Continuing his description of the glory of his Mother Goddess, Sri Mata, Adi Sankara establishes the manner in which She favored him with her side glance! That made him invincible and a formidable power subjugating the the mighty and the most spiritual! She gave life to Manmatha when he was reduced to a heap of ashes by the anger of Lord Siva! Sri Lalita Sahasra Nama Stotra refers to the exemplary compassion of Devi! “Hara netragni sandhagdha Kama sanjiva naushadhihi”. She had to show her mercy on Manmatha because he was responsible for the union of Siva and Parvati for the welfare of the entire Devas! Were the Devas unhappy and tormented? Many Asuras had their grudge against the Devas, invaded Heaven, and drove away even Indra the king! They had obtained tremendous powers from their tapas and the boons granted by Brahma and Siva and Vishnu. Unable to withstand the torture from Tarakasura, the Devas approached Brahma for help when he expressed his inability! But he suggested that the help of Kamadeva or Manmatha should be taken to save themselves. Siva and Parvati should be united through the wiles of Manmatha when Karthikeya would be born! He would finally destroy Tarakasura!
Indra summoned Manmatha to his presence and apprised him of his task for the welfare of the Devas. But it was fraught with great danger. Manmatha shuddered at the difficult task entrusted to him. He knew that this attempt would kill him! He hesitated but he was prevailed upon by Indra and other Devas. He reluctantly accepted to carry out the task despite the impending danger. Shiva was in deep penance in the Himalayas and Parvati was looking after His needs during penance! He had to wait for the opportune time and shoot his flower arrows and disturb Siva with amorous feelings for Parvati serving him very closely! How was it possible to shake and disturb the great penance of Siva with flower arrows?
Flowers are soft and fragile and cannot be bent or aimed at some body! Manmatha has only five flower arrows and nothing more after he uses them! They are flowers and cannot be shot as arrows! The five flowers of Manmatha are Aravinda or lotus, Asoka, chuta or mango flower, Nava Mallika or fresh Jasmine,and Nilotpala or water Lily! Vasantha or Spring season is unfit to be the adviser to Manmatha! Manmatha's chariot is ‘ Malaya marutha’-gentle breeze from the South which blows occasionally and is impermanent! With all these inherent disabilities and imperfect tools how can Manmatha shake and perturb the strongest spiritual minds and hearts of Gods and men?
Hiding behind the bushes and brambles, Manmatha waited for opportunity! Parvati came to garland the Lord and that was the exact time when he aimed and shot his arrows one by one! Shiva was, strangely disturbed and He wondered who it was that dared! He opened his third eye in anger and Manmatha who stood there was reduced to a heap of ashes! Six rays emanated from Siva’s third eye and Shadanana, Kumaraswamy was born with six heads and twelve hands! Later compassionate Devi restored life to Manmatha as Rati Devi,Manmatha’s wife prayed for him.Thus Manmatha lost his personality and became ‘ Ananga’ the one without parts of the body! He would be invisible but could be seen only by his spouse Rati!
“ O Mother! Daughter of the Himalayas! The invisible and bodiless Manmatha, all alone with a bow of flowers, a bow string of bees, five flower arrows, Spring season as his charioteer, soft breeze of Malaya mountains as the war chariot conquers the whole world! That is because you have favored him with the gentle side glance of your eyes!” Says Sankara explaining her Divine Grace and its effect! The third eye is considered as the eye of intuition or Jnana chakshu. When that is opened Kama or lust is destroyed by the fire of knowledge or Brahma Jnana. It is Devi’s grace that enables Manmatha to have a sway over the minds and hearts of all people in the world except the Yogis who have sublimated their sexual energy into spiritual energy!
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