Kāma Dahana (Skanda Purāṇa): Śiva Burns Manmatha

This is the account of the burning of Manmatha, the deva of desire, by Bhagavān Śiva. It is told in the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, and again in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa. Manmatha came to the tapovana (forest of austerity) of Bhagavān Śiva in the Himālaya, with Vasanta (Spring) and Ratī. Bhagavān Śiva was sitting in deep samādhi. Manmatha entered his mind, and for a moment Bhagavān Śiva thought of Pārvatī. Bhagavān Śiva then opened his third eye and burned Manmatha to ash.

The fire did not die. Bhagavān Śiva spread it through the world, and this is why moonlight, flowers, songs and the cuckoo’s call stir longing in the heart. He comforted Ratī with the word that Manmatha would be born again as Pradyumna. Pārvatī then chose to do tapas (austerity) to win him.

Manmatha comes to Śiva’s āśrama

Manmatha, Vasanta and Ratī flew to the slopes of Himavat, where the tapovana of Bhagavān Śiva stood. They saw many trees, gentle animals, and the āśrama with its peaceful grounds. At the gate stood Vīraka, the doorkeeper of Bhagavān Śiva, shining like Bhagavān Śiva himself. Many of Bhagavān Śiva’s gaṇas were also near.

Manmatha looked inside. He saw Bhagavān Maheśvara sitting on a raised platform (vedi) in the shade of a tree. His body was straight and upright in a seat of meditation. His gaze was fixed on the tip of his nose (nāsāgraṃ dṛshṭiṃ nilapitvā). All outer objects of the senses were drawn back. He was absorbed within and did not move at all, a treasure of tapas (tāpo-nidhi) sitting in perfect balance. (Chapter 23)

Entry into Śiva’s mind

Manmatha saw that an ordinary flower-arrow shot from outside could not pierce such a mind. He chose another way. Using the humming of a bumblebee as his excuse, he slipped in through the sound and entered the manas (mind) of Bhagavān Śiva directly.

At that moment the eyes of Bhagavān Maheśvara, the deva of the devas, opened. For a short while he thought of Pārvatī with affection (anurāga). Vīraka said: “Pārvatī came as usual and has now gone, my lord.” In the same moment Bhagavān Śiva looked within and saw his own mind becoming attached. He noticed this rising in himself. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw Manmatha standing there with his flower-arrow drawn on the bowstring. (Chapter 23)

The chase

Bhagavān Śiva decided to put an end to the cause of the disturbance. He rose and left his āśrama, but Manmatha followed close behind, without a gap. Bhagavān Śiva crossed rivers, mountains, āśramas and holy lakes, all the length of the three worlds. Wherever he went, Manmatha followed with his arrow still aimed. Bhagavān Śiva found no place free of Manmatha. At last he came back to his own āśrama. Even there Manmatha stood close behind him. (Chapter 23)

The third eye opens

Bhagavān Śiva drew a deep breath and let it out in a long exhalation (niḥśvāsa) of supreme force. From his third eye (ūrdhva-netra) a great fire came out. It was the fire of his yogic concentration, pressed into flame. The devas cried out in anguish, “Hā! Hā!”, and watched as the fire burned Manmatha in an instant. Manmatha was reduced to ash (bhasma). (Chapter 24)

The fire of kāma is spread through the world

The fire that burned Manmatha did not go out. It blazed upward in every direction and began to scorch the whole world. To protect creation, Bhagavān Parameśvara stepped in. He took the fire and spread it through the world:

Into the proud (ahaṃkāra), so that attachment burns in them.
Into Candra (the Moon), so that moonlight stirs longing.
Into flowers (pushpa), so that blossoms awaken desire.
Into songs (gīta), so that music moves hearts.
Into bees (bhrāmara), so that their hum is the voice of longing.
Into the throat of the cuckoo (kokila), so that the koel’s call pierces the heart.
Into pleasure of the senses (vihāra), so that all pleasures carry the warmth of the fire of kāma (desire).

“It is this fire, taken in by these things, that fills the hearts of those in love (kāminī) with tender affection (snehārdra).” This fire is hard to resist, brings pain and always burns. It moves through the world in these forms and does not grow less. (Chapter 24)

Ratī’s grief and Vasanta’s comfort

Ratī Devī saw her husband burned. She looked at the ash of the one who had been the most beautiful being that ever was, and she wept without any comfort. Vasanta, the friend of spring who had come with Manmatha, tried to console her, but her grief was very great.

