Everything about Skanda Purana totally explained
Skanda Purana, one of the major eighteen
Puranas, a
Hindu religious text, is the largest Purana and is devoted mainly to the life and deed of
Kartikeya (also called
Skanda), a son of
Shiva and
Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him. The Puranas were recited by Skanda, and is available in distinct parts, sometimes fragmented too. It also describes the Shaiva tradition in Hemakuta region (near
Vijayanagar) of
Karnataka,
Kashi part describes the Shaiva tradition of
Varanasi, and the Utkal part states about Shaiva tradition of
Orissa.
The contents
Traditionally, the whole corpus of texts, which are considered as part of the Skanda Purana is grouped in two ways. According to a tradition, these are grouped in six s, each of which consists several s. According to another tradition, these are grouped in seven s. The presently available printed editions of this text are published by the Bangabasi Press, Calcutta, the Shri Venkateshvara Press, Bombay (1910) and the N.K. Press, Lucknow and all these editions consist seven s (parts):, or, Brahma,,, and . In 1999-2003, an English translation of this text was published by the Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi in 20 volumes. This translation is also based on a text divided into seven s.
The Khandas
The consists three sections: the (35 chapters), the or (66 chapters) and the or . The is further divided into two parts: (13 chapters) and (24 chapters). The or consists nine sections: (40 chapters), (49 chapters), (8 chapters), (36 chapters), 17 chapters), (4 chapters), (25 chapters), (10 chapters) and (32 chapters). The has three sections: (52 chapters), (40 chapters) and or (22 chapters). The is divided into two parts: (50 chapters) and (50 chapters). The consists (71 chapters), (84 chapters) and (100 chapters). The (279 chapters) consists and the (366 chapters) consists,, and .
The Samhitas
The second type of division of the Skanda Purana is found in some texts like of the or the, of the, of the and of the . According to these texts, the Skanda Purana consists of six s (sections): the, the, the, the, the and the . The manuscripts of the, the, the and the are extant. A manuscript of a commentary on the by is also available.
The other texts
The manuscripts of several other texts which claim to be part of the Skanda Purana are found partially are wholly. Some of the notable texts amongst these are:, , ,, , and .
The popular stories
Some of the popular stories that occur in Skanda Purana are:
- The yagna (sacrifice) of Prajapati Daksha
- The churning of ocean and the emergence of Amrita (Ambrosia)
- The story of demon Tarakasura
- The birth of Goddess Parvati and Her marriage to Lord Shiva
- The Birth of Skanda (or Kartikeya)
- The killing of demon Tarakasura by Skanda
- The killing of Pralambasura
- The queries of Karamdham
- The killing of demons Shumbh, Nishimbh and Mahishasura
- An account of Vishnukund
- The story of Padmavati
- A description of various holy places associated with Shiva and Skanda
- The story of Trishanku and sage Vishvamitra
- A description of Hell
- A description of Jyotirlingas - the important holy places associated with Lord Shiva.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Skanda Purana'.
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