Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
षण्मुखात्षण्मुखो नाम कार्त्तिकेयस्तु कृत्तिकात् । कुमारश्च कुमारत्वाद्गङ्गागर्भोऽग्निजोऽपरः
ṣaṇmukhātṣaṇmukho nāma kārttikeyastu kṛttikāt | kumāraśca kumāratvādgaṅgāgarbho'gnijo'paraḥ
ആറുമുഖങ്ങളാൽ അദ്ദേഹം ‘ഷൺമുഖൻ’; കൃത്തികകളാൽ ‘കാർത്തികേയൻ’ എന്നറിയപ്പെട്ടു. നിത്യയൗവനത്താൽ ‘കുമാരൻ’; കൂടാതെ ‘ഗംഗാഗർഭൻ’ എന്നും ‘അഗ്നിജൻ’—അഗ്നിജാതൻ—എന്നും പ്രസിദ്ധനായി।
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.