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
“وہ ‘سکند’ ہی کے نام سے مشہور ہو؛ وہ گَوری کا بیٹا ہو۔ اور ‘گُہ’ کے نام سے بھی وہ میرا بیٹا سمجھا اور یاد کیا جائے۔”
{ "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.