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.
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.