कुमारसम्भवम्

Kumārasambhava

The Birth of the War-God · Mahākāvya · eight cantos

The epic opens not with a hero but with a mountain — Himālaya himself, described as a living deity. From that vast still landscape the poem moves inward to a young woman's discipline and desire, and to the burning of Kāma, the god of love.

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1. Kumārasambhava 1.1 · Upajātiअस्त्युत्तरस्यां दिशि देवतात्माIn the north stands Himālaya, king of mountains and a god in his own person, reaching down into the eastern and western seas — as though the earth wer…Read this verse
2. Kumārasambhava 5.86 · Vasantatilakāअद्यप्रभृत्यवनताङ्गि तवास्मि दासः'From today I am yours,' said Śiva, the moon in his hair, 'your penance has bought me.' At those words Pārvatī's long exhaustion fell away in an insta…Read this verse