Kumara Sambhavam- The Descent of the Divine- Part XII

THE DESCENT OF THE DIVINE

Shiva turned towards Parvati and sat facing her. Parvati closed her eyes and as everyone watched, a luminous shape entered Shiva’s body. At once, the five heads of Shiva emerged. 

The third eye – the Ajna Chakra- the seat of intuition and knowledge- in each head opened.

A spark of blinding intensity shot upwards from each of the Third Eyes.

A collective gasp rose from the audience. Everyone was looking upwards.

When five such sparks were suspended in space, the five faces of Shiva merged into one and from the top of the head- the Sahasrakara Chakra- rose one more sparking ball of light, bearing the Pranava mantra. An ethereal sound of “OM” could be heard.

When the six sparks hung there, Agni and Vayu reached out and reverentially scooped the six sparks in their hands. 

As per Shiva’s instructions, they invested the sparks with breath and warmth. They carried the sparks to the river Ganga who added the water element to the sparks. The sparks floated downwards into the Sara Vana forest where amidst the thick vegetation and flowery creepers, the earth element was added to the sparks.

The waters of Ganga gently placed each spark on a lotus and each spark transformed into a human baby. A bevy of young women passing by saw the babies. Taking the babies into their laps, the young women nursed them.

Seeing the process of their creation almost complete, Shiva and Parvati arrived there. There were still six separate babies- implying that the elements had not fused perfectly together into one entity.

Parvati –the embodiment of Nature herself, encircled all the babies and merged them into one complete, flawless child.

Kumara Sambhavam was done. Skanda had been born. Divinity had manifested itself.