Vamana Purana — Skanda Slays Taraka & Mahisha, Shloka 90
Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
तत् कार्तिकेयः प्रियमेव तथ्यं श्रुत्वा वचः प्राह सुरान् विहस्य कथं हि मातामहनप्तृकं वधे स्वभ्रातरं भ्रातृसुतं च मातुः
tat kārtikeyaḥ priyameva tathyaṃ śrutvā vacaḥ prāha surān vihasya kathaṃ hi mātāmahanaptṛkaṃ vadhe svabhrātaraṃ bhrātṛsutaṃ ca mātuḥ
فلما سمعَ كارتّيكيا تلك الكلمات—المحبوبةَ لديهم وإن عُرضت على أنها حقّ—خاطبَ الآلهةَ بابتسامةٍ مُرّة: «كيف لي في هذا القتل أن أضربَ أخي نفسه، وأن أقتلَ أيضًا ابنَ أخي، وهو ابنُ أخي وأيضًا ابنُ أخي لأمي؟»
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FAQs
It signals a maternal-line kinship claim: Skanda frames the target as belonging to his extended family network, strengthening the argument that the proposed slaying is not morally neutral but entangled with lineage obligations.
In Purāṇic diction, ‘vihasya’ can convey restrained irony: Skanda highlights the tension between the gods’ urgent command and the ethical impropriety (from his perspective) of killing close kin, without outright defiance.
The verse shows hesitation and moral interrogation rather than final refusal. Such exchanges typically precede a resolution where divine duty is clarified—often by invoking a higher dharma that overrides personal attachment when cosmic order is threatened.