The ShanmataВ system propagated by him included this sect. The worship of KumДЃra was one of the six principal sects of Hinduism at the time of Adi Shankara. The deity was venerated also by the Ikshvakus, an AndhraВ dynasty, and the Gupta Empire. There are references to Murugan in Kautilya's Arthashastra,В in the works of Patanjali, in Kalidasa's epic poem the KumДЃrasambhava.В The Kushan Empire, which governed from what is today Peshawar, and the Yaudheyas, a confederation in the Punjab region, struck coins bearing the image of Skanda. References to Murugan can be traced back to the first millennium BCE. But according to Anandamurti, in his master work on Shiva В and other works, Kartikeya was married to DevasenДЃ and that is on the ground of his name as Devasena's husband, DevasenДЃpati, misinterpreted as Deva-senДЃpati (Deva's general) that he was granted the title general and made the Deva's army general. It can mean either lord of Devasena or Lord of the army (sena) of Devas. The origin of this marriage lies probably in the punning of 'Deva-sena-pati'. He is also married to Devasena, Indra's daughter. IndraВ attacks Kartikeya as he sees the latter as a threat until Shiva intervenes and makes Kartikeya the commander-in-chief of the army of the Devas. In the TirumurukДЃб№џб№џuppaб№ai, he is described as a god of eternal youth: 'His face shines a myriad rays light and removes the darkness from this world'. The TirumurukДЃб№џб№џuppaб№aiВ is a deeply devotional poem included in the PattuppДЃб№б№uВ 'ten idyls' of the age of the third Sangam. 400вЂ“450), attributed to the great Sangam poet Nakkirar, Murugan was the presiding deity of the kuб№џiГ±ciВ (hilly tracts).

Extant Sangam literatureВ works, dated between the third century BCE and the fifth century CE glorified Murugan, 'the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent,' as 'the favoured god of the Tamils.' В The Sangam poetry divided space and Tamil land into five allegorical areas ( tinai) and, according to the TirumurukДЃб№џб№џuppaб№aiВ ( c. The TolkДЃppiyam, possibly the most ancient of the Tamil literature, mentions Cheyyavaб№‰В 'the red one', who is identified with Murugan, whose name is literally Murukaб№‰В 'the youth' the three other gods referred in the TolkДЃppiyamare MДЃyavaб№‰В 'the dark one' (identified with Vishnu), VД“ntaб№‰В 'the sovereign' (identified with Indra) and Koб№џб№џavaiВ 'the victorious' (identified with Kali).

Thirupugal arumugam