Chapter 5

Six Krittikas

Six sparks, six Krittikas — six stars in the sky — and from them one child with six faces

Split into six

The seed set in the reed-forest split into six parts — six sparks, six infants.

They were found and suckled by the six Krittikas.

The Krittikas are a cluster of stars — today called the Pleiades, and in Indian tradition the asterism Krittika. In the oldest Vedic star-lists the year began at Krittika.

Joined into one

Parvati took all six infants to her lap at once — and they fused into one child, with six heads and twelve arms.

(In other texts he is one child who grows six heads so he can nurse from all six mothers at once.)

Shanmukha. Shadanana. In Tamil, Arumugam — the six-faced.

The name

The Mahabharata itself says: "because he was born of the Krittikas and reared by them, he came to be known through the three worlds as Kartikeya."

The wives whom the Seven Sages had cast out on suspicion were themselves, in one story, set in the sky as stars. That star-cluster is the six mothers.

Note: The Krittikas are the Pleiades cluster (the asterism Krittika). In the oldest Vedic reckoning the year began at Krittika — one reason the asterism, and the name "Kartikeya", carry such weight. The image of the six-faced child is old and widespread, but the mechanism varies. The six infants being fused by Parvati is especially prominent in the southern / Kanda-Puranam tradition; other Sanskrit tellings have one child become six-faced so that he can nurse from all six Krittikas, while still others join or develop six embryos differently. The Mahabharata gives the etymology of "Kartikeya" itself. The episode of the Seven Sages casting out their wives on suspicion is in the text; the epic keeps it without moralising mid-scene.

Source: from several texts and traditions, Six Krittikas

Now — how much stayed with you?

Fact

The Krittikas are which star cluster?

  • The Seven Sages (the Big Dipper)
  • The Pleiades
  • Orion
  • The circumpolar stars
Read the whole story — Six in the sky

The Krittikas are the Pleiades cluster.

In the oldest Vedic star-lists the year began at Krittika.

That is one reason the asterism carries such weight.

What happened?

Into how many parts did the seed in the reeds split?

  • Six
  • Two
  • Three
  • Seven
Read the whole story — Six sparks

The seed split into six parts.

Six Krittikas found them and suckled them.

These six later join into one child.

Fact

Who suckled the six infants?

  • The Seven Sages
  • Parvati
  • The six Krittikas
  • The Ganga
Read the whole story — Six mothers

The Krittikas found and reared the six infants.

The child was called "Kartikeya" for them.

That star-cluster in the sky is the six mothers.

What happened?

How did the six infants become one?

  • Agni melted them together
  • Parvati took all six to her lap at once, and they fused into one child with six heads
  • They never became one; six stayed separate
  • Brahma joined them
Read the whole story — Six faces

When Parvati took them up, the six infants fused into one — six heads, twelve arms.

In some texts he is one child who grows six faces so he can nurse from all six mothers at once.

This is why he is Shanmukha, Shadanana, Arumugam.

Fact

"Six-faced" in Tamil is —

  • Murugan
  • Velan
  • Kandan
  • Arumugam
Read the whole story — The names for six faces

In Sanskrit, Shanmukha and Shadanana.

In Tamil, Arumugam — "aru" meaning six, "mugam" meaning face.

It is his most recognisable form.

Who said it?

"Because he was born of the Krittikas and reared by them, he came to be known through the three worlds as Kartikeya." — which text's own words?

  • The Ramayana
  • The Shiva Purana
  • The Skanda Purana
  • The Mahabharata
Read the whole story — The etymology of a name

The Mahabharata's Skanda passage ties "Kartikeya" directly to the Krittikas.

So the six foster-mothers became his most common name.

His other names — Skanda, Kumara, Guha — come from other things.

Why is that?

Why did Krittika stand at the head of some of the oldest Indian nakshatra reckonings?

  • Because Krittika is the brightest star
  • Because in the relevant ancient period the Pleiades lay close to the vernal-equinox / new-year point and became a calendrical starting marker
  • Because Krittika lies to the north
  • Because Krittika is a group of six stars
Read the whole story — The start of the year

Because of precession, the equinox slowly shifts against the background stars.

In the ancient period reflected by the early reckoning, the Pleiades were associated with the vernal-equinox and new-year point.

That helps explain why Krittika stands first in those early lists.

The texts disagree

The version where Parvati fuses the six infants is especially prominent in which tradition?

  • The Vedic Samhitas
  • Only the Mahabharata
  • The southern / Kanda Puranam tradition
  • The Ramayana
Read the whole story — One image, several mechanisms

The image of a six-faced child is old and widespread.

But how he is made varies from text to text.

The Parvati fusion is most prominent in the southern tradition.

What happened?

The Seven Sages cast out their wives on suspicion — in one story, what became of those wives?

  • They were set in the sky as stars
  • They went to the forest
  • They became Parvati's attendants
  • They dissolved into the Ganga
Read the whole story — They became stars

The wives cast out on suspicion were, in one story, set in the sky as stars.

That star-cluster — the Krittikas — is the six mothers.

The epic keeps this episode without moralising mid-scene.

Riddle

I am the six-faced child associated with the six Krittika mothers. Who am I?

  • Brahma
  • Ravana
  • Shesha
  • Kartikeya
Read the whole story — The count of six

In one southern telling, six infants are fused into one six-faced child.

In another telling, one child grows six faces so that he can nurse from all six Krittikas.

Both explain the name Shanmukha without combining the two mechanisms.