Kartikeya vs Shiva

The god of war and commander of the gods' army, son of Shiva, born to destroy the demon Taraka. Raised by the six Krittikas (the Pleiades), he is often shown with six faces; in the Tamil south he is worshipped as Murugan, one of the most beloved gods of the region.

Born to end the demon Taraka, Kartikeya arose from the seed of Shiva, carried by Agni and the river Ganga, and was nursed by the six Krittikas. Parvati accepted him as her son, and the gods made him general of their army.

The gods, oppressed by the demon Taraka, learned that only a son of Shiva could destroy him. Tellings of the birth vary widely across the *Mahabharata*, the *Ramayana*, the Puranas, and Kalidasa's poem *Kumarasambhava*: Shiva's fiery seed passes through Agni and the river Ganga before the child is born in a bed of reeds and nursed by the six Krittikas, the stars of the Pleiades. From them he takes the name Kartikeya, and from nursing all six at once, his six faces.

The destroyer and transformer, third member of the Trimurti. Shiva destroys the universe at the end of each cosmic cycle to allow recreation. God of meditation, yoga, and the arts.

Shiva is eternal and was never born. He manifested in various forms throughout cosmic time. He lives on Mount Kailash with his consort Parvati. His meditation sustains the universe.

Shiva is the third god of the **Trimurti**, the cosmic destroyer who dissolves the universe at the end of each cycle to enable its recreation. Far from merely destructive, Shiva transforms and regenerates, making way for new creation.