The Call of Shanmukha

The divine destiny of man is once again to regain the full experience of his perfect nature. That this is a possibility has been proven again, and again in each generation, throughout thousands of years. It has been proved again and again by the self-experience of the seers and sages who proclaimed the great declaration "amritasya putrah (children of Immortality)." The experience of this great declaration, that we are children of Immortality, has been kept up by the great souls that have graced each generation, keeping alive and bright this great, radiant and effulgent light of spiritual experience, aparoksha'nubhuti. These great souls are the wealth of humanity. They are the wealth of the world. They are indeed the eternal benediction, the eternal grace that God constitutes.
And each face of Shanmukha radiantly expresses one aspect of His all-gracious, all-auspicious, all-benign nature, granting fearlessness and strength to His devotees. We invoke, therefore, this all-graceful, all-gracious, all-grace filled manifestation of the Supreme, the anugraha of Bhagavan Sankara (the grace of Lord Siva) which was bestowed upon the celestial beings to lead them to victory in their confrontation and conflict with the powers of darkness. He says: "Come, I will lead you to victory. Follow Me. Be of My great gathering. I will lead you to victory." This being your divine, everlasting destiny, what is there to fear, what is there to worry about? There is only one thing to be done-to work.
A poet has declared: "Dust thou art and to dust thou returnest was not spoken of the soul." In a very explicit way, this line brings out this great Vedantic truth, the metaphysical truth of the immortality of the real Being within, the spirit of man. Therefore, the poet says that with hope and courage work on: "Heart within and God overhead." Be sure, the great Presence will grant you victory in this task. Therefore, "Heart within"-be of brave heart. Be courageous. Be heroic in this struggle towards your coveted destiny. Do not miss it. Do not be foolish. Do not be one who sits on the wayside and weeps just because one has fallen.
The Upanishads say: "What if you have fallen? Get up!" They say: "uttishthata, uttishthata (arise, arise)!" That too is the call of Subrahmanya. That is the call of Shanmukha. "Why are you running away cowardly, scattering yourself in confusion? O, ye celestials, come, rally around! Come, come, follow Me! I shall take you to victory." And then they did rally around. They said: "You are deva senapati (commander of the celestial forces). You are our leader. You are our commander. Our forces are now gathered together. Even though routed, because of Your call we now have not lost heart. We rally around and we shall follow you." Thus He leads them to victory.
That is the entire episode of Skanda Shashthi and the worship of Lord Karttikeya, Shanmukha, Skanda, Subrahmanya. Just as nine days were set apart for the worship of the Divine as the great Cosmic Power, as the great Mother, Bhagavati, Devi, Durga, even so, six days are set apart for that same power manifest as the commanding leader of the celestial forces. He is the divine commander. He dwells within you as the power of determination. He dwells within you as the power of resolute thought. He dwells within you as the power of concentration upon the task you are undertaking. He dwells within you as the power of dedication to the ideal that you have chosen. He dwells within you as endless hope and courage. These are all the daivi sampada. He dwells within you as all that represents the divine within you, the divine that you are.
To invoke Him, therefore, is to answer the call "uttishthata! Stand up! Arise! jagrata! Be ever awake and alert! Do not again lapse into slumber! Uttishthata jagrata prapya varan nibodhata (Arise, awake, having reached the wise become enlightened)."
That is the spirit of Skanda Shashthi. That is the call of the Upanishads. That is your heritage. Courage is your birthright, not fear. Hope is your birthright, not despair. Resolution is your birthright, not vascillation or weakness.
Thus, we offer our homage to the commander of the celestial forces, that great Being Who dwells within you as all that is positive, creative, all that is divine, which ensures success in your idealism and life spiritual. God bless you!