Clay Sanskrit Library
Publisher: NYU Press; New York University Press; JJC Foundation; Clay Sanskrit
Published: 2005-01-01
Place of publication: New York University Press, 2005
Language: eng; san
Number of pages: 374
Other titles: Ramayana Book One: Boyhood; Maha-bharata Book 3: the Forest , vol. 4; Recognition of Shakuntala; Emperor of the Sorcerers vol. 1; Much ado about religion; Love Lyrics; Birth of Kumara; What Ten Young Men Did; The Heavenly Exploits:  Buddhist Biographies from the Divyavadana; Epitome of Queen Lilavati, vol. 1; Three Satires; Ramayana Book Two: Ayodhya; Maha-bharata Book Nine: Shalya, Vol. One; Rakshasa's Ring: Vishakha-datta; Ramayana Book Four: Kishkindha; Quartet of Causeries; Emperor of the Sorcerers, Vol. 2; The Empitome of Queen Lilavati, Vol. 2
Description: "This court epic describes events leading up to but not including the birth of Kumara (also known as Skanda or Karttikeya), the war god destined to defeat the demon Taraka." "The gods attempt to deploy Kama, the Indian Cupid, to set the ascetic supreme deity Shiva on fire with love for Uma (also known as Parvati), the daughter of the god of the Himalayan mountain range. Kama's mission fails, and Shiva, roused from his meditative trance, turns his flaming third eye on the love god, burning him to ashes. Next, Parvati herself turns to intense asceticism in order to win spiritual power and thereby the husband for whom she longs. She succeeds, and the climax of the poem is Shiva and Parvati's marriage and cosmic lovemaking, and Kumara's divine conception."--Jacket.