May 30, 2001

This coming sunday is Vaikasi Visakham, an auspicious day for Lord Skanda. Vaikasi marks the month (Mid May – Mid June) and Visakam denotes one of the 27 nakshatras. Hence, Vaikasi Visakham is the day Lord Skanda took form from the third eye of God Siva to destroy the asuras and alleviate the sufferings of the devas. Many Tamils take Kavadis as an offering for the Lord. I, too, wanted to take the Kavadi as an offering for my Lord. So, during my morning prayers I asked Murugan,”Will you bless your child to do the Kavadi for you, my Lord? I will only have one thing in mind – getting into medical school to serve Skanda by serving His children.” With that said, I shall describe the dream I had last night — four days before Vaikasi Visakam.

I dreamt that I was in someone’s house, unfamiliar to me. However, someone handed me a photograph and in it was a picture of Lord Skanda holding His mighty Vel over a person. As I looked more closely, I noticed that Murugan’s Vel was touching the person’s head. The Vel was used by Lord Skanda to bless the person. The person had his hands together in the anjali mudra (like how I do). One thing that struck me right away, other than looking at Lord Skanda, was the person. He looked very familiar. It was a funny feeling because it appeared like I was looking at myself! I didn’t understand why I was in the picture, but I am assuming that this is God’s way of showing that even though I am not always conscious of Lord Skanda, His blessings are always with me as Bhagavan says in His book:

“My blessings are ever with you. Call and I hear instantly.”

Thank you my Lord for your blessings. Once again, you have kept your word and showed how powerful the lessons are in Hilda Charlton’s book, Skanda. And, you have given me the answer to my question by blessing me to take the kavadi.