Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
षण्मुखात्षण्मुखो नाम कार्त्तिकेयस्तु कृत्तिकात् । कुमारश्च कुमारत्वाद्गङ्गागर्भोऽग्निजोऽपरः
ṣaṇmukhātṣaṇmukho nāma kārttikeyastu kṛttikāt | kumāraśca kumāratvādgaṅgāgarbho'gnijo'paraḥ
છ મુખ હોવાથી તે ‘ષણ્મુખ’ કહેવાયો; કૃત્તિકાઓના કારણે ‘કાર્ત્તિકેય’ તરીકે પ્રસિદ્ધ થયો. સદાય કુમારત્વથી ‘કુમાર’, તેમજ ‘ગંગાગર્ભ’ અને ‘અગ્નિજ’—અગ્નિજન્ય—નામે પણ ખ્યાતિ પામ્યો।
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced: Āvantya Khaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Gaṅgā-garbha); Agni (Agnija); Kṛttikā (nakṣatra sanctity)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Bhārata (contextual)
Scene: A composite iconographic tableau: Skanda shown with six faces (Ṣaṇmukha), a starry Kṛttikā cluster above, Agni as a radiant flame-form to one side, and Gaṅgā as a flowing goddess-river below; inscriptions of names around the halo.
FAQs
Divine names preserve sacred history: each epithet encodes a dharmic meaning and a lineage of divine care and purpose.
Gaṅgā is honored through the epithet Gaṅgā-garbha, portraying her as a sanctified bearer of the divine child.
None; the verse is a theological naming (nāma-māhātmya) that supports devotion through remembrance.
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