Kāma Sañjīvana

Kāma Sañjīvana means “the bringing back to life of Kāma”. At the wedding feast of Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī, Ratī came to Śiva carrying the wrapped ashes of her husband Kāmadeva. She wept before him and asked him to give Kāmadeva back to her. Fourteen divine women joined her plea. Śiva was moved by compassion. He turned his amṛta-drishṭi (gaze of immortality) on the ashes, and Kāmadeva rose up alive in his own beautiful form, with his sugarcane bow and flower-arrows. He bowed to Śiva and was blessed. Śiva told him to stay with Bhagavān Vishṇu and not to remain at the wedding house.

The setting

The revival of Kāmadeva happens in Chapter 51 of the Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, just after the main wedding rites were finished. The great feast had begun. All the devas and divine beings had gathered at the palace of Himavān, and joy filled the whole wedding. At this moment of joy Ratī saw her chance to go to Śiva. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

Ratī’s plea

Ratī came to Śiva at the feast. She chose the time well: Śiva himself had just known the joy of his own wedding, and the whole divine gathering was full of goodwill, the best moment to ask for his kindness.

She carried the wrapped bhasma (ashes) of Kāmadeva.

She spoke to Śiva with nothing held back:

“O Bhagavān Śiva, ocean of compassion! You have received the gift of Pārvatī at this great wedding, and every being here is full of joy. I alone am joyless, because my husband was destroyed by your fire. He did not act for himself. He acted for the need of the worlds, because the devas needed his sacrifice. How can I be left in sorrow while all others rejoice? O Dīnabandhu, Friend of the afflicted! Give my husband back to me.”

She pressed her plea further: “If my husband is given back, your own joy with Pārvatī will be complete. Without the work of Kāma, the world, which needs it to continue, would be incomplete.” The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

The joint plea of the divine women

Sarasvatī, Lakshmī and twelve other divine women who had come to the wedding feast saw Ratī’s tears and were deeply moved. They joined her in one plea to Śiva:

“O Bhaktavatsala (you who are kind to your devotees)! O Dīnabandhu! You are known as the compassionate one, the friend of the afflicted. Give joy to this grieving woman. Bring Manmatha back to life and fill her with the happiness of this day. We bow to you.” The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

Śiva’s compassion

Śiva, the karuṇāsāgara (ocean of compassion), was moved. He looked at Ratī, and at the ashes she carried, with his amṛta-drishṭi, the gaze that dissolves death and gives back life.

The fire of his gaze touched the ash. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

The revival

Kāmadeva rose from the ashes, alive and shining, in exactly the same form he had before he was burned. He came with his famous sugarcane bow (ikshu-cāpa) and his five flower-arrows, smiling, with his beauty unchanged. He had the same age, the same look, the same marks and features.

Ratī saw her husband given back in his first beauty and was overcome. She bowed down at once, first to Kāmadeva and then to Śiva. She offered prayers of deep thanks. The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

Kāmadeva’s prayer to Śiva

Kāmadeva and Ratī praised Śiva together:

“O Deva! O Mahādeva! O Ocean of compassion! O Prabhu Śiva! O Sarvā! You are pleased. Give me ānanda (joy). Forgive the offence I made in the past. Give me bhakti toward your devotees and devotion at your feet.”

Śiva smiled and granted his request: “I am pleased with you, O Manmatha! You are very wise. Be without fear.”

He then gave one clear instruction: “Go to Vishṇu. Stay away from this house. Do not stay here.” The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

Kāmadeva leaves

Kāmadeva accepted Śiva’s blessing and his instruction. He bowed down before Śiva, walked around him in pradakshiṇā (a respectful circling), praised Śiva with stotras (hymns of praise), and left the wedding house. He then went and bowed before Vishṇu and the devas who had gathered, and they rejoiced at his revival.

The devas, seeing Kāmadeva restored, praised Śiva more: “He was burned by your fire, and you alone could restore him. You acted through your sattvic eye of compassion. Karma alone gives and takes, and when the time of karma has come, even you, O Śiva, carry it out with compassion.” The Pārvatī Khaṇḍa tells this in Chapter 51.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51 (the revival of Kāmadeva at the wedding feast)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Pārvatī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 19 (the earlier promise that Kāmadeva would be born as Pradyumna)