son of Lord Shiva. So obviously Shiva must marry to produce a son who will
eliminate this terror. If Shiva continued to do Tapa, remain lost in meditation and
contemplation, and continue to be uninterested in having any liason with a lady, then
how will it be possible for him to have a son who will kill the cruel demon
Tarkaasur?
So it became necessary to somehow persuade Shiva to have a desire to marry,
and what better opportunity can there be if it not done now when Parvati is so close to
him and serving him with an intense desire to marry the Lord. It will be like killing
two birds with a single arrow—one, it would help to serve the gods as Shiva’s son out
of this marriage would eliminate the demon, and second, it would help to fulfill what
has already been written in the destiny of Parvati—that she would have Shiva as her
husband.
Therefore, the creator Brahma advised the Gods to request Kamdeo to go
instigate Shiva by inspiring his heart so that the Lord has a desire to marry the
beautiful lady who serves him as her husband. Once this desire sprouts in the heart of
Lord Shiva, the rest of the things would take care of themselves. Why so? Because
Lord Shiva’s desires never go in vain, and once he wishes to marry Parvati, then it is
done.
But the trouble was that Shiva was lost in meditation, and so somehow his heart
was to be tampered with so that instead of remaining submerged in spiritual pursuit
and living perpetually in a state of transcendental existence which made Shiva aloof
from lowly worldly affairs such as having a desire to marry, the Lord could be
persuaded to marry Parvati who had been serving him diligently with a vow to marry
him. This can only be achieved if Kamdeo takes up the task—because Kamdeo
symbolizes the emotions that govern passions, desires, lust and longings that are
inherent and latent in all living beings. The trick was to kindle these virtues that lay
dormant in Shiva’s heart because the Lord had conquered them as he is an ascetic
par-excellence, the Lord who has full control over his impulses and sense organs as
he practices exemplary self-restraint.
It was not that Kamdeo did not know what fate holds for him if he goes and acts
smart with Shiva by disturbing him in his meditation, but since it was for the welfare
for the rest of the creation—as his action would inspire Shiva to marry and beget a
son who would kill the demon Tarkaasur—he decided to go ahead nevertheless. This
is clearly mentioned in Ram Charit Manas, Baal Kand, from Doha no. 83—to
Chaupai line nos. 1-2 and 4 that precedes Doha no. 84.
(^2) This is very interesting. Kamdeo literally means the god who controls one’s
passions, lust, longing and desires. Kamdeo lives in one’s heart in a subtle form by
way of these inherent emotions in all living beings. The ascetic is able to keep
Kamdeo in tight leash, but an ordinary man succumbs to his pressures. Kamdeo
started to nag at Shiva, pinching him here and there, disturbing his meditation and
Tapa, making him restless and generally causing him great irritation and uneasiness.
A great lesson lies in this single incident—if Kamdeo was able to sway the mighty
Lord Shiva, who is the patron God of all ascetics and the greatest ascetic and
renunciate in this creation, what chance ordinary mortals have against this him—i.e. it
is extremely difficult to overcome desires, longings, passions and lust? Hence, if one
is able to successfully exercise self-control over one’s sense organs then obviously he
is the greatest conqueror of the world!
What was the ‘wrong doing’, and how was Kamdeo punished for it? The ‘wrong
doing’ was to disturb an ascetic in his meditation and contemplation, and attempting
to pull the soul from its state of transcendental existence to a lower level of worldly
existence marked by lust, desires, passions and longings. This wrong doing was all
the more dangerous and fatal because Kamdeo, in his haughtiness and arrogance that
he will have his way no matter how exalted his target was, had forgotten that he is
now playing fools with Lord Shiva known for his anger on the one hand, and his
commitment to doing Tapa and Yoga as well lead a life of renunciation as an ascetic.