:58, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

When the demon shUrapadma was felled by Lord SubramaNya he sought the boon to be with him eternally. As the shakti (vEl, the spear) cleaved him into two halves they became the peacock (shikhin) and the cock (kukkuTa). The Lord adopted the peacock as his vehicle and the cock on his flagmast. In fact the spreadopen plume of peacock with the Lord seated is a clear picture of the praNava (OMkaara) (chracterized by the letter 'O' in Tamil). What better representation of the Lord can be there of one who has expounded the meaning of praNava to Siva himself !

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

10. Om dviShaNnEtrAya nama:

the One with twelve eyes

skanda is attributed sometimes with twelve eyes (dviShaNnEtra) and at others with eighteen eyes (aShTAdasha vilOchanam). My understanding is that when He is identified with Siva Himself (rudra rUpa), he is portrayed with three eyes on each face.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:35, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

That is the obvious meaning. However there could be a vishEShArtham.
The dhatu dviSh (aprItau) means hostile.
tat nEtraM arim dviShati iti dviShannEtraH |
(The eye that is hostile to the enemies and hence one with that eye is dviShaNnEtraH (dviShat + nEtraH (by sandhi rules))

Lord Subramanya indeed inherited the third eye (which is normally closed and dormant) from Siva and Parvati. In fact vinaayaka also has three eyes and they all belong to the family of trinEtrI!

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

CML,

Thanks for the info. I did not know that.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

11. Om SaktidharAya nama:

wielder of the Sakti Ayudham

Sakti is the name of the vEl or spear that skanda wields. I have read two versions about who presented the vEl to skanda - that it was Siva and that it was pArvati. skanda used the Sakti to slay tArakAsura and other asuras. The nAma subrahmaNya also indicates His close connection to the vEdas, as more nAmAs (to be discussed) in the aShtOttara will indicate.

This nAma also leads us to some unobvious aspect of skanda. subrahmaNya is strongly connected to snakes. skanda is worshipped as a sarpa mUrthy in some places.

A transcript of kAnchi paramAchArya's elaboration on subrahnmaNya is available here - http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/ ... slated.htm

subrahmaNya Himself represents the brahmaN, the snake seems to symbolized the kuNdalini, the Shat aspect (ShaNmuKha six faces, ShatkONa six corners etc) seems to represent the Shat chakras and the shakti Ayudham seems to represent the energy to awaken the kuNdalini. In this context, symbolization of the mayUra as mAya also seems to lend its piece to this jigsaw.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:41, edited 1 time in total.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

Many thanks to all the contributors and special thanks to karthik76 for giving these wonderful meanings.

"A transcript of kAnchi paramAchArya's elaboration on subrahnmaNya is available here - http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/ … slated.htm" this link is very nice and enjoyable.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

vs_manjunath,

Thanks. Credit definitely goes to you too, for initiating this exercise.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

12. Om piSitASapraBhanjanAya nama:

destroyer/scatterer of the flesh eaters (asuras)

The 'piSita aSa' refers to asuras directly. But I guess it could also mean diseases. skanda is very well known to cure diseases and ailments.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:37, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

13. Om tArakAsura samhartrE nama:

the slayer of tArakAsura

tArakAsura samhAram was one of the primary purposes of skanda's birth.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:37, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

14. Om rakSObalavimardhanAya nama:

destroyer of the strength of the rAkshasas

Here, I would request experts in the forum to shed some light on the precise meaning of "vimardhana" against "mardhana".
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:37, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

The upasarga 'vi' emphasizes the dhatu 'm^Rid' meaning complete devastation. Also herein 'bala' means army. The whole expression means 'prostrations to the one who routed the army of Rakshasas. Remember He was the deva sEnApati!

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

CML - Thanks again.

The next three nAmas must be looked at together -

15. Om mattAya nama:
16. Om pramattAya nama:
17. Om unmattAya nama:


I definitely need help with these nAmas from the experts here. Looking at the literal meanings of these terms -

matta - careless or inattentive
pramatta - intoxicated or deluded by material pleasures
unmatta - mad or insane from attachment to something

unmatta is definitely a lakshaNa of a self realized soul due to uncontrolled bliss from attachment to the inner divine. But I wouldn't assume that the lakshaNa of a mortal would be applied to glorify Ishwara. These nAmas definitely seem to have a meaning at a different dimension.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:38, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

I agree these are tough ones if we take just the surface ordinary meaning. We have to look deeper.

matta also means 'proud' or arrogant'. There is no denying the proud nature of Subramanya who even incarcerated Brahma himself and even made Siva accept him as his Guru. Hence
the first one will mean 'prostrations to the proud one'
In the same vein pramatta would be 'prak^RiShTa mattaH' One who is superbly proud and 'unmatta' would be 'utk^RiShTa mattaH' One who is foremost among the proud ones.

We can also do a fancy word analysis here.
matta = mat (the root dhatu of 'I" (self) + ta (jewel or nectar)
whence matta is the jewel or the paramAtma inside each self. The other meanings will follow as above.

In particular I like your interpretation of unmatta as the madness exhibited by Muruga devotees who lose total control of self and act as though they are possessed. That is a divine ecstasy through total surrender when the body is taken full control by the Lord himself !

