Posted on: 20 Oct 2022
[Shri Hrushikesh asked: Dear Swami, I request You to kindly help me by clearing my doubts about the following questions. I have heard about the birth of Lord Subhramanya, that He was born from the sperm of Lord Shiva which is so powerful and intense that Mother Parvathi couldn't bear the egg as it was a very powerful Egg, as it was radiating with "Shiva Tejas", so the egg was transferred to Ganga, Agni, and finally was transferred to Sharvanas (the dried grass). Post His birth, it is said that he was breastfed by Kruttikas. Also, everyone who carried Him in their womb from Agni, Ganga and Parvati Mata wanted to own this very beautiful and radiating Son. Kindly correct me if the details in this story mentioned by me are not accurate. I request You to also help us understand the hidden meaning in this story. What is the tattva jnanam one has to learn from the Birth of Lord Subhramanya? At your Feet, hrushikesh]
Swami replied: The leaked sperm of God Shiva was transferred to the river Ganga by Agni or fire. The ovum (egg) of Goddess Parvati was not transferred by Agni because the fertilization of the ovum by the sperm has not taken place. This sperm was thrown by the river Ganga into the dry grass present on its bank since the river was also unable to bear the power of the sperm as in the case of Agni. Then, the six wives of the six sages (Kruttikas) became pregnant since they took bath in Ganges. They delivered six boys, who drank their milk. They left the six boys in the garden of dry grass present on the bank of the river Ganga. The dried grass gave the united body of six boys having six faces and this single boy with six faces is God Subrahmanya. You can treat the dry grass as the uniting material. Goddess Parvati represents the entire creation containing inert items and non-inert living beings. Hence, the contribution of the ovum from Goddess Parvati happened in a different way so that God Subrahmanya became the son of both God Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Actually, God Subrahmanya is the energetic incarnation of God Shiva, and God Ganapati is the energetic incarnation of Goddess Parvati. Both the incarnations contain God Datta and also Parabhahman or unimaginable God, who was contained by God Datta. Hence, Adi Shankara recognized both these energetic incarnations as the incarnations of God while He established the six sub-religions of Hinduism. Hence, we can worship God Ganapati and God Subrahmanya like the other energetic incarnations.