ORIENTAL SERIES.

146
KAMA.
movement that arose in the One after it had come into life
"
Desire first arose
through the power of fervour or abstraction,
in It, which was the primal germ of mind ; (and which) sages,
searching with their intellect, have discovered in their heart to
c
he the bond which connects entity with non-entity." It is
we]l known," observes Dr. Muir, " that Greek mythology connected
Eros, the god of love, with the creation of the universe
somewhat in the same way." "This Kama or desire, not of
sexual enjoyment, but of good in general, is celebrated in a curi-
ous hymn of the Atharva-veda," which exalts Kama into a
supreme God and Creator :
" Kama was born the first. Him
neither gods, nor fathers, nor men have equalled. Thou art
superior to these and for ever great." In another part of the
same Yeda Kama appears to be first desire, then the power
which gratifies the desire. Kama is also in the same Yeda often
identified with Agni, and when " distinguished from each other,
Kama may be looked upon as a superior form of the other
deity." According to the Taittirlya Brahmam, he is the son of
Dharma, the god of justice, by $raddha, the goddess of faith;
but according to the Hari-vansa he is son of LakshmL Anothei
account represents him as springing from the heart of Brahma,
A fourth view is that he was born from water, wherefore he is
called Ira-ja, 'the water-born ;' a fifth is that he is Atma-bhu,
6
self-existent/ and therefore he is called, like other of the gods,
A-ja, '
*
unborn/ or An-anya-ja,
born of no other.' In the Purawas
his wife is Eati or Beva, the goddess of desire He inspired
$iva with amorous thoughts of Parvatl while he was engaged in
penitential devotion, and for this offence the angry god reduced
him, to ashes by fire from his central eye. $iva afterwards
relented and allowed Kama to be born again as Pradyumna, son
of Krishfia and Rukmim or Maya, 'delusion.' He has a son
named Aniruddha, and a daughter, Trisha. He is lord of the
Apsarases or heavenly nymphs. He is armed with a bow and
arrows : the bow is of sugar-cane, the bowstring a line of bees,
and each arrow is tipped with a distinct flower. He is usually
represented as a handsome youth riding on a parrot and attended
by nymphs, one of whom bears his banner displaying the Makara,
or a fish on a red ground*
The mysterious origin of Kama and the universal
operation
of the passion he inspires have accumulated upon him a great