Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 24
Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode
पुलस्त्य उवाच कन्दर्पो हर्षतनयो यो ऽसौ कामो निगद्यते स शङ्करेण संदग्धो ह्यनङ्गत्वमुपागतः
pulastya uvāca kandarpo harṣatanayo yo 'sau kāmo nigadyate sa śaṅkareṇa saṃdagdho hyanaṅgatvamupāgataḥ
Pulastya dit : « Kandarpa—fils de Harṣa—que l’on nomme Kāma, fut brûlé par Śaṅkara ; en vérité, il parvint à l’état d’“Anaṅga” (sans corps). »
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FAQs
The episode teaches mastery over kāma: unchecked desire disrupts spiritual purpose, while tapas and divine discipline can transform it from a gross impulse into a restrained, subtle principle.
Devatānucarita: a deed/attribute-account of a deity (Kāma) and the action of another deity (Śiva) that establishes a well-known epithet.
Śiva burning Kāma symbolizes the incineration of desire by yogic fire; ‘Anaṅga’ implies desire’s persistence as an intangible force—subtle, not eliminated merely by destroying form.