Vasanta
Vasanta (spring) is spring in the form of a deva. He is one of the constant companions of Kāmadeva, also called Manmatha, the deva of desire (kāma). Vasanta is the deva through whom kāma works in the world of nature.
When Manmatha travels, Vasanta goes with him. He brings the rich beauty of the spring season: blooming flowers, humming bees, warm and sweet-smelling winds and the call of the cuckoo. All this makes the flower-arrows of Manmatha stronger.
In the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Vasanta went with Manmatha on his fateful mission to the tapovana (forest of austerity) of Bhagavān Śiva. He was there when Manmatha was burned to ash by the third eye of Bhagavān Śiva. Afterwards he tried to comfort Ratī in her grief. Then he left with Ratī for the places they liked. The fire of kāma was spread through the world, and it still flows in the beauty of nature.
Birth from the breath of Brahmā
The Śiva Mahā Purāṇa, in the Satī Khaṇḍa of the Rudra Saṃhitā, tells how Vasanta was born. He was born from the breath (niḥśvāsa) of Brahmā during the act of creation at the start of the cosmic cycle. He is a mānasī creation, born from the mind and breath of Brahmā.
Who Vasanta is
Vasanta means “spring”. He is not only a season but its divine form, a being who holds the most beautiful and sweetest conditions of the world. He is the closest friend and helper of Manmatha, the deva of desire. In the Purāṇas the two are never apart. Where Manmatha goes to pierce hearts with desire, Vasanta prepares the ground. He makes the very setting in which desire grows: flowers of every kind blooming out of season, bees swarming with their drunken hum, warm winds that carry the scent of jasmine and mango blossom, the kokila (Indian cuckoo) singing from the treetops, and a mood of longing and beauty everywhere.
The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa shows Manmatha travelling with Vasanta and Ratī as a group of three. Manmatha gives the arrow, Ratī gives the joy of love, and Vasanta gives the spring setting in which both are strongest. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 23)
The mission to the tapovana of Bhagavān Śiva
Indra called Manmatha and ordered him to break the samādhi of Bhagavān Śiva, at the request of the devas. At first Manmatha argued against it. He spoke of the teaching of Vedānta against kāma, and he said that disturbing the great tapas of Bhagavān Maheśvara was very dangerous. Indra pressed on and spoke of the great need of the devas.
At last Manmatha agreed. He set out with Vasanta and Ratī from Svarga toward the slopes of Himavān, where the tapovana of Bhagavān Śiva lay. As they came near, the land changed because Vasanta was there. Trees that were out of season bloomed. Birds that had been silent began to call. The air became sweet. Bees gathered at the flowers. The coming of spring into the forest of Bhagavān Śiva was the first and gentlest tool that Manmatha used.
At the gate of the āśrama, Vīraka, the doorkeeper of Bhagavān Śiva, stood on guard. Manmatha looked inside. He saw Bhagavān Maheśvara sitting in samādhi on a platform (vedi), not moving, with his gaze at the tip of his nose and all his senses fully drawn in.
nāsāgraṃ dṛṣṭiṃ nilapitvā
This means that he had set his gaze on the tip of his nose.
Manmatha knew that no arrow could pierce such focus from outside. He made another plan. He used the hum of a bumblebee as an excuse, slipped in through the sound and entered the manas (mind) of Bhagavān Śiva himself. For a moment the mind of Bhagavān Śiva turned to Pārvatī with anurāga (love). In that moment Manmatha was seen. (Chapter 23)
At the burning: comforting Ratī
Bhagavān Śiva knew that someone had broken in, and he fled his āśrama. Manmatha followed, his arrow still aimed. Bhagavān Śiva went through all the worlds, but wherever he went, Manmatha followed.
At last he came back to his āśrama. He breathed out with great force. From his third eye (ūrdhva-netra) came the fire of his gathered yoga, the kāma-dahana-agni (the fire that burns kāma). In an instant it reduced Manmatha to ash. The devas who watched cried out “Hā! Hā!” in grief.
Ratī Devī had seen all this. She was overcome with grief to see Manmatha, the most beautiful being in the three worlds, turned to ash. She wept and could not be consoled.
Vasanta tried to comfort her. Spring brings comfort after the hardness of winter, and so he was the natural one to stay by Ratī in her sorrow and give what comfort he could.
Bhagavān Śiva heard the lament of Ratī and was moved by pity. He spoke to her:
“Amba! Your husband will be able to do what you need of him — without visible rūpa (form). When Vāsudeva takes human birth, the son born to him will be your husband again — this is certain.”
So Bhagavān Śiva foretold that Manmatha would be born again as Pradyumna, the son of Kṛṣṇa.
Ratī bowed in thanks. Vasanta left with her for the places they liked. (Chapter 24)
The kāma fire spread through spring
Bhagavān Śiva spread the kāma fire, the fire that had burned Manmatha, through the fabric of creation. Several of the places where he put this fire are exactly the things that make up the realm of Vasanta.
- Flowers, so that blossoms awaken desire.
- Bees (bhrāmara), so that their hum is the voice of longing.
- The throat of the cuckoo (kokila), so that the call of the koel pierces the heart.
- Songs (gīta), so that music moves hearts.
- Moonlight (Candra), so that moonlight stirs longing.
So every flowering spring, every buzzing bee and every song of the cuckoo carries within it the fire of the burned Manmatha. Vasanta survived the burning of Manmatha, and he still carries that fire in every season. (Chapter 24)
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 23–24
- Śiva Mahā Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa