ara Haro Hara Vel Muruga... A short analysis on legend of Sri Murugan

[JR]

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[h=1]http://karkanirka.org/2008/04/13/murugan1/

MURUGAN…ARYAN OR DRAVIDIAN DEITY?[/h]Tamil people take pride in naming Murugan a Tamil Kadavul. Their love for this particular deity is high and he is the most worshiped god in Tamil Nadu. His popularity is very high in south unlike north. The concept of Murugan as Tamil Kadavul is even expressed in latest film Billa in ‘Seval Kodi’ song.

Now let us make a small survey of names used to denote Murugan,

• Kandha (dervative of Sanskrit word Skanda)
• Subramaniyan(Sanskrit form Subhramanya)
• Saravana(One who is born in Sara Vana, where Vana means forest)
• Kumaran(which means younger one in Sanskrit)
• Shanmuha (one with six faces in Sanskrit)
• Karthikeya (also Sanskrit orgin)

As you see all the names is either Sanskrit or Sanskrit derivatives.
Let us now see his orgin, He is son of Shiva, Parvathi and brother of Ganesha.

So what are the elements which make him a real Tamil Kadavul?

What is the Myth as we know?
The basic Myth we know is as follows :

• Shiva created Murugan to kill Curan.
• He was born as six children and later integrated into one.
• He arrested Brahma and taught Veda to Shiva in Swamimalai.
• He fought for Gyana Palam and became an Aandi(saint) and stood on Palani hills.
• He received his Vel from Parvathi in Sirakali
• He destroyed Curan in Thiruchentur.
• He freed the Devas and in turn got married to Indra’s Daughter Theivanai in Thiruthani. Fell in love and married Valli in Palamudhirsolai
• Settled in Thriparankundram as Deity with two wives.

This myth is standard myth known to all Tamilians and explains the concept of Arupadai vedu(Concept of six sacred houses/Temples).



How does it differ from Northern Myth?

• The Atharva Veda describes Kumaran as ‘Agnibhuh’ or son of Agni, the fire god.
• The Satapatha Brahmana refers to him as the son of Rudra and the ninth form of Agni. Unbarable to bear handle the heat , the sisu was split into six and put in the Pond in Sara Vana (Saravana Poigai).
• He is brought up as six children and later in fight with Indra he was combined as one person with six heads.
• He lead the army of Gods(Devas) to defeat Taraka.
• He is an eternal Bachelor or he is married to Devasena, which means army of gods.
• His weapon was raging fire , since he was a form of Agni.
• He is eternally young god
• He has attributes of attributes of being a teacher (The Chandogya Upanishad refers to Skanda as the “way that leads to wisdom”)
• Myth of Skanda arresting Brahma also comes up.

Some important points to be noted here are:

• Skanda is not son of Shiva.
• He has no mother.
• He is an eternal bachelor.
• He doesn’t have a weapon called Vel.
• There is no mention of Valli.

What was the Early Tamil myth?
There is no structured myth in Tamil for Murugan, but from various Sangam sources and archeological evidence and by inference, Murugan had the following features and attributes:

• Eternal youth and beauty
• Prowess in hunt and fighting
• Prowess in love making (like Kama in Sanskrit)
• Ability to enter and possess human beings
• Red colour
• Vel as his main weapon
• Connection with animals like peacock, cock ,elephant and possibly goat and snake
• Slayer of enemy cur ,representing fear ,terror and anxiety
• Love for and union with Valli
• Son of Mother goddess Korravai.

So here you see Murugan has a mother and not a bachelor. He has lover Vali. He is also god of love and victory.

How was he worshiped in Early Tamilnadu?

• He was believed to posses Katampu tree , hence the name Kadamban
• He also possessed young women.
• His priest was known as Velan.
• Murugan was believed to posses Velan and give blessings to people.
• He was worshiped by a form of Dance called Veriyatu.
• He was also god of mountainous region Kurunji.
• He was worshiped as slayer of evil and terror Cur, which later became Curan.
• He was also believed to be god of Love, and often quoted in Sangam literature for his interludes with Valli.

