Kumara Parvat

▵ 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 Kumara’s mountain. He attained Mahasamadhi on the peak in a standing posture.

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.

▵ Kartikeya’s Energy
The energy of that space is so dominant and powerful, it’s 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 couldn’t even sit down there. My body kept standing up by itself, dismantling the whole tent. The entire night I was just standing – that’s 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.  

▵ Kartikeya: How 6 Beings Were Embedded In Kartikeya’s Body (Isha)