Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.63.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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skandaḥ
—
Skanda (Kārtikeya)
From √skand (to leap, jet forth) — named for the manner of his birth from Śiva's tejas. Commander of the deva-army, lord of war. Even his retreat here is honorable: he yields to a higher power, not to a peer.
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pradyumna-bāṇa-oghaiḥ
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by the flood of Pradyumna's arrows
Compound: pradyumna + bāṇa (arrows) + ogha (flood). The same word bāṇa names both arrows and the demon; the verse plays on this: the demon Bāṇa's domain is being struck down by Pradyumna's bāṇas (arrows).
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śikhinā
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on his peacock
Instrumental of śikhin (one with a crest, i.e. peacock). Skanda's vāhana. The peacock, Kṛṣṇa's own ornament (mayūra-piccha), here serves the retreating son of Śiva — the symbol itself bows toward Vraja.
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apākramat
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he retreated
Aorist of apa-√kram (to step away). Honorable withdrawal, not flight. Gauḍīyas note: Skanda's retreat is the demigod-pattern — when faced with Bhagavān's expansion, the demigod yields without dishonor.
Kartikeya (skanda) left the battlefield with his peacock (sakhina).
Having described Kṛṣṇa’s victory, now Śukadeva describes other victories of his followers in two verses. He fled on the peacock because without it, he could not move, being in great pain.
Even Skanda, born of Śiva's tejas to slay Tāraka, retreats before Kṛṣṇa's son. Pradyumna — Kāma-deva reborn in Dvārakā — reminds the cosmos that Kṛṣṇa's family contains every śakti the demigod-family contains, in fuller measure.
Skanda is born from Śiva's seed received by Agni and the Kṛttikās, raised to lead the deva army against Tāraka. Pradyumna is born to Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī, then stolen by Śambara, recovered and raised by Māyāvatī (Rati). Each is a war-leader son of his Lord.
The Bhāgavatam stages their meeting on this field so the question is settled in flesh: Bhagavān's son outranks the demigod's son. Gauḍīyas read this as confirming the lineage-asymmetry between Vaikuṇṭha and the upper material lokas.
My note
Source: vedabase.io