The Integration:
Integration of Dravidian Murugan and Aryan Skanda has taken place when Pallavas came to Tamil Nadu. The Brahmins have spearheaded this integration.
Some important points in the integrated form:

• The similar traits of both gods are eternal youth and destruction of evil.
• The Aryan god had a father but no mother and Dravidian god has mother but no father.
• The Dravidian mother Korravai was identified with Kali, Durga or Amman as early as Sangam age.
• Since Kali /Durga were identified with Parvati the consort of Shiva, Murugan was identified as son of Shiva.
• Taraka the asura in Aryan version was made brother of Surapadman(later name of Cur,Curan)
• The eternal bachelor who was married to Devasena(Army of god) was changed to God with two wife to accommodate Valli, which was very famous tradition among Tamil .
• Devasena was comfortably converted to Theivanai(Devayanai- Tamil myth says she was brought up by Ayiravatham the elephant of Indra – hence Deva yanai instead of Deva Sena or Deva Senai) a Brahmin girl and daughter of Indra.
• The myth also was made up to represent two kind of marriage, Kalavu – love marriage (a Tamil/Dravidian tradition- Valli and Murugan) and Karpu – arranged marriage (Brahmin tradition- Theivanai and Murugan).
• The fire weapon of North was replaced with Vel which is South Indian tradition.
• Murugan as a mountain god is still maintained with all his temples situated on or near mountains.

When does the current myth come into Tamil Nadu?

• The first textual evidence of Murugan as on of Shiva appears in Silapadikaram(4th Century AD).
• The whole myth was first explained in Thirumurgatrupadai by Nakkirar(7-9th Century AD)
• Final form of myth we know was written by Kasiappa Civasariyar in Kanthapuranam(14th Century AD)
• Even in Kanthapuranam , Palani was not mentioned and surrounding myth of Gyana Palam was not included.
• The standard Myth we know about Murugan was only written in 14 th century by Kasiappa Civacariyar a Brahmin priest at Kanchipuram.

How did the myth enter North India?

• The myth of Muruga as we know was first written in Sanksirt sources in Sivapurana.
• Sivapuranas were composed around 9-10th Century AD by Sanskrit scholars of south and it was heavily influenced by the Bakthi movement prevalent in south.
• Unlike south, the North Indian myth says that Karthikeya was elder to Ganesha.
• The popularity of Karthikeya is also not much in North India.

This is very brief essay to outline the process of Skanda – Muruga integration. There some evidences which has come up recently to indicate Murugan might be Pre Historic god and an inherited God of Tamil people rather than an indigenous deity. My next essay would be on his Pre Historic origins.

References:

• Tamil Traditions on Subrahmanya-Murugan by Kamil Zvelebil.
• Tiru Murugan by Kamil Zvelebil.
• Tamil Kandhapuranam by Kamil Zvelebil.

 

[CHANDRU1849]

All Hindu Gods are only area / location specific. No God is all India specific right from the beginning.

A famous Communist Leader, hailed from B community and from Tamil Nadu, in one of his articles said that Ramayana happened in North India in a place called Lanka and it has no relevance with the present day Sri Lanka.

Originally, Rama and Krishna might have belonged to North and West respectively and thru continuous public relations they become all India stars. As similar efforts were not taken in the case of Muruga, his worship is mostly confined to South.

 

[JR]

Dear Sir,

Murugan worship is predominant all over India, in SriLanka and in Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

The reason why he is associated more with Tamilians is because of Tamilians' own pride in associating the origins of this vedic deity with their land.

The reason why Tamilians do so is because of various events in Murugan's legend taking place in TN, as given in the OP:

He arrested Brahma and taught Veda to Shiva in Swamimalai.
He fought for Gyana Palam and became an Aandi(saint) and stood on Palani hills.
He received his Vel from Parvathi in Sirakali
He destroyed Curan in Thiruchentur.
He freed the Devas and in turn got married to Indra’s Daughter Theivanai in Thiruthani. Fell in love and married Valli in Palamudhirsolai
Settled in Thriparankundram as Deity with two wives.

 

[JR]

While I agree that Sri Krishna's legend is mostly centered around the North and may have spread all over India because of popularization by those who migrated, Sri Rama's legend is not the case. Sri Rama's legend is associated all over India, starting at Nepal (Sita's birth place) to down South in Rameswaram...

