Kartikeya Slays Surapadma

Dadi: "Tonight, beta Guddu, I'll tell you about the battle that created the peacock mount of Lord Murugan!"

Guddu: "Murugan has a peacock? That's so cool!"

Dadi: "Wait till you hear how he got it! Long ago, there were three demon brothers - Surapadma, Simhamukha, and Tarakasura. They did such intense prayers to Lord Shiva that he had to grant them a boon."

Guddu: "What boon did they ask for?"

Dadi: "A very clever one! They asked that only a son of Lord Shiva could kill them. You see, at that time, Shiva was deep in meditation. He had no children. The demons thought they had tricked their way to being immortal!"

Guddu: "Oh no! Were they bad demons?"

Dadi: "Very bad, beta. Surapadma was the worst. He conquered heaven, earth, and the underworld! He kicked the gods out of their homes. The sun couldn't rise without his permission. The rain couldn't fall without his command. Even the wind had to ask him before blowing!"

Guddu: "That's terrible! Why didn't the gods fight back?"

Dadi: "They couldn't defeat him because of the boon. So they went to Lord Shiva and begged for help. And then something amazing happened - from the blazing spark of Shiva's third eye, a radiant child was born!"

Guddu: "Baby Murugan!"

Dadi: "Yes! He was called Kartikeya, because the six star-goddesses called Karthigai raised him. He was born with one purpose - to destroy the demons and restore peace."

Guddu: "Did he fight them right away?"

Dadi: "First, his mother Parvati gave him the most powerful weapon - the divine spear called Vel! It contained all her divine energy. During the festival of Thaipoosam, she handed it to her son and said, "Go, my child. End the tyranny.""

Guddu: "Then what happened?"

Dadi: "Kartikeya first defeated Simhamukha. Then he faced Surapadma himself. Beta, this battle lasted for six whole days! Each day was more intense than the last."

Guddu: "Six days! That's longer than my whole school week!"

Dadi: "(laughing) Indeed! Surapadma kept changing forms to scare Kartikeya - he grew multiple heads, many arms, giant legs. But Kartikeya was not scared. Finally, the desperate demon tried his last trick."

Guddu: "What did he do?"

Dadi: "He dove into the ocean and transformed into a massive mango tree that stretched across all three worlds! Its branches covered the sky, its roots went deep into the earth."

Guddu: "A tree? How do you fight a tree?"

Dadi: "Kartikeya threw his mighty Vel! The spear split the enormous tree right down the middle. And here's the magical part - the two halves transformed!"

Guddu: "Into what?"

Dadi: "One half became a beautiful peacock, the other half became a proud rooster! Kartikeya was so pleased that he took the peacock as his vehicle - that's why you see Lord Murugan riding a peacock. And the rooster became the symbol on his flag!"

Guddu: "So even the demon became something beautiful!"

Dadi: "That's a beautiful way to see it, beta. When divine grace touches even evil, it can be transformed into something good. The peacock was once a demon, but now it carries a god!"

Guddu: "Dadi, why do people celebrate this story?"

Dadi: "In South India, people celebrate Skanda Shashti - the day Surapadma was defeated. They fast, they pray, and they remember that no matter how powerful evil seems, goodness always wins in the end."

Guddu: "Because goodness has the Vel!"

Dadi: "And do you know what the Vel really is, beta? It's not just a spear. It represents wisdom that cuts through ignorance, knowledge that destroys darkness. When you study hard, when you learn right from wrong - that's your Vel!"

Guddu: "I have a Vel too?"

Dadi: "Everyone does, beta. Now sleep, and let the peacock guard your dreams!"