Revision of the author's Ph. D. dissertation.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; CHAPTER ONE; THEORIES RELATED to the ORIGINS of SKANDA; The Supposed Indus Valley Skanda-Kārttikeya; A Deification of Alexander the Great; A Vedic Amalgam of Kumāras; The Early Textual References to Skanda-Kārttikeya; CHAPTER TWO; THE EARLY TRadITIONS OF SKANDA-KĀRTTIKEYA FROM EPIC, MEDICAL AND RITUAL SOURceS; Classifying and Dating the Mahābhārata; The Account of Skanda's Birth in the Āranỵakaparvan; The Fierce Skanda: An Inauspicious Beginning and the Appearance of Skanda the Warrior; The Fierce Skanda: His Tie to Grahas, Kumāras and Mātrṣ

Grahas in the ĀranỵakaparvanGrahas in the Āyurvedic Tradition; Mātrṣ in the Āranỵakaparvan; Kumāras in the Āranỵakaparvan; The worship of Skanda-Kārttikeya and Grahas in the Āranỵakaparvan and the Skandayāga; Skanda the God of Thieves; Conclusion to the Fierce Characterization of Skanda-Kārttikeya; CHAPTER THREE; THE EMERGENce OF THE SENĀPATI: THE NARRATIVE CONVERSION OF THE WARRIOR AND GRAHA; The Frame Narratives in the Āranỵakaparvan: The Hidden Agni; The Frame Narratives in the Āranỵakaparvan: The Rescue of Devasenā; The Ritual Taming of the Deity, Part One: The Brahminization of the Deity

The Ritual Taming of the Deity, Part Two: The Inauguration of the SenāpatiThe Familial Theme Part One: The Fatherhood of Agni; The Familial Theme Part Two: Skanda's Mothers and Wife; The Familial Theme Part Three: The Fatherhood of Śiva; The Distancing of Skanda-deva from Skandagraha in the Suśrutasamḥitā; The Socio-political context of the Āranỵakaparvan; CHAPTER FOUR; THE BIRTH OF SKANDA-KĀRTTIKEYA IN THE ŚALYAPARVAN, ANUŚĀSANAPARVAN AND RĀMĀYANẠ; The Śalyaparvan account of Skanda-Kārttikeya's birth and deeds; The Parentage of Skanda in the Śalyaparvan

The auspicious Skanda in the Śalyaparvan: The military asceticSkanda's birth and deeds in the Anuśāsanaparvan; The Parentage of Skanda in the Anuśāsanaparvan; Agni's parentage of Skanda and gold in the Anuśāsanaparvan; Furthering the Brahminical Context for Skanda: The Sacrifice in the Anuśāsanaparvan; A Second Birth Story for Skanda in the Anuśāsanaparvan; Skanda-Kārttikeya in the Rāmāyanạ; Conclusion to the Epic accounts of Skanda; CHAPTER FIVE; COINS, STATUARY AND SKANDA-KĀRTTIKEYA: THE EARLIEST DEPICTIONS; The Yaudheyas and Their Coinage; Yaudheya Class Three Coinage: Obverse Designs

Yaudheya Class Three Coinage: Reverse DesignsYaudheya Context and Chronology; From Six Heads to One; The Worship and Popularity of Brahmanỵadeva-Kumāra and Sạsṭḥī among the Yaudheyas during the Period of Class Three Coinage; The Kusạ̄nạ-era Mathurā Depictions of Skanda-Kārttikeya; Concluding Remarks to the Mathurā Images of Skanda-Kārttikeya; CHAPTER SIX; SKANDA-KĀRTTIKEYA ON KUSẠ̄NẠ COINAGE AND GANDHĀRA STATUARY; Kusạ̄nạ Era Gandhāra Statuary of Skanda-Kārttikeya; The Mahāsena Coin of Huvisḳa; The Skanda-Kumāra with Viśākha coin type of Huvisḳa

This study argues from textual and material sources that Skanda-K?ttikeya's cult in the north of India during the Ku???a and Gupta eras moves from being a broad-based Graha and M?t? tradition to one that advanced the ruler's prestige and authority.