 

[sangom]

Dear Sir,

Murugan worship is predominant all over India, in SriLanka and in Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

The reason why he is associated more with Tamilians is because of Tamilians' own pride in associating the origins of this vedic deity with their land.

The reason why Tamilians do so is because of various events in Murugan's legend taking place in TN, as given in the OP:

He arrested Brahma and taught Veda to Shiva in Swamimalai.
He fought for Gyana Palam and became an Aandi(saint) and stood on Palani hills.
He received his Vel from Parvathi in Sirakali
He destroyed Curan in Thiruchentur.
He freed the Devas and in turn got married to Indra’s Daughter Theivanai in Thiruthani. Fell in love and married Valli in Palamudhirsolai
Settled in Thriparankundram as Deity with two wives.

Smt. JR madam,

Murukan was, AFAIK, a quintessentially Thamizh or Dravidian god of worship. The word 'muruku' means, I am told, beauty in ancient Thamizh. Murukan was considered as a very handsome deity, therefore and was particularly worshipped by the people living in the hilly parts of ancient Thamizh land. They almost always imagined Him to dwell on the hilltop and that is why many Murukan temples are atop hills.

The stories linking Murukan to essentially north Indian gods (Brahminic gods, as per some people) are all later additions by means of Puranas which might have been created as and when the need arose. Consequently, Muruka became a householder, with two wives, Shiva and Parvathy became His parents, Vinayaka and latterly Ayyappa His siblings and so on.

Muruka worship was practically unknown in most parts of N. India till 40 or 50 years ago. Even now Maharashtrians avoid visiting Murugan temples because their belief is that it will bring some kind of evil result (like widowhood or death of son or something like that, but I don't remember exactly what).

Even today there are very few Murukan temples in the whole of N. India. when I went to Guwahati in 1970, I found the people there did not even know Murukan/subramanyan etc., as a deity!

In short the முருகன் of ancient Thamizh land has been adopted by the Vedic people and absorbed into their large pantheon of 'Gods'.

 

[JR]

Respected Sangom ji,

What do say of this paragraph in the OP then, which says there are references in Shatapata Brahmana and Atharva Veda for Sri Murugan?

How does it differ from Northern Myth?

• The Atharva Veda describes Kumaran as ‘Agnibhuh’ or son of Agni, the fire god.
• The Satapatha Brahmana refers to him as the son of Rudra and the ninth form of Agni. Unbarable to bear handle the heat , the sisu was split into six and put in the Pond in Sara Vana (Saravana Poigai).
• He is brought up as six children and later in fight with Indra he was combined as one person with six heads.
• He lead the army of Gods(Devas) to defeat Taraka.
• He is an eternal Bachelor or he is married to Devasena, which means army of gods.
• His weapon was raging fire , since he was a form of Agni.
• He is eternally young god
• He has attributes of attributes of being a teacher (The Chandogya Upanishad refers to Skanda as the “way that leads to wisdom”)
• Myth of Skanda arresting Brahma also comes up.

Are Satapata Brahmana and Atharva Veda references interpolated too?

 

[renuka]

Dear Sangom ji,

Just a quick question or two..It seems rather clear that Lord Muruga was an ancient Tamil Nadu deity adopted into the Hindu Pantheon.Just like how Ayyappa a deity of Kerala become son of Shiva too.

Then who is Skanda?

Cos in Geeta Lord Krishna says "Of the generals I am Skanda"

Also the next question..why were all the deities of the states only made to be Sons of Shiva and not son's of any other God?

 

[CHANDRU1849]

Of the five major belief systems of Hinduism, Gowmaram relates to worship of Muruga.

While Tamil Kings were interested in spreading Muruga worship outside India, the same enthuciasism was not shown to spread outside Tamil Nadu. Hence, the popularity is restricted to South India only. Whereas people who follow Vaishnavism show interest in spreading their belief system throughout India, with the support of Advaithins, and Smartha Brahmins.

 

[sangom]

Respected Sangom ji,

What do say of this paragraph in the OP then, which says there are references in Shatapata Brahmana and Atharva Veda for Sri Murugan?

[/LIST]

Are Satapata Brahmana and Atharva Veda references interpolated too?

