This is the thirteenth of a series of short articles on various deities. As I am not a Hindu myself, I would appreciate any feedback from Hindus.
Kama: lord of desire
Often depicted as a young and handsome man, Kama (sometimes Kamadeva) is one of the most ancient of the named deities. As personification of sensual and sexual desire, it was Kama who lay behind the creator’s urge to create. Kama is also known as Dipaka (igniter), Gritsa (he who penetrates), Mayi (deceiver), Mara (destroyer), Ragavrinta (the way of – or stalk of passion) and Titha (fire).
Kama is shown riding a parrot and armed with a bow of sugar cane from which he launched arrows of lotus buds. From the moment of his birth he was keen to make use of his weapons, asking who he should ’set on fire’.
The tale of Shiva, Parvati & the demon Taraka
Daksa, father to Sati, hates her husband Shiva (below left) and in despair she commits suicide by throwing herself into a fire. Shiva withdraws into profound meditation amongst the Himalayas but, unbeknown to him, Sati (within Parvati, the mountain woman) reincarnates alongside him and joined him in his ascetic disciplines.
While Shiva is meditating, Brahma creates a demon, Taraka, who can only be destroyed by a son of Shiva – but Shiva is still childless. To rouse Shiva from his meditations, the gods enlist Kama. With his wife Rati (voluptuousness), Kama becomes a perfumed breeze to trick the guardian at the gate, and enters Shiva’s retreat. After 60 million years, Kama fires an arrow at Shiva who retaliates by destroying him with his fearsome third eye. However, the interruption to his meditation enables Shiva to discover the presence of Parvati. The inevitable happens and Kumara is born, the pair’s only natural child, and he destroys Taraka.
Parvati’s dearest wish
Was this the end for the god of love? Thanks to Parvati, this was not the case. After their reunification, Shiva told Parvati that he would fulfil her dearest wish. However, with Kama’s demise, the goddess felt nothing so she requested that Kama should ‘live and warm the world’. Shiva agreed but Kama’s resurrection came at a cost – his body. From then on, the incorporeal Kama was also known as Ananga (bodiless).
Do you have any personal experience of, or interest in, Kama or Hinduism that you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below.
References/Sources used (please use my bookstore if you want to order the books):
Comte, F. (1991) ‘The Wordsworth Dictionary of Mythology’, Wordsworth, Kent
Kamadeva [online], link, Wikipedia, last accessed 16th Jul 2010
Image attributions
‘Garden of Kama’ image, by Byam Shaw, is in the public domain
Shiva image licensed under Creative Commons Sharealike 2.0 Generic license by Thejas Panarkandy
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Coming next: The Hindu Deities: Parasurama
[...] BaseAdmin пишет: While Shiva is meditating, Brahma creates a demon, Taraka, who can only be destroyed by a son of Shiva – but Shiva is still childless. To rouse Shiva from his meditations, the gods enlist Kama. With his wife Rati (voluptuousness), Kama becomes a perfumed breeze to trick the guardian at the … Image attributions. ‘Garden of Kama’ image, by Byam Shaw, is in the public domain. Shiva image licensed under Creative Commons Sharealike 2.0 Generic license by Thejas Panarkandy … [...]