Vamana Purana — Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya), Shloka 44
The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra
स्कन्द इत्येव विख्यातो गौरीपुत्रो भवत्वसौ गुह इत्येव नाम्ना च ममासौ तनयः स्मृतः
skanda ityeva vikhyāto gaurīputro bhavatvasau guha ityeva nāmnā ca mamāsau tanayaḥ smṛtaḥ
“તે ‘સ્કંદ’ નામથી જ પ્રસિદ્ધ થાઓ; તે ગૌરીનો પુત્ર થાઓ. અને ‘ગુહ’ નામથી પણ તે મારો પુત્ર તરીકે સ્મરવામાં આવે.”
{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
‘Skanda’ foregrounds martial power and the deity’s role as a force that ‘makes enemies fall’ (a warrior-god reading). ‘Guha’ highlights hiddenness—dwelling in caves/secret places—and can also suggest the ‘mysterious’ inner deity known through devotion and initiation.
Purāṇas often harmonize multiple origin-motifs: Skanda is simultaneously linked to Śiva–Gaurī, to Agni, to the Gaṅgā, and to the Kṛttikās. Calling him ‘Gaurī-putra’ anchors him firmly in the Śaiva family while allowing other epithets to preserve alternate narrative strands.
Not directly here; however, the epithet ‘Guha’ frequently invites localization at cave-shrines and hill-temples in later tīrtha traditions. In Purāṇic geography, such names often become anchors for mapping cult-sites.