Since the source/s for these info. are not given, I cannot say anything about them. However, these very old texts like Shatapatha Braahmanam and Atharva veda might have had some imaginary stories (just like the story about sun setting and rising again and the Sandhyavandanam of dwijas) and later on the Murukan deity could have been "fitted" into those slots just like in a jigsaw puzzle and new myths like Aarumugan, SaravaNa etc., imported into the south. ("Sara vana" in ShatapathabraahmaNam cannot, prima facie have been a 'poigai' but could only have been a 'vana' or forest/thicket.

'Kumaara' in Atharvaveda, if I remember right, was also a reference to high fever in infants which, in those days, were mostly fatal. Some research will have to be done since web resources may not always be trustworthy and somebody could have just collected info from just seeing the word 'kumaara' in the Atharvaveda. FYI, the orthodox hindus swore by three vedas only and the word "Thrayee vidyaa" is possibly arising out of that. Atharva was considered persona non grata.

You may like to get the original source for your info and find out whether the references really mean what is said.

 

[sangom]

Dear Sangom ji,

Just a quick question or two..It seems rather clear that Lord Muruga was an ancient Tamil Nadu deity adopted into the Hindu Pantheon.Just like how Ayyappa a deity of Kerala become son of Shiva too.

Then who is Skanda?

Cos in Geeta Lord Krishna says "Of the generals I am Skanda"

Also the next question..why were all the deities of the states only made to be Sons of Shiva and not son's of any other God?

Smt. Renuka ji,

"skanda" comes from the root "skand-ati" = spill, shoot out, emit and this has relation to skanda being born out of an ejaculation of Siva, etc. Skanda Purana might have been already existent at the time BG was written and so, the scribe must have thought that there can be no better 'general' than skanda who is the commander of the forces of Devas, and is also otherwise 'devasenaapati' (protector of the Devasena, literally). So you see how imagination might have worked!

My personal feeling is that Saivam was already popular in the ancient Thamizh land (whereas Vaishnavam was a later invention) and , secondly, it requires much more marketing efforts to make a certain object of worship into an "avathaara" (which was the Vaishnava marketing strategy in making Kanhaiya and Rama as Vaishnava deities) than simply establishing the new deity to be son/daughter etc., of the main deity, here Shiva.

As I have always maintained, all the religions and pantheons are all man-made and I believe that if some smart fellow comes along in future, he will be able to make even our Mr. unmentionable (of this forum) into a son of Shiva or into a partial avathaaram of Vishnu!

 

[Vaagmi]

post #10:

Sangom sirji said:

My personal feeling is that Saivam was already popular in the ancient Thamizh land (whereas Vaishnavam was a later invention) and , secondly, it requires much more marketing efforts to make a certain object of worship into an "avathaara" (which was the Vaishnava marketing strategy in making Kanhaiya and Rama as Vaishnava deities) than simply establishing the new deity to be son/daughter etc., of the main deity, here Shiva.

What is this personal feeling?

Does it have a base of facts or just an intuition being expressed?

We would need only facts.

Where is the proof that the ancient Tamil land had saivam very popular already and vaishnavam was invented later? And if a good marketing strategist is there why should the sons/daughters invention be less marketable than an avathar invention?

It is slowly becoming a forum where anything can be said without any rhyme, reason or basis and people will never be held accountable for whatever inexactitude they write here.

Now Mr. Sangom sirji please prove your contention if you can. Will you?

 

[JR]

1. Sri Adi Sankara who recognized 'Kaumaram' (worship of Sri Murugan) has given us the matchless 'Subrahmanya Bhujangam' in which he calls Subrahmanya as son of Shiva, son of Parvathi, brother of Ganesha, and so forth.

2. Sri Adi Sankara also establishes Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Swami temple in Karnataka, where the deity Subrahmanya redeems all visitors of Kalasarpa dosha by his association with Vasuki.

 

[prasad1]

When we were building our Hindu Temple here in USA.
Out Temple membership included people from every state in India except people from NE.
So we had request to build the temple to satisfy the needs of our membership.
Each deity worship/fan group was asked to raise a minimum of $50,000.00 (this is a capitalist society).
Tamil group wanted a Murugan Sannadhi. They were able to raise the funds. The board consisted of 10 members, and 7 of them never heard of Murugan. So they were asking "who is this Murga (rooster/chicken in Hindi)".

