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THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLEASURE carries also a noose or lasso (pāša) with which to catch and fetter his victim from afar, as well as a hook with which to drag the victim ncar. These four instruments of the invincible godthe arrow, the bow, the noose, and the hook-are associated in the magic rituals and diagrams of the medieval Tántric schools - with the four great spellbinding comunands that produce love and surrender. These are, respectively, the commands "Open up!" (jambha), symbolized by the arrows; “Confuse, drive mad!" (moha), the bow; “Paralyze, stupefy, make rigid and immovable!" (stambha), the noose; and “Humble, tame, subdue!" (vasa), the hook.
It is told that Kāma once presumed to take his aimn at Siva (the master yogi and archetypal ascetic-solitary of the Hindu pantheon), having been commanded to do so by the king of the gods, Indra, in order to break śiva's meditation and fill him with love for the goddess Pārvatī, divine daughter of the mountain king Himālaya. Pārvati was an incarnation of the supreme goddess of the world, Kāli-Durgā-Sati, śiva's eternal femalecounterpart and projected energy, whom the god, for the wellbeing of the universe, was to be brought to recognize and know. But when the first flower-shaft found its mark and Siva was aroused from the timeless contemplation of his own innermost supernal luminosity, a lightning flash of anger broke from his third or middle eye, at the point between the brows, and the body of Kāma, the very vision of Charın Irresistible, was reduced to ashes. Ratī, the desolated spouse, prevailed on Śiva to bring her consort back from non-entity, but though the spirit returned, the beautiful body could not be produced again. Therefore Kāma is called Ananga, "bodiless." He hovers above and between lovers intangibly. invisibly forcing them to each other's embrace. 2 Cf. supra, p. 61, Editor's note, and infra, pp. 560ff.
Cf. Heinrich Zimmer, The King and the Corpse, The Bollingen Series X1. New York, 1948, Part II.
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |