Maa Skandamata | Day 5 of Navaratri
The Devi Kavacham reaches its midpoint here, at the fifth of the nine forms, and this one carries a name unlike any before it, built not from a place or a colour but from a relationship.
सिंहासनगता नित्यं पद्माश्रितकरद्वया।
शुभदास्तु सदा देवी स्कन्दमाता यशस्विनी॥
Simhaasanagataa nityam padmaashritakaradvayaa,
Shubhadaastu sadaa Devi Skandamaataa yashasvinee.
Ever seated upon her throne, her two hands resting on lotuses, may the glorious Skandamata always grant auspiciousness.
Her name joins Skanda, another name for the warrior god Kartikeya, with mata, meaning mother. She carries this name because of who her son became, and because of what it took to bring him into the world.
Her story begins with a crisis that reached beyond the human world. The demon Tarakasura had received a boon that only a son of Shiva could defeat him, and since Shiva remained deep in meditation after Sati's passing, the gods believed this made Tarakasura effectively unstoppable. The divine energy that would eventually become Kartikeya was so powerful that neither Agni, the fire god, nor the river Ganga could hold it. It was carried instead by the six Krittikas, and Kartikeya was born with six heads, one nurtured at each of their hands, before Parvati claimed him fully as her own. Skandamata is Parvati in this moment, the mother who carried what even fire and a sacred river could not.
She is shown with four arms and three eyes, seated on a lotus and carried by a lion. Two of her hands hold lotuses, one is raised in abhaya mudra, the gesture that dispels fear, and the fourth holds the infant Kartikeya directly on her lap. She is one of the few among the Navadurga shown holding another divine being in her arms rather than a weapon or a ritual object, and that child himself, in time, becomes the commander who leads the gods to victory.
Worship on Day 5 is said to move the seeker's energy into the Vishuddha, the throat chakra, the centre of voice and truthful expression, and this day also marks the exact midpoint of the nine nights of Navaratri, the point where the ascent through the body finds its own voice. What has been grounded, nurtured, strengthened and opened at the heart now reaches the place from which it can finally be spoken.
Her mantra is simple to carry through the day:
ॐ देवी स्कन्दमातायै नमः
Om Devi Skandamatayai Namah
Bananas are considered her favoured offering, along with sweets made from them, and white flowers are commonly placed before her.
— Shanker N C
Sources referenced: Navadurga Stotram · Devi Kavacham (Durga Saptashati, Markandeya Purana) · Devi Bhagavata Purana · Yogic tradition on the Vishuddha Chakra