We had to explain with pictures (this was about 25 years ago).

 

[JR]

Honestly I do not know much about Murugan worship in other parts of India, I only know he is very famous down in TamilNadu.

But, I consider him a vedic deity nevertheless because he is referenced in Satapatha Brahmana, Atharva Veda, etc. As well as Sri Adi Sankarar building temple for him and singing stotra on Sri Murugan's name.

In yet another group I am member of, I produced this snippet from this OP to show how Sri Murugan is connected with TamilNadu.

Out came the outcry, a member wrote how he is associated with Northern India:

Kumara,Karthikeya,Skanda. etc is a very ancient Deva and is found on many North Indian images,coins and was a favorite deity of many North India Kings(just look at the names of some rulers who had Skanda,Kumara etc. in their names and seals).You should rely on history instead of theories that float around.

To begin here are a few examples of worship of Lord Murugan in what is now Pakisthan and Mathura,dating from 1st-2nd century AD.

Kumara, The Divine General | LACMA Collections

Kumara, The Divine General | LACMA Collections

Kumara, The Divine General | LACMA Collections

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore...gold_coin.aspx

In fact,I remember reading in history about even older presence of Lord Murugan in far north.

I told him I had no intention of saying Murugan is known only in TamilNadu but that, since his legend revolves around sthalas in TN, he is very famous there and many that many Tamilians take pride in associating Sri Murugan with their state!

 

[renuka]

So the question still remains...is Skanda the same as Muruga?

I know a hard core "dravidianist" out here in Msia who told me once that Lord Muruga is NOT a Tamil God.He said since Lord Muruga is Son of Shiva that makes Him an Aryan!LOL

 

[renuka]

Actually people not knowing about each others state's deities is no big deal I feel.

Many North Indians do not know about Lord Muruga and same way many South Indians would not know about Santhoshi Ma.

To be frank I did not know about Andal till I joined forum.

 

[JR]

Dearest Renu ji and others,

If there are any vedic references you are aware of for Sri Murugan, now or later, please add to this thread.

 

[renuka]

Dear JR,

Shankara Digvijaya does mention about Skanda taking birth as Kumarila Bhatta.
In fact it states that his birth as Kumarila Bhatta is for the revival of the ritualistic section of Brahma(the Veda) and hence by known as Subrahmanya(promoter of Brahmanya).

Initially I believed this..but when I later thought about it..I started to have my doubts becos Kumarila Bhatta was hell bent on defeating the Buddhist.

He even faked to be interested in Buddhism and later "betrayed" the Buddhist..for which he did want to repent for that later for Guru Droha and subjected himself to a slow fire death.

I just wonder if he is really Skanda or may be just deified later cos at that time Buddhism was in vogue and by hook or crook many wanted it out.

That is why even in Puranas we find stories about Lord Buddha being the false avatar meant to delude people..just trying to dethrone Lord Buddha.

So now when I read anything..I start to wonder "is it the Truth or nothing but the Untruth?"

 

[JR]

Thank you for this insight, Renuka ji.

 

[CHANDRU1849]

The philosophy of Shaivism is more logical and less superstitious than Vaishnavism, since Shaivism had to fight against Samanam and Buddhism.

Vaishnavism would have had its foothold in TN after the collapse of Samanam and Budhism. Some of the Vaishnavite principles in TN are drawn from Samanam - drinking water only from well, avoiding onion, garlic, big statue worship etc.

When a rationalist leader was very active in TN during 60s and 70s, even Bs were reluctant to talk about Rama and Krishna openly in front of NBs.

 

[Vaagmi]

The philosophy of Shaivism is more logical and less superstitious than Vaishnavism, since Shaivism had to fight against Samanam and Buddhism.

saivism has no logic of any sort and is finally empty. Whereas vaishnavism has logic and meaning for those who live in this world. Vaishnavism had suffered at the hands of Saivism just as saivism suffered at the hands of Samanam and Buddhism.

Vaishnavism would have had its foothold in TN after the collapse of Samanam and Budhism. Some of the Vaishnavite principles in TN are drawn from Samanam - drinking water only from well, avoiding onion, garlic, big statue worship etc.

