(^2) During the epic war at Lanka between Lord Ram and the demon king Ravana,
when Lord Ram had become very angry he too had shot fierce arrows at Ravana by
pulling the string of his bow right back to his ears to give stronger thrust to the arrow
so that it moved ahead with great speed and struck at the object with intense force—
refer: Refer: Ram Charit Manas, Lanka Kand, Doha no. 91.
And to be angry at one’s enemy and adversary is a common feature in any war-
like situation. Even Lord Ram had lost his patience with Ravana during the heat of
battle and had become very angry and wrathful—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Uttar
Kand, Chanda line no. 1-2 that precede Doha no. 91.]
÷ÿ©U ß ̧‚ ◊Ÿ ¿UÙ÷È Á’‚·Ë – ŸÿŸ ©UÉÊÊÁ⁄U ‚∑§‹ ÁŒÁ‚ ŒπËH 4H
bhaya'u īsa mana chōbhu bisēṣī. nayana ughāri sakala disi dēkhī. 4.
Lord Shiva’s heart was filled with extreme annoyance at being so rudely disturbed
from his meditation. Angrily he opened his eyes and looked in all the direction to
locate the person who had dared to interfere with his meditation and agitate his
eternally calm and peaceful mind. (4)
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Ã’ Á‚fl° ÃË‚⁄U ŸÿŸ ©UÉÊÊ⁄UÊ – ÁøÃflà ∑§Ê◊È ÷ÿ©U ¡Á⁄U ¿UÊ⁄UÊH 6H
saurabha pallava madanu bilōkā. bhaya'u kōpu kampē'u trailōkā. 5.
taba sivam̐ tīsara nayana ughārā. citavata kāmu bhaya'u jari chārā. 6.
When he (Shiva) saw Kaamdeo hiding behind the leaves of the mango tree, the Lord
flew into a ferocious rage^1 so much so that the entire world consisting of three
divisions (viz. the earth, the heaven and the nether world) trembled with fear. (5)
Then Shiva wrathfully opened his legendary ‘third eye^2 ’ (located in his
forehead) and sternly looked towards Kaamdeo. This third eye spewed a tongue of
fire which immediately reduced Kaamdeo to ashes. (6)
[Note—^1 Lord Shiva is an ascetic, and an ascetic has the unique character of being as
calm, cool and tranquil as the surface of a placid lake. But at the same time, an ascetic
should not be taken for granted and played fools with, because his nature is like the
fire element which may remain dormant and is always beneficial for the living world,
but it erupts in a fierce rage if stoked and prodded to rise up, unleashing its anger by
reducing everything to ashes.
Inspite of this observation, Shiva is renowned to be calm and peaceful Lord, the
very embodiment of the virtues of mercy and compassion. Then why did he become
furious at Kaamdeo? Shiva was repaying Kaamdeo with the same currency the latter
had used to trap the former; Shiva was paying Kaamdeo with the same coin which the
latter had used against the Lord. Shiva was merely reciprocating Kaamdeo’s attitude
or behaviour towards him.
And what was this attitude or behaviour? It was ‘anger’. Kaamdeo was ‘angry’ at
Shiva at the time of shooting his arrow at the Lord—refer: Ram Charit Manas, Baal
Kand, Chaupai line no. 2 that precedes Doha no. 87. So Shiva also hit back with
‘anger’. Kaamdeo had used the best weapon he had in his arsenal—the arrow.
Therefore, Shiva too used the best weapon he had in his possession—and it was the
fire spewing from his third eye. It is another matter that in such a duel it is the warrior
with the stronger weapon who wins: hence, Shiva won the battle of wits with
Kaamdeo!