Anuja Chandramouli - KAMADEVA : THE GOD OF DESIRE

Anuja Chandramouli graduated from Womens Christian College, Chennai, and was the college topper in Abnormal Psychology. She also holds a Masters degree in English. Currently she is studying classical dance and working on her next book. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Arjuna: Saga of a Pandava Warrior-Prince, was named in a poll conducted by Amazon India as one of the top 5 books in the Indian Writing category for the year 2013. She is the mother of two little girls and lives in Sivakasi.

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Website: www.anujachandramouli.com

Twitter handle: @anujamouli

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For
Meekster, Gassy Goosey and Stinky Monkey

I cannot be destroyed by any creature by any means.
He who tries to destroy me by attacking my strength with knowledge;
in this very attack of his, I will appear again and again.
He who tries to destroy me with sacrifices and offerings;
I will appear like a man of action in the essence of these actions, among all
the mobile creatures of the world.
He who tries to destroy me with the Vedas
and sadhanas of the Vedanta;
I will appear like the essence of stillness among all the immobile creatures.
He whose attack is truth, who tries to destroy me with firmness;
I will be the essence of him and he will not be aware of me.
He who firmly adheres to his vow, who tries to destroy me
with the heat of tapas;
I will appear again and again in that very tapas of his.
He who is a man of learning, who tries to destroy me
by being intent on moksha;
I will dance and laugh at the intentness of his resolution to
gain moksha. I am eternal. I am the only one among all creatures
who is indestructible.

rahma, the Creator of the Universe, had been known on many an occasion to err on a truly grandiose scale. He had granted boons of power to villains who had a pronounced predilection for megalomania, thereby throwing the delicate balance of power between good and evil out of whack. He had lied to Vishnu, the second in the holy Trinity credited with being the Protector of the Universe, while they were engaged in an argument, only to get cursed in return by Shiva, the foremost of the Trinity, going by the sinister cognomen of The Destroyer. Brahma had even blown up his painfully accumulated store of ascetic merit several times by injudiciously indulging his coarser passions in a manner that ill befits someone of his revered stature.

Yet, his saving grace was that he did take his task of creation very seriously and indeed, few could fault him on his labours in this noble cause. He performed the severest austerities known to the Gods and mankind in order to better perform his divinely appointed duties unhindered. Through a combination of willpower and penanceneither of which came easy to him given his historyhe ensured that his mind, body and soul had been purified before embarking upon the process of creation. And it was thanks to his efforts, knowledge and inherent genius that the cosmos emerged, in all its magnificent glory.

Having completed this onerous task, Brahma calmed his mind with more meditation in a sylvan spot somewhere in Brahmaloka, his chosen abode. Joining him were the Prajapatis, sons of his mind that he had willed into being. They were ten in number and to them had he entrusted the task of populating the world and serving as the guardians of all creation. The Prajapatis were namedMarichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishta, Daksha and Narada. Made in the image of their creator and possessing more of his vaunted strengths than lampooned weaknesses, the Prajapatis were exalted beings and embodiments of purity. They combined within themselves the agelessness of immortals with the vitality and virility of youth and the wisdom of ancient rishis.

The Prajapatis applied themselves to the task set by their father with due diligence. However, their efforts were stymied when each realized that the task was too daunting to perform on their own, since none had the unique gift of the divine Progenitor. A solution was gradually arrived at. They each concentrated their efforts towards creating a vessel, which was the bounteous female form, into which they could pour their seed, rendered potent by their ascetic merit, so that they could bring forth the multitudes needed to populate the world. And thus emerged every manner of living creature their mind could conceive, borne by the sanctified vesselsthe mothers they had partnered with. Having completed their mission, they returned to Brahma. In his company, they also devoted themselves in earnest to prayer and penance, to better recuperate from their labours.

Brahma gazed at this august gathering and was pleased with their combined efforts. Even his worst detractors wouldnt be able to ridicule him for being an example of too much knowledge failing to compensate for want of common sense, which was their preferred jibe. Yet, he felt his contentment to be incomplete for there was a niggling sensation of resentment that gnawed away at him. He pondered over it and realized that perhaps his sons had done too good a job and may have just supplanted him by devising an ingenious and far more pleasurable shortcut to bring about creation. Terror gripped him as he realized that there was a very distinct possibility that he had outlived his usefulness and may be done away with by his enemies who had boldly suggested that he was not worth the trouble he caused.

The sudden onslaught of volatile emotion that tore apart his hard-earned tranquillity made him feel the full extent of his terrible loneliness. Dissatisfaction and unhappiness congealed in his breast, and his dormant powers stirred recklessly to life. Powerful feelings emanated unbidden from his soul, or perhaps his loins, where lifes struggle to assert itself over death usually emerged, and exploded over the assembly, shattering the collective calm like so much glass. The very air was rendered pregnant with the physical manifestation of the Creators need to reassert his mastery. A female of unequalled beauty, thus emerged from the sudden chaos in the previously unsullied mind of the God.