Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
षण्मुखात्षण्मुखो नाम कार्त्तिकेयस्तु कृत्तिकात् । कुमारश्च कुमारत्वाद्गङ्गागर्भोऽग्निजोऽपरः
ṣaṇmukhātṣaṇmukho nāma kārttikeyastu kṛttikāt | kumāraśca kumāratvādgaṅgāgarbho'gnijo'paraḥ
सहा मुखांमुळे तो ‘षण्मुख’ म्हणून ओळखला गेला; कृत्तिकांशी संबंध असल्याने ‘कार्त्तिकेय’ प्रसिद्ध झाला। नित्य कुमारत्वामुळे ‘कुमार’, तसेच ‘गंगागर्भ’ आणि ‘अग्निज’—अग्निजन्य—अशीही त्याची ख्याती झाली।
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.