1. In Tholkaappiyam there is reference to vaishnavam. (refer Thol-porul-akaththinai-5)

2. In purananooru there is reference to vaishnavam. (puram 56)

3. Perumpaanaatruppadai 390-391 refers to vishnu. This anthology belongs to AD 2nd century earlier part.

4. Paripadal has several references to vishnu and vaishnavam. Belongs to BC 1st century.

So vaishnavam is much older in Tamilnadu than the samanam and budhdham and was coexistent with the other vedic religion saivam..

Big statue worship is better than big Lingam worship (bigger the lingam bigger is the temple-Thanjai peruvudaiyar temple) because the later has superstition in it.

When a rationalist leader was very active in TN during 60s and 70s, even Bs were reluctant to talk about Rama and Krishna openly in front of NBs.

If anything, the Bs were wise. They had learnt from history. They knew that it is better to keep your faith in your heart safely and keep your mouth shut when shit storm blows all around.

 

[renuka]

saivism has no logic of any sort and is finally empty. Whereas vaishnavism has logic and meaning for those who live in this world.

One is empty and one is full?LOL

Sunyam Adah Purnam Idam
Sunyat Purnam Udachyate
Sunyasya Purnam Adaya
Sunyam evavasisyate!


Explanation:

1st line:

Sunyam Adah Purnam Idam

That is empty and this is logically full..so we think.


Line 2:

Sunyat Purnam Udachyate

Our understanding is empty...but from that emptiness comes fullness(we start to imagine that we found logic and answers)...state of delusion!LOL

Line 3:

Sunyasya Purnam Adaya

When we start to imagine we have answers there comes a state where we feel that we can find everything even from nothing..taking fullness out of emptiness!But what remains?

Line 4:

Sunyam evavasisyate!

Finally only nothing remains..our empty minds! Not knowing anything!LOL




Note: The stanza I wrote above does not exist..its just a modification of the original Purnam Adah Purnam Idam stanza to get some points across here in a humorous manner.

 

[CHANDRU1849]

History can be written by anybody with any amount of superstitious stories.

'Ramar bridge' is a perfect example.

Still there is no answer to a politician who wanted to know the engineer's background who designed and built the bridge. Rama and Krishna bakthas are splitting / breaking the hair for a possible answer. Let us wait and see whether anything emerges.

Abrahamic Religions Islam and Protestant Christianity have their roots from Shaivism - no idol worship.

To satisfy some bakthas / bhagavathas, let us say Vaishnavism is the first religion formed in this world and spreads and available in Moon, Mars, Sun etc.

 

[JR]

History can be written by anybody with any amount of superstitious stories.

'Ramar bridge' is a perfect example.

Still there is no answer to a politician who wanted to know the engineer's background who designed and built the bridge. Rama and Krishna bakthas are splitting / breaking the hair for a possible answer. Let us wait and see whether anything emerges.

Abrahamic Religions Islam and Protestant Christianity have their roots from Shaivism - no idol worship.

To satisfy some bakthas / bhagavathas, let us say Vaishnavism is the first religion formed in this world and spreads and available in Moon, Mars, Sun etc.

Dear Sir,

This thread is on Muruga and no point in hijacking it to suit your convenience of 'Vaishnava hatred'.

BTW: You can prove none of your allegations against our Vaishnavam. If you want to spread more hatred on Vaishnavam, kindly open another thread and prove it with points. Please stay away from this thread.

 

[sarang]

Better read the conversational fights between azhwarkadiyan aka thirumalai and saiva periyavar in various volumes of ponniyin selvan by kalki. Quite interesting.

History can be written by anybody with any amount of superstitious stories.

'Ramar bridge' is a perfect example.

Still there is no answer to a politician who wanted to know the engineer's background who designed and built the bridge. Rama and Krishna bakthas are splitting / breaking the hair for a possible answer. Let us wait and see whether anything emerges.

Abrahamic Religions Islam and Protestant Christianity have their roots from Shaivism - no idol worship.

To satisfy some bakthas / bhagavathas, let us say Vaishnavism is the first religion formed in this world and spreads and available in Moon, Mars, Sun etc.