Kāma Dahana (Śiva Purāṇa)

Kāma Dahana means “the burning of Kāma”. In the Pārvatī Khaṇḍa of the Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa, Kāmadeva (also called Manmatha) is burned to ash by the third eye of Bhagavān Śiva. The episode comes inside the larger need to defeat the asura Tārakāsura. The devas sent Kāmadeva, with Ratī and Vasanta, to the forest where Śiva sat in tapas. Kāmadeva shot his flower-arrow. Śiva was stirred for a moment, then he opened his third eye and Kāmadeva was burned. Ratī wept. Śiva comforted her with the promise of Pradyumna. The fire went on blazing until Brahmā placed it in the ocean as the Baḍabāgni.

Why the devas needed Kāmadeva

Tārakāsura was the son of Vajrāṅga. After very hard tapas he had won from Brahmā a vara (boon) that made him almost impossible to kill: he could die only at the hands of a seven-year-old child. With this protection he drove all the devas out of their places and set up daityas everywhere. The devas, driven out and shamed, went to Brahmā. Brahmā told them to bring about the union of Śiva with Pārvatī, because from that union Kārttikeya would be born to kill Tāraka.

The only one who could create the needed condition, by waking desire in Śiva who was deep in tapas, was Kāmadeva. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapters 15–16.

Indra sends Kāmadeva

Indra called Kāmadeva and praised his unmatched power. No being in creation, whether deva, asura, human or any other, was free from the pull of Kāma. His sugarcane bow and five flower-arrows, each making a different kind of kāma (desire), were the strongest force in the cosmos.

Kāmadeva accepted the task. He knew that waking desire in the meditating Śiva was very dangerous, but he saw that it had to be done. He set out with Ratī (whose name means Pleasure) and Vasanta (Spring). The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 17.

Arrival and the work of Spring

Kāmadeva and Vasanta came to Śiva’s tapovana (forest of tapas) on the slopes of the Himālaya, near the Gaṅgāvatāraṇa kshetra (holy place). Vasanta at once changed the whole forest. Trees flowered out of season, bees gathered, sweet-scented winds rose, and the kokilas (cuckoos) called. Spring filled Śiva’s forest and made the place ready for the arrows of kāma. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 18.

The brief stirring

Kāmadeva drew his flower-arrow and let it fly toward Śiva.

At that moment Pārvatī happened to be near, attending on Śiva. Śiva’s mind, touched by the arrow, felt a brief vikāra (disturbance). He turned his eyes toward Pārvatī, and for one moment he felt anurāga (affection). This was what the devas needed. Even a moment’s stirring of desire in Śiva’s mind was enough to begin the chain of events that would lead to the birth of Kārttikeya.

But Śiva, the highest of yogīs, felt the disturbance at once. He looked inward, found where it came from, and saw Kāmadeva standing close by. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 18.

The third eye opens

Śiva’s anger blazed. He opened his third eye, the ūrdhva-netra (upward eye), the eye of pure jñāna (knowledge). A terrible fire poured out. It was the fire of Śiva’s gathered yogic power, packed into flame, and it burned Kāmadeva in an instant.

Kāmadeva was reduced wholly to bhasma (ash). From this event he received the name Ananga, “the bodiless one”. The devas, watching from the sky, cried out in pain: “Hā! Hā!” For the burning of Kāmadeva seemed like the end of desire itself in the cosmos. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 19.

Ratī’s grief

Ratī saw her husband destroyed and was broken with grief beyond words. She wept without comfort. She called out her husband’s names, remembered his beauty and courage, and could not accept what had happened. The devas and all the beings who were there were moved by her sorrow. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 19.

Śiva’s kindness: the promise of Pradyumna

Śiva’s anger was just and his act was needed. Still, he looked on the weeping Ratī with kindness. He said:

“O Ratī, do not grieve. Your husband, though he has no visible form (ananga), will still carry out his task at the right time. When Bhagavān Vishṇu takes human birth as Vāsudeva (Kṛshṇa), the son born to him will be your husband again. This Kāmadeva will be born as Pradyumna, the son of Kṛshṇa, and will be joined to you again.”

Comforted by this promise, Ratī bowed to Śiva in thanks and left with Vasanta. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 19.

The fire that went on burning: the Baḍabāgni

The fire that had burned Kāmadeva did not go out. It went on blazing with full strength and threatened to burn up all the worlds. Brahmā saw the danger. He changed this wonderful fire, the gathered fire of Śiva’s third eye that had burned desire itself, into the Baḍabāgni, the fire under the sea, whose name means “fire of the mare”. He placed it in the ocean. There it burns forever in the depths. It is held there until pralaya (the dissolution of the world). Then it will rise and burn up the worlds. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 20.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 15–16 (Tāraka’s conquest and the devas’ need)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 17 (Indra sends Kāmadeva)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 18 (arrival, Spring, the arrow)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 19 (the burning, Ratī’s grief, the promise of Pradyumna)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 20 (the Baḍabāgni)