Svaha

Emerging from a sacrifice, Agni sees the wives of the seven great rishis bathing and is overcome with desire. Unable to act on his feelings, he retreats to the forest to give up his body — but Svaha, who has long desired Agni, sees his weakness and resolves to assume the forms of those very wives to seduce him.

Terrible portents shake the world, and the rishis fear the calamities have come because Agni slept with the wives of the saptarshis. But no one knows the truth — that the deed was done by Svaha, the goddess of offering, who had taken the form of each wife to seduce the fire god. When the child Skanda is born, the gods themselves tremble at his power and send the mothers of the world to destroy him.

Svaha appears before Skanda and declares she is Daksha's daughter who has always desired Agni — but the fire god does not fully know her love. She asks Skanda to grant her eternal residence with Agni. Skanda decrees that henceforth every oblation offered through Agni will be rendered with the utterance of the word "svaha," ensuring she will always reside with him.

Prajapati Brahma tells Mahasena (Skanda) to go to his father Mahadeva, then explains the strange circumstances of his birth — how Rudra entered Agni and Uma entered Svaha, how the semen was scattered five ways, and how the flesh-eating ganas were born from it. Skanda agrees, worships his father, and is affectionately received.