Kamadeva

Indian mythology · deity · love, desire

God of desire whose sugarcane bow fires five flower arrows. Burned to ash by Shiva's third eye for daring to interrupt the great god's meditation, then restored, bodiless, as love that pervades everything.

Stories

The Birth of Kartikeya

Only a son of Shiva can kill the demon Taraka, and Shiva has been in meditation since Kamadeva burned for interrupting him. Parvati's austerity finally wins the god; the child's unbearable seed passes through Agni and Ganga to be born as six-faced Kartikeya, who takes command of heaven's armies and ends Taraka.