Shloka 22
कामप्रहारः — The Subduing of Kāma (Desire) / Kāma’s Assault and Its Futility
रतिरुवाच । किं करोमि क्व गच्छामि किं कृतं दैवतैरिह । मत्स्वामिनं समाहूय नाशयामासुरुद्धतम्
ratiruvāca | kiṃ karomi kva gacchāmi kiṃ kṛtaṃ daivatairiha | matsvāminaṃ samāhūya nāśayāmāsuruddhatam
Rati said: “What shall I do? Where shall I go? What have the gods done here? Having summoned my husband, they have destroyed him—though he was proud and formidable.”
Rati
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Rudra
Sthala Purana: Not tied to a jyotirliṅga; Rati questions the devas’ role in calling Kāma and causing his destruction by Rudra’s power.
Significance: Didactic value: illustrates how even devas operate within īśvara’s ordinance; blaming ‘daivata’ reflects the pashu’s limited vision under pāśa.
FAQs
Rati’s grief highlights how kama (desire) can be checked by divine ordinance; in a Shaiva Siddhanta lens, desire functions as a pasha (bond), and the episode points toward vairagya and the soul’s need to seek Shiva (Pati) for release from binding impulses.
By showing the defeat of uncontrolled desire through divine power, the narrative turns the mind toward Saguna Shiva—the accessible Lord worshipped as the Linga—whose grace steadies the senses and redirects devotion from transient pleasures to enduring शिवभक्ति (Shiva-bhakti).
A practical takeaway is sense-restraint supported by Panchakshara japa (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and simple Shaiva observances like Tripundra (bhasma) remembrance and prayer for inner purity, especially suitable during Mahashivratri vrata.