Shloka 2
कामभस्म-प्रार्थना: रत्याः शङ्करं प्रति विनयः / Rati’s Supplication to Śaṅkara regarding Kāma’s Ashes
रतिरुवाच । गृहीत्वा पार्वतीं प्राप्तं सौभाग्यमतिदुर्लभम् । किमर्थं प्राणनाथो मे निस्स्वार्थं भस्मसात्कृतः
ratiruvāca | gṛhītvā pārvatīṃ prāptaṃ saubhāgyamatidurlabham | kimarthaṃ prāṇanātho me nissvārthaṃ bhasmasātkṛtaḥ
രതി പറഞ്ഞു—പാർവതിയെ സ്വീകരിച്ച് നിങ്ങൾ അത്യന്തം ദുർലഭമായ സൗഭാഗ്യം നേടി; എങ്കിൽ എന്റെ പ്രാണനാഥൻ, നിസ്വാർത്ഥനായിട്ടും, എന്തുകൊണ്ട് ഭസ്മമായി?
Rati
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: nurturing
FAQs
Rati’s lament highlights a core Shaiva teaching: worldly desire, even when seemingly “selfless,” can still bind the soul (paśu). Shiva’s act of reducing it to ashes signifies the burning of bondage (pāśa) so that devotion and liberation-oriented union may arise.
In Saguna Shiva worship, Shiva is the compassionate Lord who regulates desire and grants auspiciousness. The narrative frames Shiva as the supreme Pati who transforms passion into purity—an inner offering akin to surrendering impulses at the feet of the Linga.
The verse points to cultivating vairāgya (dispassion): meditate on desires as “bhasma”—offer them into Shiva-consciousness through japa (e.g., Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and, where traditional, remember the purifying symbolism of bhasma/tripuṇḍra as detachment from craving.