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

Thanks cmlover. Proud is undeniably a fitting praise to skanda.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

18. Om surasainyasurakSakAya nama:

protector of the army of the dEvas

19. Om dEvasEnApatayE nama:

I can interpret this nAma in two ways -

dEva sEnApatayE - army commander of the dEvas
dEvasEnA patayE - the Lord of dEvasEna

It makes me think if skanda's consort dEvasEna is really a personification of the army of the dEvas or if the similarity in names is merely a coincidence.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:38, edited 1 time in total.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

karthik76 wrote:vs_manjunath,

Thanks. Credit definitely goes to you too, for initiating this exercise.
I am reciting this aStOttara daily and wished to know the meanings. I'm sure this thread will be referred by many rasikas. Most of the compositions in Sanskrit on Lord Subramanya might have reference to this aStOttara, hence indirectly this thread also helps in understanding these Sanskrit compositions.
Last edited by vs_manjunath on 21 Feb 2008, 08:48, edited 1 time in total.

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

20. Om prAgnyAya nama:

the Lord of pragnya

'pragnyA' refers to higher intelligence, wisdom and consciousness that leads to realization of the brahmaN - wisdom gained through experience of introspection unto the self. Lord skanda bestows pragnyA on his devotees.

The rudrayAmala tantra contains the 'pragnyA vivardhana stOtram'. In this stOtram, 28 important nAmas of skanda occur and skanda Himself states -

mahAmantra mayAni iti mama nAma anukIrtanam |
mahApragnyAm avApnOti nAtra kAryA vichAraNA ||

One who continuously chants these 28 of my nAmas as mahAmantras obtains supreme inner intellect, with no reason for doubt.

prangnyA vivardhana stOtram - http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/skanda.pdf

I feel the inadequacy of my english trying to explain what pragnyA means. May I request the experts here to differentiate and explain mEdhA and pragnyA?
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:39, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

The derivation of the word as I surmise is:
prag~nya + yak (pratyayam) = prAg~nyya
prag~nya of course is the inner self-consciousness. It is the ultimate sense leftover in the body before a person dies. And as long as it is there the person can be revived!
Regarding the tantrik significance I have no expertise in that area!

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

Thanks CML.

Continuing on -

21. Om krpAlavE nama:

the merciful One

At the point of sUrapadma's death, skanda showed supreme mercy to him by letting him experience His virAt svarUpa. He then adopted sUrapadma as the rooster on His flag and as His peacock. In kripAnanda vAriyAr's words - 'kodiyavanai adiyavanAga Akki kondAr' - 'He turned his enemy into His disciple'.

22. Om BhaktavatsalAya nama:

the One affectionate to His devotees

23. Om umAsutAya nama:

son of umA

24. Om SaktidharAya nama:

the mighty One

This nAma appears twice in the ashtOttara. I take it to mean slightly different things each time.
Last edited by karthik76 on 22 Feb 2008, 12:40, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Post by rshankar »

SaktidharAya namaha - doesn't this mean one who wields (dharAya) the mighty/powerful (Sakti) vEl?

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

rshankar,

You are right. This nAma appears twice in the ashtOttara (nAmas 11 and 24) . I took the first occurance of this nAma to mean what you have said. I assumed its second occurance might mean something else and hence adopted a more general meaning.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

The compound shaktidhara can be dissolved in two different ways.
One is the bahuvrIhi compound as the one who bears (dhara) the weapon (vEl) namely shakti (as Shankar points out).
The other is a tatpuruSha compound ' shaktyA dh^Rita' (one who was borne (or supported ) by Sakti (meaning dEvI)....
Note the difference in the meaning of the word shakti in both the interpretations.....
The latter case exemplifies that the energy that Lord Subramanya derived were all from parASakti which was also symbolized in the instrument shakti, the spear.

In Tamil vELmurugan will represent Lord SubramaNya who bears the weapon vEl.
On the otherhand the word vEl is derived from the root 'vel meaning to conquer' whence vElmurugan would mean 'ever victorious Murugan' which is emphasized in the slogan
veRRi vEL muruganukku arOharA

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

cml - Thanks again.

25. Om kumArAya nama:

the youthful One

skanda is always portrayed as the never-ageing ever-youthful One. While this remains a direct obvious translation of the nAma, another look at the 'prangnyA vivardhana stOtram' (http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/skanda.pdf) gives us more correlation. skanda mentions 'sanatkumAra' as one of his important nAmas. 'sanatkumAra' means the One with everlasting youth.

This seems to indicate that skanda and sanatkumAra (one of the four brahmachAri riShis and mAnasIka putrAs of brahmA) are one and the same.
Last edited by karthik76 on 25 Feb 2008, 21:19, edited 1 time in total.

cmlover
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Post by cmlover »

Interestingly Kripananda Varier derives kumAra as:
kutsitaH (despising or putting to shame) mAraH (manmatha).
implying that SubramaNya was more beautiful than the most beautiful Manmatha himself.
In Tamil the word 'murugu' means beauty from which was derived the word muruga!

karthik76
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Post by karthik76 »

I read in a website about the below shlOkam in the skanda purANa that also seems to explain the work muruka -

mukArOstu mukundassyAt rukArOstu rudravAchaka: |
kakArOstu brahmavAdicha murukO guha vAchaka: ||

Has anyone come across this before?

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