Hearing her cries, Bhagavān Śiva looked at Ratī with compassion and said:

“Amba (mother)! Even without a visible form (rūpa), your husband will be able to do for you what you need of him at the right time. This is beyond doubt. When Vāsudeva (Bhagavān Vishṇu) is born as a human being, the son born to him will again be your husband. This is certain.”

Comforted, knowing that Manmatha would be born again as Pradyumna, the son of Kṛshṇa, Ratī Devī bowed in thanks. She left with Vasanta and those who had come with them, for the place she liked best. (Chapter 24)

Śiva’s shame and Pārvatī’s resolve

Bhagavān Śiva knew what had happened after he burned Manmatha. He felt lajjā (shame) because he had been moved for a moment by the presence of Pārvatī, which the devas had arranged by their plan. He left that place and went back to Kailāsa with his gaṇas.

Pārvatī had been serving Bhagavān Śiva every day with flowers, fruit and water. Now he was gone. She was lost and paced back and forth, blaming herself and her state. Himavān saw her weeping quietly on his peak. He took her gently by the hands and brought her home. Menā and Himavān asked what had happened. Pārvatī spoke through her friends (sakhīs):

“What use is this unlucky body? I will either give up this body or win the husband I want. If what I wish for is out of reach, only tapas is left as the way (sādhana). So, with many vows (niyamas), I will dry up this body. If you have compassion (karuṇā) for me, give me leave.”

When her parents heard this, they cried out: “Umā!” This means “O! Do not!”, and they were begging her not to go. From this cry the Devī received one of her holy names, Umā. They tried to turn her back: “Your body is too tender for such austerity. Do not do this. What is meant to come will come anyway.”

Nārada explains the reason in Chapter 25: “Tapas is needed before union. Without tapas the body is not pure (śuddha). Without a pure body, union (saṃyoga) is not right.” (Chapters 24 and 25)

Kāma Dahana in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa gives this episode in its own way. It is told within the frame of Bhagavān Śiva telling the Rāma-kathā to Pārvatī on Kailāsa.

Tārakāsura had received a vara (boon) that made him almost impossible to kill. He drove the devas out of svarga (heaven) and stripped them of all their wealth. They found no relief and went to Brahmā. He told them that only a hero born of the seed (vīrya) of Bhagavān Śiva could destroy Tārakāsura. Satī had been born again as Pārvatī and was already doing tapas to win Bhagavān Śiva as her husband. So Brahmā made a plan: Kāma would be sent to rouse Bhagavān Śiva from his samādhi.

Kāma knew that enmity with the lord of the poison-throat would bring no good. Even so, he agreed, out of devotion to the cause of the devas. He set out with Vasanta, his flower-bow in hand and a company of calling birds around him. He came near to Nīlakaṇṭha, who was deep in samādhi, and struck his bowstring with a loud challenge.

Vasanta at once spread spring over the whole region. The breeze grew cool and sweet-scented. The trees came into flower, the cuckoos sang, the peacocks danced and the bees hummed. The whole world fell into a daze of desire. For two ghaṭikās, even the steadiest among the devas, dānavas, siddhas, yogīs and brahmachāris could not stand against the force of Kāma. But Bhagavān Śiva stayed completely unmoved in deep samādhi.

Kāma was angry that his greatest effort had not disturbed the great Yogī. He climbed a mango tree nearby, took the pratyālīḍha stance (the archer’s stance), fitted his five flower-arrows, and aimed straight at the heart of Bhagavān Śiva. The arrows struck. A slight tremor passed through Bhagavān Śiva’s heart. He roared and opened his terrible third eye. With one glance of fire he burned Kāma to ash in an instant, together with the mango tree.

Ratī came weeping to Paśupati and begged for her husband’s life. Bhagavān Śiva comforted her: “From now on your husband will fill the world under the name Ananga (the Bodiless). When Bhagavān Vishṇu comes down as Kṛshṇa in the Yadu line, your husband will be born again as Pradyumna, the son of Kṛshṇa.” Ratī was comforted and left.

Soon after, Bhagavān Vishṇu, Brahmā and the thirty crore devas came before Bhagavān Śiva. Brahmā praised him at length and asked him to accept Pārvatī as his ardhāṅgī (half of himself) and to bring good fortune to the world. Nīlakaṇṭha was pleased and said, “Tathāstu” (so be it). The devas sounded their dundubhis (drums) in joy and showered flowers on Bhagavān Śiva.

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 23–24
Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25
Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Kāmuni Dahana