SKANDA, a name of Sulahramanya, the Hindu god of war, a six-faced deity. Parvati, the wife of Siva, having produced a son, Ganesa, without a father, by her intense wishes, Siva, with emulative skill, developed Skanda out of his own inner consciousness,— or outer substance, —it cannot certainly be stated which. Heaven and earth were then cursed by the tyranny of the giant Sura. Brahma, Vishnu, and the other deities besought Siva to release them from his thraldom. Siva shrank from the task, but promised that his son ; Skanda should become incarnate for their relief. Immediately on conception he was born of six Kartikeiya, heavenly virgins, who happened at that juncture to have descended to bathe in a sacred tank. While they were basking in the warm rays of the sun, each one of them gave birth to a son, and they at once departed to their celestial abode. Siva, hearing the cries of the little outcasts, instructed Parvati to nurse and rear them. As she hugged them to hcr breast, the six trunks became incorporated in one, while the six pairs of hands and feet, and the six heads remained distinct and separate ;—henee his other name, Arumugam (six faces). In five years he
had completed his course of studies. The follow ing seven years lie spent as an ascetic on the banks of the tank which was tho scene of his birth. At the age of twelve he collected a thousand hosts of 11!luta or goblins, and sallied forth to conflict with the giant Sura, who had for his defence a hundred thousand hosts of similar goblins, the giant, his two brothers, and his four sons fighting in the forefront of their ghostly battalions. Skanda with one blow of his weapon severed the giant in twain. The separate parts instantly assumed the shapes of a cock and- a peacock, and with beak and spur renewed the conflict, only to be re subdued by Skanda, who mounted the peacock, and has since continued to use it as his chariot, while the cock has remained his warlike emblem and standard. Indra, the god of heaven, rewarded courage by givi»g to Skanda his lovely daughter Devani in marriage, while the liberated and joyful inhabitants bowed to hini in adorations and wor ship.