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Kartikeya: How 6 Beings Were

Embedded In Kartikeyas Body
Sadhguru tells the story of Kartikeya, who was a great experiment of embedding six beings
into one body.

Blog Home Yoga & Meditation History Of Yoga Oct 10, 2015

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Sadhguru tells the story of Kartikeya, also referred to as Muruga in

Tamil Nadu, Subramanya in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and
Skanda in North India. Sadhguru recounts how Kartikeya was a
great experiment of embedding six beings into one body. He also
clarifies the connection between sage Agastya and Kartikeya, a conversation
between whom makes up the Skanda Purana, one of the major Puranas.
Sadhguru also explains why Kartikeya is sometimes seen as the god of war.

Read in Telugu:

Kartikeya A Great Experiment

Sadhguru: The miraculous thing about Shivas son Kartikeya is that he

was a great experiment where six beings were combined into one body.
There have been many experiments like this in the past, where two yogis
have shared one body. In the same body, there would be two people. They
would speak different languages and exist in different ways. But here, six
beings shared one body. There is an elaborate story of how this
happened.

Though Shiva is described as the symbol of virility, he never had

children. They say no human woman could hold his seed in her womb.
Because of this, he spilled his seed into a sacrificial fire. When we say a
sacrificial fire, it need not necessarily be a fire. It is a Homa Kund. A
Homa Kund was like a laboratory for the rishis, where they created many
things.
Im here to serve life. I
dont have a mission of
From the Homa Kund, six kritikas took my own.
Shivas seed into their womb. These
kritikas were apsaras or beings who
Parvati, through her were not human they were beings
tantric powers, who did not belong to this planet and
were of a higher level of capability. So Sadhguru
Todays Mystic Quote
merged these six Shivas seed was implanted into these
six kritikas who held it for about three-
little fetuses into and-a-half months, and life began to
take form six fetuses developed.
one, embedding six
beings in one single After this period however, the kritikas
found the seed was too hot for them and
body, and Kartikeya they could not hold it any longer. As
was born. these kritikas were essentially moving
from one dimension to another, they
did not have any sense of responsibility
to any one particular form of creation.
So when they had to leave, they let
these children out from their wombs and dropped them in a much more
developed state than when they received the seed. Then they left.

Parvati herself could not have Shivas child, so she did not want this to
go to waste. She took these six under-developed children and wrapped
them in lotus leaves, creating some kind of incubation. She could see that
their chances of individual survival were remote because they did not
fully develop, but she saw that these six fetuses had six sterling qualities.
She thought, If all these qualities could be in one man, how wonderful
he would be! Through her tantric powers, she merged these six little
fetuses into one, embedding six beings in one single body, and Kartikeya
was born. Even today, Kartikeya is referred to as Arumuga or six-
faced. He was a phenomenally capable human being. At the age of 8, he
was an unbeatable warrior.

Kartikeya Leaves Shiva

Once, it so happened that Ganapati and Kartikeya got into a small tiff.
Kartikeya was very proud of his vehicle, a swift-flying peacock, and an
argument broke out between the two. They decided to have a competition
to find out who could go around the world the fastest. Whoever won
would get a special mango from their parents.

They counted down, 123 Go! Kartikeya just flew off on his peacock. He
went around the whole world but when he returned, to his amazement,
Ganapati was in the same place. He had already gotten the prize, and had
eaten and enjoyed it. He was now lazily relaxing in the sunshine.

Kartikeya got mad. He asked his

parents, How is this possible? I went
around the world and this guy has not
Kartikeya just flew even started! Why did you give him the
off on his peacock. mango? What Ganapati had done was
go around Shiva and Parvati thrice.
He went around the Ganapati had said, For me, you are the
universe. This is enough for me, let him
whole world but run. Shiva saw the significance of the
boys understanding of what is what,
when he returned, smiled and said, Here is the mango,
to his amazement, son. You deserve this.

Ganapati was in the But Kartikeya was furious at what he

same place. thought was a great injustice. Parvati
tried to explain to him that there is
something called objective and
something called subjective and all
experience is subjective. Objects are
there only to create a subjective experience; by themselves they are
nothing. So Ganapati just went around his parents because he was wise
enough to understand that, My parents are my world, so I go around
them. But Kartikeya would not listen to any explanations and left his
home because he wanted to get away from his father.

Kartikeya Fights Injustice Unsuccessfully

He came down to South India in a great fury and became a warrior. In

many ways, he was an unmatched warrior. He went about conquering
many lands in the south, but he did not conquer to rule. Because he felt
his parents had been unjust to him, he wanted to create justice. He was
like an activist or a revolutionary. So wherever he thought he saw
injustice, he went about waging war. In his great anger, every small thing
that he saw felt like a great injustice, and he slaughtered many people.
He fought battle after battle and went down south.

One good thing he did was to assist Agastya, as Agastya brought

spirituality to the south. Wherever Agastya found resistance, Kartikeya
went to war. It was Agastya who taught him the art of warfare, and it was
Agastya who also turned this anger into a means for enlightenment.

Kartikeya Sheds His Body

Kartikeya finally found his rest in a place called Subramanya. He became

disgusted with battle because he saw that even if you fight for a thousand
years, this kind of action is not going to change the world. One solution
will breed another ten problems. So, he gave up all violence and, for the
last time, washed his sword in what is today called Ghati Subramanya
in Karnataka. He sat there in meditation for some time, and then moved
up the mountain that is today named Kumara Parvat. In Karnataka,
Subramanya is known as Kumara. Kumara means son. Shiva is the
main deity and Kumara is the son, so the mountain is known as Kumara
Parvat or Kumaras mountain. He attained Mahasamadhi on the peak in a
standing posture.

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In the yogic tradition, once yogis have finished with what they have to do
with their life, they just drop their body at will. This is not suicide, it is
just leaving the body and going away. Most yogis leave their body sitting.
In case the body does not permit that for some reason, they do it lying
down on the side. But because he was such a warrior, Kartikeya left his
body standing.

Usually, people just go to the temple at Subramanya and return. There is

nothing much in the temple, but the mountain is a different matter. The
peak is a very beautiful place in terms of natural surroundings, and it is a
15-20 kilometer trek to get to the top. Many years ago, me and a group of
people went up, and we camped overnight about three-fourths of the
way up to the peak. We were to go up to the top the next morning.

Kartikeyas Energy

The energy of that space is so dominant and powerful, its a different

world altogether. If you are sensitive, it shakes you from the very roots
even today. When we camped, we put a small tent up to sleep in. But I
couldnt even sit down there. My body kept standing up by itself,
dismantling the whole tent. The entire night I was just standing thats
how powerful the place is.

This absolutely incredible event happened more than 15,000 years ago.
We do not know the exact date, but the place and what he left there are
still vibrantly alive. On this mountain peak, there are small natural
pebbles that have all been chiseled to six faces. These pebbles are known
as Shanmukha lingas. For all these years, his energy has been
reverberating, and even the stones have slowly shaped themselves into
six faces.

Editors Note: Download Sadhgurus ebook, Shiva Ultimate Outlaw, along

with Vairagya, an album of sacred chants (also available as an Android App).
Theyre free).

Download Now

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POSTED IN: History of Yoga

TAGS: Shiva, Starred

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